Northwest Aerospace News April | May Issue No.14 | Page 38
F
or close to 90 years, Stack Met-
allurgical Group has been a leader in
heat treating metals and alloys in the
Northwest. The company, owned by
the Ederer family, with oversight by
CEO and Metallurgist, Doug Puerta,
has four locations – one in Washing-
ton, two in Oregon, and one in Utah.
Originally started by Eugene Stack in
1932 as Stack Steel and augmented by
Harold Stack to become Stack Heat
Treating in 1972, the company has a
rooted history in heavy industry.
The company has five metallurgists on
staff — highly trained engineers that
understand the physical and chemical
properties of metals and alloys. In
the case of Stack Metallurgical, they
also understand how heat treating, hot
isostatic pressing (HIP), and chemi-
cal processing make metals stronger,
less resistant to corrosion, and more
durable.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
Nels Plough, president of Stack Port-
land is a metallurgist with almost 23
years in the company. He started as a
staff metallurgist in 1999 and worked
his way up to president by 2007.
Plough said, “Basically, the way I view
heat treating is that it is an invisible
function of the manufacturing process.
Very often you can’t tell that it has
occurred after being in our shop.” But
he shared that heat treating is a tightly
controlled process that ensures success
in the materials, “The metals would
instantly fail in service without heat
treating because it changes the prop-
erties of the material. Most often we
harden it, but sometimes we soften it.”
He also recounted that most metal
must go through a heat treating process
if it is to survive in service, especially
in aerospace applications. “You can
have a design that is not perfect, but if
heat treating is done correctly it will
succeed. Heat treating dictates the suc-
cess or failure of the part,” Plough said.
Many of their aerospace products are
used in engine compartments — the
components that hold the engines in
place, and those that affirm wing safety
— important roles that keep travelers
safe. They have structural parts on
every Boeing 737 and parts of the 777
and 787 — all flight critical compo-
nents.
Craig Beaumier, vice president of sales
and marketing, joined the company in
2019 with 25 years of experience in
capital sales and business development.
He said that the company operates with
a high level of integrity, which starts
with executive leadership. “This is a
company where handshakes still mean
something,” Beaumier said.