Tacoma, Wash.- Manufacturing is one of the top four outsourced industries facing the
American worker, according to www.thebalance.com. A hot topic in 2016’s presidential race
and source of debate across the country for decades, outsourcing of American jobs has
deeply impacted our economy. Lighthouse Tool Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Envision
Innovation has researched manufacturing abroad, including China, to reduce the price of
their flagship product, the FlangeKing™ tool. What the LTC team learned was very clear:
quality could not match American-made products and cost savings did not equal a great
enough value to move to manufacture overseas. Considering the majority of individuals
using FlangeKing™ are union petrochemical and process plant workers, the company felt
compelled to stay on course by providing a completely American-made tool to their
customers.
President and CEO of LTC, Kurt E. Olson, is leading his team to stay committed to
providing industrial workers with tools that increase safety and all-around efficiency.
Working with Washington vendors to create the components of FlangeKing™ has proved
beneficial to LTC as the production team has a considerable amount of control over
quality. Everything from the blade for both the 8-inch and 16-inch versions of FlangeKing™
are laser cut and engraved in Pierce County along with the injection molding of the handle,
while the fasteners and nylon sheaths are produced by companies in Washington State.
Assembly of FlangeKing™ currently takes place in Tacoma’s Tide Flats at LTC
headquarters. Each member of the LTC team participates in production as the company is a
start-up and everyone is committed to bringing the tool to a wider market. FlangeKing’s ™
primary function is to remove and replace flange gaskets in petrochemical and process
plants. Over the last 100-years, maintenance workers have created makeshift tools to
complete this important job. FlangeKing™ is the first tool of its kind to be manufactured and
marketed. Kurt E. Olson and Leo Cazinha co-invented the tool, refined the original concept
bringing FlangeKing™ to market through LTC.
Lighthouse Tool Company, LLC is located in Tacoma, just below the Murray Morgan
Bridge, at 1120 East D. Street. To learn more about FlangeKing™, visit www.flangeking.com or
call the office at (253) 238-0000.
President and CEO, Kurt E. Olson, co-invented FlangeKing™ along with
Business Comm / Letters
