A Picture of Excellence: New Castle Plant Manager Mark Brock Embraces Challenges, Solves Problems With His Talented Team

When New Castle Plant Manager Mark Brock isn’t quoting new jobs, overseeing vendor relationships or guiding the plant to ensure his team meets its goals, you can find him reading, running or walking his family’s dog, Huckleberry, around New Castle.

One of his favorite recent reads is John Steinbeck’s classic novel East of Eden.After 25 years with Grede, all at the New Castle plant about 50 miles east of Indianapolis, Mark still loves being part of the Grede family.

Formerly a metallurgical engineer and then industrial engineering manager, Mark loves working in a foundry environment.

“I have always thought that we get to be part of a pretty cool process here,” he said. “There’s a lot of interesting science and engineering that goes into the casting process.”

After joining Grede as a new graduate of Purdue University, Mark has steadily increased his responsibilities and role within the plant. “I started out making sure our chemistries were correct and that the castings met all the metallurgical requirements. But I always thought managing the plant would be both interesting and engaging.”

Mark is enjoying the daily challenges that accompany his new position. Like solving complex problems with his dedicated team.

EVERY DAY, SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Mark is enjoying the daily challenges that accompany his new position. Like solving complex problems with his dedicated team.

“We have such a great team here. Everyone is so willing to pitch in and help out,” Mark said. “I especially enjoy when we are able to put our heads together around a complex problem and find a solution that benefits everyone involved.”

A recent example comes in a scrap problem the plant was experiencing.

“We had been seeing scrap for a long time on a job and needed to figure out where it was coming from,” Mark said. “The team applied its expertise to the issue and was able to improve it greatly. It’s just one example of how talented this team is and how privileged I feel to be their plant manager.”

Many of the employees at the plant can count their tenure in decades rather than years, which is something Mark counts as a blessing.

“New Castle is a nice, small community with good, talented people. We have so many good people all throughout the foundry,” he said. “It’s especially nice when we get to recognize them for their excellence and hard work.”

One of Mark’s favorite events is the annual plant cookout. This year as in years past, he’ll help fire up the grill, flip burgers for the foundry and count himself lucky to be part of the community.

Congratulations, Mark, on your promotion! And thanks to all the talented people making a difference at Grede foundries across our footprint!