Partnering for Success

The steel casting manufacturer purchased Riverside Foundry — named for its location on the banks of the Mississippi River in Bettendorf, Iowa., in 1961. With the purchase, Sivyer moved its operations from its original headquarters in Milwaukee to Riverside’s home in Iowa. The deal created Riverside Products, which operated as an independent company until the 1970s, when it became a division of Sivyer.

Today, Sivyer and its subsidiaries still work closely with the Riverside companies.

WEAR-WITHALL. Riverside Products’ entrance into the wear parts business occurred in 1959 when the company began fabricating shear blades. "It started with a salesman who worked for Sivyer Steel who found somebody looking for a better shear blade," says John Stelk, engineering manager and 30-year veteran of Riverside Products. The company’s first wear parts for shredders followed in 1966, and then the company started designing and fabricating rotors in 1972. Stelk says it was a natural progression—each new aspect to the business simply followed the other.

Riverside Products maintains a strategic relationship with Sivyer Steel as a sister company. Sivyer provides the majority of the castings for Riverside Products and both companies are owned by the same capital investment group Facilitator Capital Fund, which purchased them in 1999. Facilitator’s involvement has been a key in the development of the current cooperative agreement between the two Riverside companies, says Kevin Toft, general manager of Riverside Products. "They’ve been supportive of the changes needed to take place to strengthen both companies," he says.

NEWELL BEGINNINGS. Another strategic business move that helped shape the Riverside partnership of today was the acquisition of Newell Industries in October 2000, which created Newell Riverside, a sister company of Riverside Products. Both companies were owned by parent company Sivyer Steel and operated that way until they were combined into Riverside Engineering in January 2003.

With the Newell acquisition, Riverside enhanced its ability to provide services and solutions to the metal recycling industry. The acquisition included all of Newell Industries’ technical knowledge and intellectual property, including the casting drawings for shredders produced under the Newell brand name. "We gained the ability to expand our wear parts castings product line and produce the castings our customers needed," says Riverside Products General Manager Kevin Toft. The same casting drawings and intellectual knowledge are still being shared today between Riverside Products and Riverside Engineering for the benefit of their customers.

WORKING TOGETHER. The products of both Riverside companies are well represented in the industry, says John Stelk, engineering manager of Riverside Products. "It’s tough to put an exact number on it, but we are involved in some shape or form in the majority of auto shredders in North America," he says. "We’re either supplying hammers, wear parts or replacement rotors to a large section of those customers."

To serve the varied needs of their customers, the Riverside companies have embarked on a new approach to marketing their services and products—two companies, independent in name and ownership, working together to provide complementary, high quality metal shredding solutions into the recycling industry. Effective since January 2006, Riverside Engineering Inc. focuses on innovative shredder design, fabrications and controls systems, while Riverside Products provides rotor designs and produces wear parts castings. It’s a one-stop-shop built on several decades of experience and the premise that two heads are better than one.

TEAM PLAYERS. Riverside Engineering Inc., based in San Antonio, is now under new ownership after a management buyout. The company’s direction is now being lead by Randy Brace, president, and Jim Olson, CEO. Heading up Riverside Products, located in Moline, Ill., is President Art Gibeaut and General Manager Kevin Toft, who has been with the company since 1999.

A worldwide network of plants is responsible for the manufacture of the Riverside companies’ products. Their sister company, Sivyer Steel, produces the majority of Riverside’s domestic castings. A subsidiary of Sivyer called Global Components, headquartered in Bettendorf, Iowa, with an office in Shanghai, sources Riverside’s offshore castings. Two additional domestic foundries also provide research information and specialized
castings.

Rotors are produced at the Riverside Products facility in Moline, Ill. The company also subcontracts some machining and assembly work to a facility in Victoria, Texas. Those locations take care of all Riverside’s machining needs for its rotor product line.

SHAPING THE FUTURE. Both companies are confident that the partnership is the best way to showcase their products and serve their customers. "We share information between the two companies to promote innovation and improve customer satisfaction," says Kevin Toft, general manager of Riverside Products.

The structure may be different, but Riverside’s strong commitment to serving its customers remains the same. With their combined expertise, resources and a network of foundries behind them, the Riverside companies are ready to leverage each of their strengths to deliver the best value to its customers.

"What we bring into the marketplace is a uniform coverage where there are two independent companies working together for the betterment of our customers overall," says Toft.