About

Beginning in Eugene, Oregon in 1987 Ideal Steel specialized in custom flame cutting with unmatched customer service and quality. Three generations later, our focus on customer service and producing the highest quality products remains unchanged while offering more services to meet your needs.

With four locations across the United States and a fleet of trucks, Ideal Steel is ready to provide your company with the superior quality parts you need and the outstanding service you deserve.

History

Every business has its start, but how it’s started can be a story unto itself. A very unique opportunity presented itself to Ron Duquette Sr. in 1987, one that he chose to grab and run with. He didn’t realize then, that this foundling startup company in Eugene, Oregon would grow into a national operation with offices in 5 cities, in just 26 short years.

In 1987, Cascade Corp. decided to outsource its flame cutting process, and the first deal for Ideal Steel was struck. Purchasing their flame cutting equipment, flattening press, grinders and a forklift, the equipment was moved to Eugene and Ideal Steel started to burn, clean, straighten and deliver parts to Cascade’s Portland plant.

With a simple philosophy of “do it right” and “keep the customer happy,” Ron’s vision of making Ideal Steel a family owned and operated business began to flourish. The close relationship with Cascade helped to spur the future growth of Ideal Steel into new markets.

  • 1990 – What do you do when your biggest customer says, “We like your parts better than the other guy’s!”, and you don’t want to ship from one coast to the other? You open a plant in their back yard to meet their demands for tight tolerances and quick turnaround.
  • 1997 – Once again expanding to meet the needs of our largest customer, we opened a 30,000 square foot plant in Springfield, Ohio.  45 employees are busy delivering parts on a just in time system to our customers satisfaction, utilizing our fleet of 4 delivery trucks.
  • 2005 – Opening a 25,000 square foot warehouse, our expansion into Portland, Oregon was necessary to deliver parts to our largest customer on a just in time basis. Our Portland operation also saw cuts aluminum extrusions, stocks aluminum parts, and operates the powder coating line.
  • 2011 – Ideal Steel began operations in Houston, Texas due to a major client’s need for quicker turnaround in forklift parts.  With a 28,000 square foot warehouse and 27,000 square foot manufacturing plant our Houston operation current has 10 employees.
  • 2012 – Ideal Steel acquired the assets of Knights Fabrication in Eugene and incorporated the machining and fabrication aspects into the Eugene plant.
  • 2013 – Ideal Steel acquired Metal Technologies, and established machining company in Seneca, South Carolina.  This allowed the expansion of automated machining into both the South Carolina and Texas plants.

Mission Statement

Our Mission is to exceed our customer’s expectations by providing reliable on-time delivery of the highest quality parts coupled with unmatched customer service.