NEW YORK — Coming out of retirement to lead Sharon Tube was an easy decision for former chief executive officer William Perrine, who was recently tapped to lead the relaunch of the brand.

"It feels great to be back. This is truly my home. My father worked here in this factory before I did," Perrine told AMM.

Perrine, who started working at Sharon Tube Co. as a laborer in 1970, left in 2007 after the company was acquired by former JMC Steel Group Inc. owner Carlyle Group LP, Washington. The market leader in drawn-over-mandrel mechanical tube products was then integrated into JMC subsidiary Wheatland Tube Co.

Chicago-based JMC, now owned by the Zekelman family, has committed itself to revamping the Sharon Tube brand (amm.com, March 5). The company plans to invest $40 million in new equipment at its Sharon, Pa., plant, which will include a lubing line, a drawbench, an annealing furnace, a finishing line and a pointer that will allow the company to make drawn-over-mandrel tube measuring up to 9 inches in outside diameter with a wall thickness of 0.625 inches.

"We’re going to be commissioning equipment in a few weeks," Perrine said of the expansion, which was initially slated for completion in the first quarter of 2013 (amm.com, Aug. 9, 2011).

The new investment comes after the plant was consolidated with JMC’s Wheatland, Pa., facility due to slack demand (amm.com, Nov. 8, 2009).

Meanwhile, the drawn-over-mandrel tubing market, which is now seeing steady demand, is once again expected to strengthen as the economy improves.

"I think we’re seeing a general improvement," Perrine said. "It’s not where it has been historically, but we’re seeing strength."

The product, with its ability to satisfy "very, very tight dimensional tolerances," he said, is used in the automotive, construction and mining sectors.

JMC will once again start marketing its drawn-over-mandrel products under the Sharon Tube name starting April 1.