Chairman and CEO of Braidy Industries
Two years ago, Craig T. Bouchard got an idea. The author, businessman and entrepreneur had already built three, billion-dollar revenue companies.
He was pondering the future of the world’s aluminum market when it came to him. “Hmmm. What if,” he recalled asking himself in early 2016, “You were to lower the cost and increase the quality of your production? What if you achieved the lowest cost in labor, lowest in electricity, lowest in gas, lowest in shipping down the highway and river? What if you achieved all of that?”
You see, he explained in January 2018 from his corner office at Braidy Industries’ World Headquarters in Ashland, Kentucky, the American aluminum industry has been built by those feeding America’s appetite for the aluminum can. No completely new aluminum rolling mills have been built in the past four decades. Instead, companies have just tacked on “a few new machines in a new building” next to their "old and tired" existing metal works.
But what about a brand-new, environmentally-friendly aluminum mill in the right location, with the right work force, built solely to serve the needs of the expanding automotive, aerospace and defense industries? High-strength, lightweight aluminum is the only way automobile manufacturers will meet ever-stricter environmental standards for fuel efficiency, he said.
“The megatrend is real. You cannot make a car with better mileage unless you do one of two things. Make it lighter, so the gas pushes it further per gallon. Or you build an electric car that doesn’t use gas,” he explained. “My original idea was, ‘Wow there is room here for a new company to be low cost.’ That was the idea. If you were the lowest cost you would become the leaders of the industry very quickly,” he said, explaining, “It is all about cost. There are about 20 things that matter in a big mill like that and we are going to be the lowest cost in each of those categories.”
Bouchard, who holds two masters degree, one in business, the other in economics along with an honorary Ph.D. in science from the Illinois State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, decided his hand-picked team could do it. He then set out to follow the same set of principals he’s used three times before.
“A company starts with an idea that is special. Then, you surround yourself with people who have hope that the vision can become a reality, meaning they want to make it happen. A team determined, a team that will stop at nothing to make this idea real. That is what Braidy is. Hope and determination. It is a time proven path.”
“In our company, I set the strategy, motivate the people, and allocate the capital. That’s where most companies get all goofed up. They get big – they just don’t allocate capital properly,” he said. Braidy is guided by the principals of Hoshin Kanri, sigma six and lean.
In about two years, surrounding himself with a world-class team of economists, scientists, engineers, logisticians, strategists, managers and other experts, who believe in that vision and strategy, Bouchard raised capital and secured the permits needed to build his mill.
This month Braidy Industries broke ground at EastPark. The first sheets of metal aren’t due to roll off the assembly line until 2020 but already the company has emerged a leader. It was named a finalist for four S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards with Bouchard nominated for CEO of the Year and subsidiary Veloxint for Breakthrough Solution of the Year, and parent company Braidy Industries for Aluminum Industry Leader of the Year, and Rising Star of the Year. (The ceremony was scheduled to take place May 17, after press time.)
More importantly, Bouchard convinced the world’s auto manufacturers he can do it. The mill has also sold its entire expected capacity 300,000 tons annually – for the first seven years.
That reality is starting to set in among his competitors, said Bouchard. He compared their reactions to the stages an alcoholic goes through before quitting. Denial then fear and now, acceptance. “The executives of most of our competitors have called me and they know we are coming,” he said, breaking out into a wide grin before adding, “We’re going to kill them with kindness.”
The absolute confidence Bouchard radiates has also helped him to induce almost every politician in Kentucky, and their thousands of eastern Kentucky constituents to believe in him. Braidy’s success will be theirs too, and maybe, the pivot on which the region’s slumping economic fortunes turn…
Craig Bouchard is 64. His wife Melissa is a University of Kentucky alumna. She is one of the school’s all-time top tennis players and was inducted into its tennis hall of fame in 2017. The couple have six children and six grandchildren. They live in Naples, Florida. Braidy Industries is named for one of their daughters. Craig is the author of three books, including the New York Times’ best seller “The Caterpillar Way,” and the children’s book “The Adventures of Ai.” Follow him on facebook or LinkedIn.