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. 38 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.