
When you’re recognized as a leader in audience seating with a history that spans more than a century you have a well-earned reputation to maintain.
You’re also entrusted to enhance the experience of millions of people who spend countless hours seated at sporting and theatrical events in venues across the United States. Such is the case with Irwin Seating Company®, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of audience seating for movie theatres, auditoriums, arenas, performing arts centers, stadiums and places of worship.
Success is synonymous with Irwin Seating Company®, which operates manufacturing facilities in North America, including one in Grand Rapids, Michigan where the company’s fixed seating for auditoriums, theaters and sporting venues are manufactured. Its chairs are installed in thousands of venues all over the world from Dewan Filharmonik in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Carnegie Hall in New York City, from the Minsk Arena in Minsk, Belarus to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and thousands of points in between.
Critical to the company’s success and that of its products is the comfort provided to concert-goers and sports fans who can spend hours seated in their chairs. To maintain the highest level of performance, Irwin Seating has established a long-standing relationship with Minalex, the leading manufacturer of miniature aluminum extrusions. With headquarters and manufacturing facilities located in Whitehouse, NJ the fifty-year old family-owned company supplies parts to long list of clients in industries that include military, aerospace, healthcare, medical, lighting and many others.
Minalex supplies the aluminum extrusions, (need detailed information) which secure armrests for a variety of the seating lines (need detailed information) that Irwin manufactures. Graham Irwin, the company’s fourth CEO and President, explains, “We strive to be the best in the world at what we do, so each component must be of the highest quality standards. That’s why we’ve relied on arm-anchor extrusions (need accurate description) from Minalex for more than XX years.”
Miniature aluminum extrusions are an ideal solution thanks to their lighter weight, tensile strength and the ability to be custom shaped and finished in the lengths and colors specified by Irwin Seating.
“Working with Irwin Seating has been extremely gratifying,” states Michael Casey, Vice President, Sales and Planning at Minalex. “Whenever we’re asked to supply extrusions, we always achieve an outstanding finished part, (need detailed parts information) and when the opportunity arises, we make recommendations to positively influence both quality and performance. I’ve attended events where Irwin Seating is used and leaned on their armrests. Seeing our finished parts perform comfortably and effortlessly is truly rewarding.”
Meeting Irwin Seating’s precise specifications is made possible by Minalex’s expertise and proven experience in meeting the needs and certification standards of its military, aerospace and other clients for more than half a century. The company is regularly called upon to provide extrusion parts with tolerances that can be as exacting as +/- 0.001, walls as thin as 0.018”, and holes as small as 0.060”.
In addition to its standard and custom extrusion capabilities, Minalex also offers a variety of value-added services, including precision cutting, deburring, tumbling, finishing and CNC machining. Of greatest value, the company believes, are their longstanding client partnerships. Michael Casey concludes, “Well into our second half-century of business, the things that make us most proud are the relationships we’ve “manufactured” like the one we have with Irwin Seating.”
Image Credit: Irwin Seating, https://www.irwinseating.com/installations/st-cecilia-music-center