Committed to providing outstanding quality and support in the steel sector for almost a decade, Indiana-based Kapital Steel understands the importance of supplying dependable, high-performing materials while acting as a reliable partner for businesses in a variety of industries, thanks to its superior 4140 steel product line and value added services.
Material of choice
With steel the material of choice for manufacturing in numerous sectors, Kapital Steel has made a name for itself as a strategic problem-solver and reliable partner, capable of providing high-quality products to meet a wide range of customer demands. Whether customers require 4140 heat-treated, annealed, or as-rolled steel, Kapital offers an unmatched experience and dedication to quality, featuring all-inclusive customer services.
In addition to offering high-quality steel products, Kapital also provides value added services that improve project results, such as using Friggi America vertical band saws for precision cutting of full-length bars to any required width, cutting waste and increasing project efficiency, or employing Ingersoll planer mills to produce decarb-free (DCF) materials that provide the best possible smooth and clean surface finish. For sectors where surface integrity is critical for additional processing or the end product’s look, this service is vital.
Cutting bars ranging from ¼” to 8” thick and from ½” to 24” wide, the company offers a broad range of American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) grades to its customers. To supplement the main AISI offering, it also provides tool steels and alloys, including AISI 1045, 1060, 4340, 8620, A-2, and A-36.
A competitive edge
Guaranteeing a superior level of finish on every one of its products, Kapital’s speedy and reliable same-day response sets it apart from competitors in the market. Additionally, since Kapital’s employees have ownership holdings, they’re genuinely committed to producing outstanding results, says President and Owner Jerome E. Kusbel II.
“We’re a small to mid-size company with 15 employees, and we’re looking to grow,” he says. “But what that allows us to be is very nimble. Our sales and operations are closely connected.”
Jerome and Carter Perusich, the company’s Sales Representative, pride themselves on timely responses to all customers, no matter the question or concern. “In the spectrum of steel companies, you have quality and service and price,” says Jerome. “I’d say that if you polled our customers on our service, they would say it’s top-notch. I think we have the best service around in response time and getting things done for our customers on a timely basis.”
Price, he adds, is also vital, with the company offering “very good and competitive” prices.
Kapital Steel is still in growth mode, says Jerome—gaining market share from competitors and making plans to add both employees and machinery in the upcoming years.
There’s steel, and then there’s 4140
Renowned for its toughness, 4140 alloy steel offers high fatigue strength and resistance to wear and abrasion. Composed of manganese, molybdenum, and chromium, it provides consistent performance under stress and outstanding hardenability, as well as the capacity to withstand harsh environments.
Kapital’s 4140 alloy steel products stand out from the crowd due to their adaptability, robustness, and numerous applications. Its 4140 heat-treated, 4140 annealed, and 4140 as-rolled products offer strength and performance for automotive, tool and die, manufacturing, oil and gas, and heavy equipment. The company’s 4140 heat-treated steel (prehard) offers improved mechanical qualities, a result of carefully regulated heating and cooling procedures. Its increased strength, hardness, and resistance to wear are well suited for gears, shafts, and heavy-duty machinery components that benefit from its exceptional durability and resistance to high-impact conditions.
4140 annealed steel results from a heat treatment procedure that softens steel, increasing its ductility and making it simpler to mold and manufacture. For industries that need materials that can be readily shaped or machined before undergoing additional processing or usage, Kapital’s 4140 annealed steel products are ideal, offering a flexible choice for applications requiring malleability, such as forging and shaping.
Finally, 4140 as-rolled steel provides strength and machinability as it doesn’t require the extra heat treatments needed for other varieties, offering rollable performance for use in industrial equipment, machinery parts, and general construction.
Walking away from corporate life
“I’ve been in the steel industry my entire career,” says Jerome. “I got my start back in December of 1990, working various roles across operations, quality, and purchasing before ultimately transitioning into sales and progressing from there.” But after years of climbing the ladder within a large organization, he realized it was time for something new.
“I started to feel disconnected from the core of the business,” he explains. “The focus was shifting away from customers and more toward new corporate policies, which made it harder to do what I loved—selling steel. I was also facing challenges with support and flexibility in growing key product lines, and that became increasingly frustrating.”
Jerome realized he had to leave, and with one of his best friends—now COO at Kapital Steel, Brian Rusin—a plan was formulated and a new business, based on obtaining specialty products at a better quality, price point, and service level than customers were getting at the time, was born.
“So far, so good,” he says. “It’s been great. We’ve got about 100 active customers and they all love doing business with Kapital. I think we’ve filled that gap for what they needed in this realm.”
As a first-step metal processor, Kapital acts as an indirect intermediary between an OEM and the mill. For instance, a John Deere or a Caterpillar, while they can go directly to the mill and purchase steel, can’t usually process it down to what they need for their end use. Kapital buys the steel from the mill and processes it down to a more usable, efficient, and beneficial size for the OEM.
“We’re focusing on more of the specialty type alloy grades of steel, but our volume is lower because we don’t need to worry about selling thousands of units; that’s not our realm,” Jerome explains. “We want to focus on the people who want the specialty type items and serve that.”
Creating value
This is a niche that his company has slotted itself into nicely over the years. Clearly, Kapital is doing something right, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and proud that almost all of its customers have continually bought from the company the entire time, an admirable testament to its ongoing success.
“We sell to customers all over North and South America,” says Jerome. “For a company our size, that’s pretty huge, with customers in Mexico, Canada, probably half of the United States, the East Coast, the West Coast. Our steel travels well, because a lot of people need specialty steel and they don’t know where to get it. I think we’re in a good spot here in the Midwest.”
Embracing a philosophy centered on creating value for customers, Kapital devotes time to careful conversations in order to customize solutions to meet metallurgical requirements and tolerances, enabling trial orders to guarantee alignment with customer expectations prior to moving on with full-scale manufacturing.
The business does face some challenges, however. As a fairly small company without a full-time maintenance department, when machines go down, it’s all hands on deck, with everyone working to help in any way possible. “It’s just the nature of the beast, because we keep our equipment running 24 hours a day. That is definitely a challenge for Kapital.”
“Another challenge is trying to figure out how to right-size our inventory levels,” adds Carter. “Along with tariffs being on and off every other day; the political landscape and how it affects steel is huge.”
A standout culture
Despite these ongoing uncertainties, what helps set Kapital Steel apart within the industry—aside from its dedication to unique parts—is the company’s culture and its non-stop dedication to maintaining a healthy, thriving, and productive environment.
“We have an open-door policy here. Anybody can go to any employee at any time of the day, anytime they want, and get something done,” says Jerome. “We don’t even have an HR department; we all just get along. Everyone is simply expected to do their job and pitch in. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere.”
This commitment to a harmonious workspace even includes not micromanaging vacation days or lunch hours, while expecting all employees to work hard to ensure their jobs are done well.
In the midst of celebrating 10 successful years in business, everyone at Kapital Steel is justified in feeling a little bit proud about creating and maintaining a company that produces high-quality products while growing a culture that will likely ensure many decades of success to come. But Jerome’s attitude remains down to earth. “Whatever your idea of corporate culture is, we are the opposite of that,” he says. “We want everyone to come and go as they please and enjoy walking in the door in the morning. Do your job and get paid, as simple as that.”
