Al Mangels

Al Mangels is President of Lee Spring Company, a global manufacturer of mechanical springs, wireforms and related products that has had its headquarters in Brooklyn since 1918. Al started at Lee Spring in 1983 in production control and during his thirty plus years there worked his way up through manufacturing engineering, design engineering and management system integration until ultimately becoming President in 1999. Since then, Al has become well versed as a champion of continual improvement activities such as total quality management, lean manufacturing and business process re-engineering, and has seen the company grow to five facilities in the United States as well as having locations in Mexico, China, India and the United Kingdom. Lee Spring serves thousands of customers every year in virtually every manufacturing segment.

Al is the great-grandson of William F. Mangels, a pioneer in amusement ride manufacturing that operated in Coney Island since 1888. During his early years, Al worked in his family factory performing numerous tasks as a mechanic, machinist and carpenter as well as some of the more ancient crafts such as blacksmithing and leather crafting. He was the winner of the John C. Lackas Award as the top student with a perfect grade point average as he received his degree in Mechanical Technology from Queensborough Community College. Al has also worked as a foreman at Steinway & Sons, overseeing the installation of soundboards and strings in the production of world-class pianos.

Al has worked closely with ITAC on continual improvement and workforce development projects for 15 years and has served as a member of the ITAC Board of Directors since 2009.