Accelerating business
with EB welding
Job shop finds its niche, door to success
Ted Roark stands in front of the Sciaky VX. 4 six-axis, CNC EB welding machine. The system has created
new business opportunities for C.F. Roark and helped the company stay competitive.
By Amanda Carlson,
Associate Editor
If there’s one thing Ted Roark didn’t want o have happen, it was for the business that his father built to become ordinary.
On first glance that’s exactly how C.F.
Roark Welding & Engineering Co. Inc.,
Brownsburg, Ind., appears. You would
never guess that behind the walls of the
facility, quietly tucked away from a bustling
residential side street, lies technology that
even Doc Brown from “Back to the
Future” would envy.
Thanks to a specific vision and high-end
equipment purchase, C.F. Roark is any-
thing but ordinary. Founded in 1949, the
company specializes in electron beam (EB)
welding of complex, specialty parts and
components for the aerospace, defense, and
research industries, and in a short amount
of time carved a niche as the premier EB
welding firm of the Midwest.
A Leap of Faith With EB Welding
After experiencing tough economic times
and watching some of its simple fabrication
business head to China in the early 2000s,
Roark had tough decisions to make in terms
of what direction to take the company,
what investments to make to keep the com-
pany relevant, and how to position it for
future success.
16 PRACTICAL WELDING TODAY
July/August 2010
