In 1963, Smith’s son, Don Hughes, came on board, followed by Bradley Hughes in 1996. The company remains a family affair to this day, owned and operated by the third generation.

When Bradley Hughes joined the company, he spearheaded efforts to update and modernize, and Smith Hughes expanded beyond its original business model. “I realized we were a little bit antiquated and out of date,” Hughes laughs. “I got our computers networked and got everything computerized—our inventory and all of our quoting and everything. And we started expanding, getting more service techs so we could do installation of the equipment that we sold.”

These upgrades included a new facility. “We were operating out of about 1,900 square feet, basically an office building with a small area in the back for part storage and small parts repair,” he remembers. The company moved into an 18,000-square-foot facility in 2007, which allowed the team to expand into the rental boiler market. “What we do there is we buy the equipment, we buy a shipping container, and we [put together] a complete boiler room in the shipping container,” Hughes explains.

The rental boilers have been a huge hit with customers. “These units that range in size from 30 horsepower to a couple thousand horsepower can be rolled up to a customer’s location that’s in need of temporary steam, hot water, or hot oil service,” Hughes says. “They simply roll it up next to the building, and they can use hoses that we provide to connect the steam, the water, the fuel, and electric.” If the customer wants the help, “we provide the service to pipe, install, and connect that rental unit to the building for temporary service.”

Business boomed with the addition of the rental boilers, and soon the company needed even more space. “We did run out of room pretty quickly,” says Hughes. There was no choice but to expand yet again and in December 2024, the team completed construction on a 34,000-square-foot facility to suit their specific needs. “The new building we built is for nothing but fabricating and repairing these rental boiler units.”

When asked how the company has managed to maintain success through three generations of family ownership, Bradley Hughes sites an eagerness to evolve with the marketplace and deliver a complete solution. “I think it’s our ability to adapt and change,” he says. “It’s our ability to have the full gamut of supply services, meaning anything that you can think of in a boiler room we can provide, whether it’s a small $2 part or a two and a half million-dollar piece of equipment—and all of the service and the installation, from supplying, to installing, to servicing, to upgrading, to operator training, welding repairs, and temporary equipment.”

Customers appreciate this convenient, one-stop shop approach. “Somebody makes one phone call to us, and we don’t have to defer to anybody else. We have the ability to take care of anything and everything from start to finish, front to back—anything you can come up with in the boiler room. And I think that’s what has enabled us to continue to be successful.”

This commitment to solving the customer’s problem—whatever it may be—has led to repeat business. “We’re able to get [their problem] taken care of,” Hughes says. “It may be a small thing, it may be a big thing, but either way, they understand our abilities. So they’re always going to call us back in.”

Customers are so loyal, in fact, that some have been working with the company for decades. “We still have customers that my grandfather originally sold equipment to,” Hughes says. “We’re still working on that equipment. And if we’ve upgraded and replaced the equipment, we’re the ones that supply the new replacement equipment; we’re the ones providing all the service. We have a couple of companies that were originally family owned, and now they’re in their second or third generation. I’m dealing with their grandsons just like my grandfather dealt with their grandfathers when they started the business,” he says.

“That comes back to the culture that we’ve tried so hard over the years to keep—a good culture of good people that understand that we’re in the problem-solving business,” he continues. “It can take sometimes years to acquire a customer, but it can take you 30 seconds to lose one and never get them back. So, once we have a customer and we get set up with them, we hold on to that customer for decades at a time.”

Customers are not the only people who stay with the company for the long term. “I’m lucky to have a great group of people that have been with me—some for over 20 years—and have dedicated their careers to help building the place,” Hughes says. The company is “a place designed to retire from. People get on board and stay.”

Looking ahead, Smith Hughes’ new facility will have everything the team needs to fully serve their ever-growing customer base. “We’ve got a 40-ton overhead crane,” says Hughes. “We have a ton of room for storage. We’re fabricating six, seven units at a time. We’ve got plenty of parking once we get the units built to keep them out of the way. We’ve got room to do our repairs. We’ve got a big test fire bay where we can test fire an 82.5 million BTU steam boiler that we were not able to do at the other facility.”

Never ones to rest on their laurels, the team plans to expand their rental fleet even more in the future, which is not a simple endeavor. “It takes quite a bit of funding and a lot of effort and planning,” Hughes tells us. “You know, these things, you’re not buying them off the shelf. You’ve got to buy all the raw components and put them all together. So, that takes engineered drawings, and that takes scheduling of equipment being delivered, and parts being available, and then the actual fabricating process. So, my goal in the future is to continuously streamline our manufacturing process so that we can turn around these units at a much quicker pace to keep up with the market demand.”

After nearly 80 years in business, Smith Hughes continues to push forward and leave its mark on the industry. “We’re making some waves and have a really good market share and a grasp on the market across the country,” Bradley Hughes says. With a solid legacy in place, the market leadership of this third-generation company is bound to endure far into the future.

The post 80 Years of Success<p class="company">Smith Hughes Company</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Prior to the founding of Dethmers Manufacturing Company (Demco), Robert Dethmers and his father owned and operated Dethmers Implement, a farm equipment dealership. Dethmers Manufacturing company was launched on this site. Still in business nearly three quarters of a century after its founding, today Demco manufactures the highest quality agriculture equipment, semi-trailers, RV towing products, and trailer components.

The company’s focus has evolved over the decades, but the family tradition continues, with Koerselman’s son, JC, currently serving as Managing Director. How has the company managed to succeed into the fourth generation, when so many other businesses fail to make that leap? One secret is that successors must earn their place. It has never been a given that the next generation would reap the benefits of the previous generation’s labor.

Robert Koerselman made sure that the fourth generation of the family explored other options first, gaining real-life experience and strengthening their work ethic. “You’re going to go out and grow your roots elsewhere and learn business,” he told them. “If the fourth generation wants to be involved, they would be given an opportunity to get involved, but only after they’ve been able to provide growth opportunity in a different industry, with a different job first.”

Then, after a new generation commits, they are treated like anyone else. “No guarantees that an opportunity to work at Demco means that you’re going to own shares,” Koerselman says. “And [being] an owner doesn’t give you any special privileges.”

Throughout Demco’s long history, the company culture has remained a critical component, uniting multiple generations. “We’re very focused on faith,” says Koerselman. “We’re a faith-based company.” This faith is reflected in the team’s ongoing commitment to the community. “We are very community minded, and so there have been a lot of projects that we get involved in, whether it’s economic development, our high schools, or trade schools.”

With community ties stretching back to the 1930s, the team is eager to maintain those connections in the future. “We’re committed to passing this on to the fourth generation, keeping it in these communities that we’re involved in, and continuing to support the communities in many different ways,” Koerselman says.

This community spirit isn’t just outward facing. “There are communities inside the building where we build teams,” says Mark Nilles, Vice President of Operations. “Every one of them knows the ownership. They know who they are; they’re involved. And that’s just a good feeling when you bring people into the company. I have my son working here. So does [Director of Sales] Benji [Vande Griend], and you wouldn’t do that if you weren’t comfortable. So that environment that we’re talking about—that community environment, that family environment—is throughout the company internally and externally.”

Demco’s diverse portfolio across a wide range of industries is another secret to success. The team pursued this diversity in order to survive a difficult time that affected the agricultural industry nationwide. “It really came out of the 1980s farm crisis, and it was at that point that we got into these various industries besides just agriculture,” Vande Griend explains.

“The diversity helps us in sales,” adds Nilles. “If one product line or market is down but another is up, that helps us keep going.”

Another advantage is that employees have an opportunity to work across a wide variety of operations. “Internally, we’ve really focused on cross-training people,” says Nilles. “So it’s helped us in that we don’t have one person stuck at one machine doing one thing all the time. We could have them building grain carts and building couplers. Our workforce is very diverse; they don’t get stuck in one area. They get to branch out, find what they love, and work in multiple areas. We have a wide variety of aspects with different challenges to keep them motivated. So it’s very good for our workforce as well.”

The company’s products break down into four broad categories: one is RV towing, which includes tow dollies, tow bars, fifth wheel hitches, tow bar baseplates, braking systems for towed vehicles, and frame bracket kits.

Another sales category covers trailer components. This includes everything from trailer couplers, trailer brake actuators, and jacks to trailer tongues, spare tire mounts, and safety cables. A lot of these products are sold directly to trailer manufacturers.

True to its roots, the company still provides a wide range of agricultural equipment made for any size of farming operation, available in a variety of sizes and models. “That’s a number of products—anything from sprayers to tractor-mounted tanks, grain carts, gravity flow wagons, header transport trailers for hauling combine heads, tip-ups and tank extensions that go on the combine to hold more grain—all products focused on the farmers—grain farmers mainly,” says Vande Griend.

The team’s expertise in agricultural grain trailers has expanded to cover the broader semi-trailer category, and these trailers have successfully moved Demco into new industries. For example, the side dump trailer has a variety of uses, “anything from hauling product out of mines to hauling gravel, sand, dirt—lots of types of products,” says Vande Griend. “Then we also have a steel drop deck trailer which, again, has various usages in various industries, from farming to construction.” Demco’s gondola trailer, another diverse product, hauls scrap, “so that puts us into the scrap industry, hauling scrap out of scrapyards.”

Demco also operates a rental side of the business, which provides trailers and dollies for well-known companies such as Penske.

The team is committed to providing the highest quality product and service to every market they serve. “It goes along with our mission statement of doing our best to provide the best,” says Koerselman. “Whether it’s designing product, building product, doing customer service, working trade shows, or being an employer, we are doing our best… We’re not suggesting that there’s perfection within Demco, but there is a high expectation to do our best and define what that best is. And so we work very hard at doing that.”

“The mindset of the company, the mindset of the ownership, is continuous improvement,” Nilles agrees. “Our best always gets better if we never stop focusing on improving, challenging ourselves every day on all processes.”

A strong focus on customer service is a critical component of this commitment. “We try to set ourselves apart, along with high-quality products, by having personable customer service,” says Nilles. “So, as an example of that, when our customers call into Demco, they get a person. They do not get a machine—they get our receptionist, and she will ask a couple of questions to make sure that we’re going to get them to the right team member that can help that customer out.”

The company is eyeing expansion as it looks to the future. “We have a strong desire to continue to grow market share,” Koerselman says. Management is always asking, ‘are we offering the right products? Are there holes in our offering within this given industry? What do we need to do to fill that gap?’”

To ensure the company can fill those gaps, “We’re investing in more engineering resources, trying to get our project timeframes shorter so that, when we do get involved in an engineering project, that time to market is shorter,” Koerselman says. “And we get very intentional with that, knowing that if we can be there quicker than our competition, then we’re ahead of our competition. And we’ve got a lot of good competitors in all of our industries.”

With such strong competition, this team will have to stay at the top of their game. But, after 61 years in business, they are more than prepared for the challenge. “Our focus is to try to be an industry leader within all of our industries,” Koerselman says. “If we can accomplish that, there’s tremendous growth for us.”

The post A Fourth-Generation Family Success Story<p class="company">Demco</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The company has been growing successfully ever since, making a name for itself by delivering innovative solutions for unmet needs. After profiling the rising star in 2023, Manufacturing in Focus is checking back in this month to hear the company’s latest news.

Wieland Healthcare’s focus continues to be on providing the most durable and reliable solution—and making sure that solution best fits the patient’s needs. The team’s relatively new Soul collection, which includes the Soul mate and Soul sofa, has proven to be a hit. “It’s our most recent, most innovative product offering that we’ve introduced to the market,” says Market Manager Emily Wentz.

The Soul sofa is a multifunctional unit with an open base and legs that are tall enough for the Soul mate to slide underneath for storage. This companion piece functions as an ottoman and nightstand, or can be unfolded to transform into a rolling chair, allowing families to sit closer to their loved ones.

The Accord collection is another popular Wieland Healthcare offering. In a signature, patient-first move, the team has added more options to its Accord recliner, which has been on the market for about a decade and is ideal for patients receiving infusions. “We’ve added things like heat and massage and a fold-down table that gives the nurse, the caretaker, or even the patient an extra surface to work from or to set their tablets or personal belongings on,” Wentz explains. “And then we’ve also implemented power options—places for you to plug in your tablet or your phone while you’re sitting there getting treatment.”

To get these additions just right, the team listened carefully to patient feedback and responded. “In all that we do, everything is based on Voice of Customer research, making sure that we’re doing the right thing, that we’re solving problems and not creating more problems,” says Wentz. Wieland took the entire picture into consideration and recognized that patients will be in the Accord recliner for the entire duration of an infusion; this means paying attention to details such as “the placement of where the power plug is and the kind of massage that’s implemented into the chair—making sure that the heat doesn’t get too hot for the oftentimes fragile patients that are sitting in the seat. We’ve also made the seat and the back more comfortable, considering that people are going to be sitting in these chairs longer than they might if they were just in a typical [healthcare] environment, where you see most recliners. We’ve made sure that the seat and the back are much more comfortable to sit for longer periods of time.”

The company’s specially designed sleep sofa, which gives families the opportunity to spend days as well as nights at their loved one’s bedside, remains popular. The sleepToo sofa includes an adjustable table so that family members don’t have to leave the patient’s room to eat. And the table-couch combo transforms into a bed with a simple push of a button.

Wieland Healthcare has consistently been ranked as one of the top ten manufacturers serving the acute healthcare market. “We’re incredibly proud to be among them,” Wentz says. “I think that we’ve earned our place in the industry based on [our] warranty and product reliability. That’s always been a key factor in our success. We stand behind our products… If it’s broken, we’ll fix it. It’s just that simple. And I think it says a lot about our commitment to being reliable and it fosters trust with our customers. They keep coming back.”

This strong focus on customer service ensures that customers are taken care of throughout a product’s lifecycle. “When you become a customer of Sauder Manufacturing, the Wieland brand specifically, you’re part of the family from the moment that you purchase a product all the way through its life,” says Wentz. “We’re going to be there with you every step of the way. If you have an issue, you know you can always count on us. Call customer care, and they’re going to connect you to the right person. You’re going to be taken care of when you have a Wieland product in your facility.”

Of course, a continuously evolving market has been one of the challenges the company has faced on its road to success. “Since COVID, this market, this industry, has been ever-changing,” Wentz tells us, and paying attention to customer research has been key to overcoming this challenge. In fact, this “has always been the backbone of everything that we do: actively listening to what’s going on in the market—with our customers, with nurses, and with our designers and even the dealers, our distribution channels. It’s about making sure that we’re actively listening to feedback directly from each of those individuals and then taking what we’re hearing and applying it directly to the products that we’re trying to get to market.”

The company even has a program dedicated to gathering and listening to customer feedback. “We’ve just hired someone new to help us maintain that and keep it sustainable. It’s not just sending out surveys and emails, but it’s going to the customer on-site—visiting their facilities, going to trade shows throughout the country, nurse shows, design shows, healthcare facility shows—to get at every angle and extract as much information as possible.”

Continuous improvement is currently a key focus for the company. “A lot of times, you’ll hear continuous improvement or CI, and sometimes it can be just a buzzword, but here we literally live and breathe continuous improvement,” Wentz says. “We have people dedicated to that in those programs, from holding Kaizen events, to lean practices, to filling out A3s for [problems]. We’re continuously trying to improve things and not just on the production floor, but even in the office, in our marketing processes, and in our customer care processes. Because we realize that ultimately, that’s what’s going to satisfy the customer. If we can improve ourselves here, it’s going to trickle down to our customer too.”

Not content to rest on their laurels, the team has more solutions in the works for the near future. “We are looking at launching a couple of new products, one of which is another recliner option,” Wentz shares. She can’t release too much information about this exciting development just yet, but the product is sure to hit home with patients and providers alike. “As always, the goal is to solve problems with the patients and the caretakers. That is, of course, our main goal.”

After three decades of delivering innovative, patient-centered solutions, the Wieland Healthcare team is more than ready to keep meeting this goal.

The post Healthcare Furniture That Puts Patients First<p class="company">Wieland Healthcare</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The company’s history goes all the way back to 1949, when Sonny Fazio launched a small car wash business in the Boston area. After realizing that car wash parts were too expensive, Fazio sold his operation and turned his attention to tackling the problem. “He started a new company, just selling parts into the car wash industry,” Smulski says. “He ended up building his business into a car wash parts business, which was then built into a manufacturing company, because he had such great relationships and understood what customers were looking for.”

By the early 1980s, the company was building its own equipment in Tamarac, Florida. “They sourced everything and designed it,” says Smulski. “Since that time until now, they’ve been building car wash tunnels—the industry’s highest quality.”

Maintaining control of the operation gives the team the ability to deliver this personalized, high-quality solution. “We do all of our own engineering, manufacturing, and design—all based out of [Tamarac] today.” What began as a humble startup now employs over 1,500 people throughout North America.

The core principles that built Sonny’s Enterprises continue to guide the company to this day. “We say the goal of our business is to make car washing easier and that’s really what is at the heart of what we do as a company,” says Smulski. “It really starts at taking a look at who our customer is and what we can do to help make their life easier, make their job easier—everything that they need to accomplish on a day-in, day-out basis at a car wash.”

Providing a total solution is key to meeting customers’ needs, so the team has worked hard to make this possible. “Over the course of the last five to eight years, we’ve made a multitude of acquisitions,” Smulski explains. “And the acquisitions have been really centered around providing a complete solution for anyone who wants to get into the car wash business, all the way through helping them operate and the preventative maintenance side of the business.”

This complete solution begins with support from the consulting services division. “You contact them, they guide you through how to select the site, how to develop a car wash, what type of permitting process to go through. From there, we take it to our sales team where they’ll develop the equipment, help you understand what needs to happen, and understand the type of environment that you’re in. They’ll walk you through the complete engineering of a solution that allows you to wash cars and also understand what you’re doing from a controls and technology perspective.”

And the support doesn’t stop there. The company provides marketing services as well as guidance to help customers “understand their point-of-sale systems, the customer relationship management within given markets,” Smulski explains. “We have over 6,000 customers throughout North America and we have a good knowledge base of what it takes to run a successful car wash.”

The company boasts a unique training system to spread this knowledge. “We provide training through the industry’s first car wash college,” he says. “When someone’s deciding that they want to open up a car wash, they can send their employees to us. We will train them in how to run an effective wash, how to work the equipment, how to maintain the equipment, how to do better business; basically, everything from soup to nuts. Everything we do is based on the customer and helping make them successful, because we feel if the customer is successful, then we will ultimately be successful.”

Sonny’s Enterprises is at the forefront of car wash technology. “About 10, 12 years ago, we started our technology journey around integrating computers and systems into the car wash,” Smulski says. “We have a complete controls system that will help turn things on or off inside of the car wash, measure the amount of chemical that’s being put onto a car… Things that were done manually, we are now automating.”

Around two years ago, Sonny’s Enterprises invested in a new software platform to take operations to the next level. “Quivio is an ecosystem for the car wash operator that has over 25 different apps that allow a car wash operator to see into varying parts of their business and to start to link things through generative AI,” Smulski explains. “We do everything from HR management to customer relationship management; basically, any tool that they would have today, we can start putting that data together through our Quivio platform. Currently, it’s really focused on marketing and helping our customers increase their membership, hold their members longer, and increase their average ticket price. But we’ll be moving into other forays as we continue to invest in that technology journey.”

The team is currently working on the next technological advancement to improve the customer experience. “We’re developing on-site edge computing systems that allow people to bring the experience closer to the customer. So instead of having to use a touch screen or wait for someone whenever you’re driving up in your car, we’ve now put the power of an iPad in front of a customer with mobile point of sale systems. You can talk to a customer and engage with them while they’re at the car wash and waiting, to help improve their experience. Where it used to be just a standard pay station, now everything is mobile, which allows our operators to better engage their customers.”

Manufacturing efficiency is another critical company focus. “Well over a decade ago, Sonny’s started to implement lean processes into the manufacturing sites to help improve the output,” Smulski says. “Then in 2020 through 2023, there was such a huge ramp up of demand, we went through another wave of efficiency projects.” These projects have brought the plant’s layout and operations into alignment with the Kaizen method of lean manufacturing. “We’ve hired operational experts that came in from the automotive industry. They’re instituting the Toyota Manufacturing Systems process and doing a lot of things that are helping us improve, to become more efficient, and to provide a better quality product, but also drive down the cost through cutting out waste within our system.”

Now, after decades of success, the team is carefully planning its next steps. “Number one is continuing on the technology journey that we’re on today,” says Smulski. Overall, the long-term goal will be to keep providing the best solution for car wash operators. “Ultimately, we want to continue to maintain our industry-leading market share, continue to grow the business, and to expand into other markets like convenience and gas and start to understand how we can deliver and help increase the car wash and consumer experience.”

Armed with a track record of industry-leading solutions, this goal is well within reach for the car wash people.

The post The Car Wash People<p class="company">Sonny’s Enterprises</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The company’s new hybrid offerings were first launched in conjunction with software company Autodesk. “Autodesk had reached out to Haas Automation, which we’re a distributor of in our commercial and federal business,” says Hybrid General Manager Brian Kristaponis. “Haas didn’t have a hybrid offering. They knew that Phillips was involved with additive and kind of made the connection, and then we decided to work with Autodesk to build them a machine.”

After building for Autodesk, the team recognized that there was a wider market available to them. “We realized there was interest from the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, so we built a smaller sister machine to the first Autodesk machine,” says Kristaponis. The product was an immediate success. “The Navy followed up with additional orders and is now currently our largest customer.”

This success motivated the team to create more of these systems. Soon, they needed to launch a standalone business unit inside of Phillips Corporation to meet demand from a range of customers within the Department of Defense, commercial industry, and academia. Today, the division supplies around 60 systems across various markets.

The Phillips Corporation advantage
The hybrid team’s complete service approach plays a critical role when it comes to customer satisfaction. “Our hybrid team is very unique,” Kristaponis says, due to their ability to deliver a full, turnkey solution. “We start from the software side, on to building the machine, and to training the customer. Our hand is in every step that a customer [needs to follow] to make them successful. A lot of resellers may have some loose arrangement with a software partner; we’re developing the actual post processor, the converter file. We’re developing the machine simulation and training the customer. We’re the one-stop solution with this technology, and I don’t think anyone else does that.”

“We’re not just there to install the machine,” adds Hybrid Sales Manager Alex Potts. “We install, we cover training, and we’re always here for support both remotely and, if need be, we can always come back to site. Every one of our hybrid applications engineers is well versed in at least one programming CAD/CAM software suite; most have two or three under their belt. So just having that versatility and ability to work with pretty much any customer [differentiates the company]. We have somebody who’s an expert with that program to help them.”

Having experts who are well versed in both additive and subtractive technologies streamlines the customer experience. Rather than sending two separate application engineers onsite, the team need only send one expert. “Having one person to do both simplifies the process,” Kristaponis says. “Because if you had two separate trainers to train on these systems, there’s always going to be some lack of continuity between those trainings. Having the same person with experience in both really helps our customers learn these systems.”

Target markets
Education is one of several target markets for hybrid additive solutions. “A lot of universities are doing research, often in conjunction with the Department of Defense, and so using a hybrid system allows them to process different wire materials and in some cases, powder,” Potts explains. Phillips’ Laser-Powder Hybrid system gives researchers the advanced technology they need, including the ability to control different variables on the laser and mixing materials to create functionally gradient alloys (FGAs).

The company’s hybrid systems can also be used to give students hands-on experience. Vocational schools as well as four-year colleges can utilize Phillips’ Wire-Arc Hybrid, which combines CNC and welding capabilities, to train future workers.

The Department of Defense is another key target for the company’s solutions. “The DoD is really interested in deployable systems,” shares Kristaponis. Phillips’ hybrid systems use commercially available wire that “can be found anywhere in the world,” he continues. “If you’re in a base in the Middle East, commercially available welding wire is there. If you’re in South Africa, you know it’s there. It doesn’t matter where we’re at in the world, we can find commercially available wire—and that’s not true when you talk about other additive manufacturing technologies.”

Equally important is that Phillips’ systems use commercially available welding gas, rather than the ultra-high purity requirements often seen in other additive metal processes. “So logistically, the items that we need to make parts can be found anywhere in the world,” Kristaponis says.

The ruggedness of the system also comes into play, especially with the Wire-Arc product. “You’re not worried too much about contamination,” says Hybrid Applications Manager Randy Behm. The Department of Defense needs “to have a robust, reliable product that’s going to work where it’s needed.”

Another advantage is that Phillips’ hybrid division “can scale into large parts,” Kristaponis says. “We can scale this indefinitely.”

Ease of use is another major factor. “The military already has programs and specialists who are focused on machining,” Behm points out. “They’re already very familiar with Haas and that interface, and we’re building on that foundation.” This reliable foundation combined with traditional manufacturing workflow makes it easy for newcomers to get the hang of the system. “Being able to have it on a platform that’s easily learnable and have as much of that knowledge transferable as possible is important for the DoD,” he says.

Overall, Phillips’ hybrid solutions increase military readiness by decreasing the lead time to source material and manufacture parts. In addition, the military can “manufacture these parts without reliance on outside entities, without having to get castings from another country,” Behm says. “We’re realizing that now we need to be able to make things without relying on other countries, specifically for military applications.”

The hybrid division thus offers a full suite of solutions to meet the needs of diverse sectors. So how do customers determine which approach best suits their application? “One of the things we added to our website is essentially a tool that customers can fill out to help make the decision, or at least introduce them to the right path,” Kristaponis tells us. The tool considers everything from which feature size is ideal for the application to how fast the deposition rate needs to be.

Most importantly, it considers what type of material the part needs to be made from. “That usually dictates what technology they should go with,” Kristaponis says. “That would be the first parameter. The second parameter would be part size. And with those two, [the customer] usually can make a decision of what technology makes the most sense.”

Looking ahead
The team is eager to continue innovating. As the market evolves, Phillips Corporation plans to evolve right along with it, partnering with the latest technology to meet customers’ most pressing needs. Since the hybrid division’s current solutions “stem from a request from a customer to build [them] a machine,” the team is already experienced with this responsive approach. “We’re always listening to our customers and understanding what needs they have of the system, and we’ll change and adapt and meet those needs,” says Kristaponis.

The company also plans to continue focusing on the education sector. “We’re working with research [efforts] in universities to create curriculum, to train individuals. And that’s what we need to do as a company: train more people in how to run these machines effectively, because this is essentially a niche product right now.”

With the hybrid division leading the charge, these solutions are not likely to stay niche for long. “We believe that it’s going to be a mainstream manufacturing process,” Kristaponis says. “It might not be in 2025, it might not be in 2030, but we do believe that it’s coming and we need to do a better job in getting these systems out and training customers to make real parts on these systems.”

As these systems increase in popularity, Phillips Corporation will be supporting customers every step of the way, leading the market into the next era of additive manufacturing.

The post A New Era of Hybrid Manufacturing<p class="company">Phillips Corporation</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, this veteran-owned and woman-owned business supplies high-reliability components and superior supply-chain solutions for the aerospace and defense sectors. The company offers a wide variety of specific services, including inspection and analysis, ASIC programs, IT foundry services, test services, and aerospace and defense programs, as well as a number of custom services.

New Space is the term for the emerging private space industry. This entrepreneurial space race is expanding rapidly, and the opportunities are abundant. “New Space is just the most booming part of the industry there is,” McCurdy says. “The number of satellites going up in constellations—it’s literally crowded up there.” A constellation refers to artificial satellites that are working together in a system.

The players have to be at the cutting edge of the industry to maintain a position in the dynamic, rapidly evolving New Space race. “They’re agile,” she states. “They’re super-fast to market.”

Naturally, data collection is a major part of the industry. For example, around a decade ago, Spirit Electronics was involved in a program to utilize constellations to track “any aircraft that’s not on the ground,” McCurdy shares. “As soon as it’s in the air, whether it’s a two-seat Cessna or a Boeing 777, this constellation tracks it now.”

Today, the industry is working to apply the same technology to the maritime sector. “It is currently one of the most unregulated things that we have,” she says. For example, if “you’ve got a big barge or a carrier coming over from Europe to America with cars on it, and they lose AIS on it, they can’t find it.” This means that anyone trying to track the vessel is completely in the dark. It is impossible to know what might have happened. “Did it get hit by a big wave? Is it lost? Did it sink?” In other situations, vessels go off the grid intentionally. They “turn their AIS off because they don’t want to be tracked,” McCurdy notes.

Utilizing New Space to keep tabs on the movement of vessels at sea will be a game changer. “All of these things in the maritime sector are going to get a little bit more oversight from the world, to know where the shipping lanes are, which ship is where. You can look at that as a classic data collection constellation that’s going up to try to help the maritime community.”

This is just one sector impacted by New Space. “It’s happening in everything,” McCurdy says. “Forestry, water management, oceanography—all these things are what New Space is tackling.”

McCurdy has been at the forefront of supporting New Space as the industry develops. “I was on a panel with the Greater Phoenix Economics Council and some of the other primes like Northrop, Boeing, Raytheon, et cetera, really discussing what is needed to support this New Space defense market out here from an education standpoint and trying to bring [new talent] into play,” she shares.

This enthusiasm is seen throughout America, particularly when it comes to encouraging the next generation to enter the field. “Every state is doing something from an educational standpoint to try to get young kids and new college students to say, ‘hey, I would like to have this career field, because it’s exciting,’” she says. “All of these options are out there, but it’s really lacking human resources right now, and there’s a lot going on to try to bolster that.”

Spirit Electronics works hard to stay at the forefront of opportunities in New Space. For instance, in partnership with the Arizona Commerce Authority, Spirit and a few other primes are headed to the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Scandinavia to undertake “an exchange of ideas [regarding] New Space and semiconductor capabilities [with] potential business partners. And we’ve already been going down this road this year. We have several companies in Europe now that are working with us to bring their products to the U.S. for the New Space market specifically—they don’t know how to enter it. We ended up doing some of the manufacturing in the back end so that they have some ‘Made in the USA’ capabilities. There’s a big push for companies [outside of the U.S.] to try to get into this market.”

Speaking of Spirit’s capabilities, ASIC is an acronym for Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ICs). These computer chips use multiple circuits, allowing custom programming for specific tasks. Customers choose Spirit Electronics to supply their ASIC solutions for several reasons: “One is cost, and one is securing their supply chain,” says McCurdy.

Larger companies are focused on bringing new technology to the marketplace, so it does not always make sense for them to continue to manufacture older product lines. “They’re always moving forward,” she says. “They’re churning out all the latest technology.” She uses an iPhone as an example. “With iPhones, literally every six months they’re putting something new on the market, but in order to do that, you need new technology, new cameras, higher speed—all these things.”

To be sure, not all customers are able to advance that quickly. “The aerospace and defense market actually doesn’t move at that kind of commercial pace, and they always lag in technology slightly, not because our airplanes or our jet fighters are not current… It’s because they don’t want to change the electronics once they’ve qualified them. Just imagine if you had to change something on some heat-seeking missiles, then you’ve got to shoot a bunch of them off to guarantee that it works again; in other words, you’ve got to requalify it. So the military always lags, and then because of that, they want the supply chain to be 20 years long.”

On the other hand, when it comes to the commercial space, “that product line is maybe a year or two long,” she points out. Customers in aerospace and defense, who need a longer life cycle for their supply chain, turn to Spirit Electronics, and, in doing so, take advantage of the customization the team offers. “All of a sudden, you have this very sophisticated chip that now will help them secure their supply chain for the next 20 years, plus it has added technology [that] actually enhances what they had originally.”

Certainly, Spirit Electronics is always moving forward. Quick to take advantage of foundry consolidation within the industry, the company now offers foundry services in collaboration with Texas Instruments, and this access is only the beginning. Spirit continues to grow and adapt to best meet its customers’ needs. “We have been in acquisition mode here the last couple of years,” McCurdy tells us. “The one piece we have missing in the entire ecosystem is assembly. So we’re trying hard to get some assembly in-house, and we’re hoping to do that so we can package up our own silicon and manage the complete turnkey process as opposed to outsourcing that one small thing.”

With such a strong track record and focused strategy, Spirit Electronics is sure to meet that goal—and plenty more. As it does, Manufacturing in Focus will continue to keep an eye on this market-leading company.

The post Advanced Solutions<p class="company">Spirit Electronics</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The company’s story began 40 years ago, when Wesley and Donette Ames took a risk and launched their own business. “They started in the basement of their house, building dies,” says his son-in-law, President Jeff Williams.

It was not always easy, but the founder and his family stuck it out. This meant making production work in a less-than-ideal location. For example, when regrinding parts, “it made such a loud noise, his wife would have to cut the grass so the neighbors wouldn’t complain,” Williams shares. “He had a lot of good help, and he has a very pure work ethic.”

After putting in the time and effort, Mr. Ames was able to move the startup to its own building in 1984. The Hershey, Pennsylvania-based business grew steadily from there, winning over customers along the way and adding its own private brand in 2017.

“The rest is history,” says Williams. “I consider it the American dream. Achieving something like this is difficult nowadays, especially without financial support. They did everything on their own. Lenders refused to give him a loan because they didn’t believe his dream was realistic. So, he had to save and buy all the equipment himself.”

Even after 40 years in business, several family members remain involved working closely together. “It’s a tight-knit family,” says Williams. Alongside their can-do attitude, he attributes the company’s success to a strong management team and a commitment to customers and employees, as well as delivering exceptional service in design, molding, and customer service.

This commitment has helped the company succeed by building a respected name in the industry. “Our reputation and ability to pivot has carried us through some hard times here and continues to help us grow,” he says.

Ames Industries’ success is driven by its ability to provide customized solutions to a diverse customer base. The company offers end-to-end design and development services for injection-molded components, turning customers’ unique visions into reality while ensuring designs are optimized for manufacturing. With expertise in building high-quality molds and tooling in-house, the team maintains greater control over production and delivers faster response times.

The company has a carefully managed, streamlined process to make it easy for customers to transfer an existing mold to Ames’ facility without any complications, and it utilizes an advanced, FDM 3D printer for rapid and low-volume prototyping. As well as custom injection molding services, the company offers a number of post-processing services, including assembly, welding, and packaging, delivering a complete, hassle-free solution.

With so much to offer, it is no surprise that Ames serves a wide range of industries. “Our core competency is close tolerance connector molds for the automotive, industrial, appliance, and medical industries but, over the past decade, [we have] gotten to the point where we will mold any thermoplastic that fits our press base,” says Vice President Nathan Waiwada. “We will do everything from cornhole levelers to dental scalers and small arms. It’s very diverse.”

Ames is adept at handling out-of-the-ordinary requests. For example, the company recently made a model of a tongue for a dentist to use for training purposes. “We’ve brought her concepts to life,” says Williams. The team also makes products for people developing their own products. “We have a few entrepreneurs here as customers,” he adds.

At Ames Industries, the customer’s needs always come first. “We’re a contract manufacturer, a custom molder,” says Williams. “Whether an individual comes to us with an idea or a larger client wants to transfer or build molds, we work with them. It’s their intellectual property—we collaborate on mold building and design, then manufacture and inspect the parts according to their specifications.”

Creating a custom product naturally involves continuous communication with the customer. “One of the biggest challenges of being a custom manufacturer is not only delivering a quality part every time but also maintaining strong relationships,” says Williams. The company has been remarkably successful in doing just that.

“Our longest-standing customer has been with us for 40 years—they were among the first molds we ever produced. We also have a few other clients approaching the 30-year mark, along with newer ones who have been with us for just a few years. It’s all about building rapport so they keep coming back and saying, ‘Hey, we have this new idea.’”

Ames is committed to maintaining high standards to retain existing customers and attract new opportunities. The company earned its ISO 9001:2015 certification in August 2008 and continues to improve on its processes. “We run a tight ship when it comes to quality. We understand the challenges that arise when quality escape occurs, and we do everything possible to address the situation when it happens and endeavor to improve on the process, but we also take responsibility and work closely with customers to keep their operations running smoothly and their clients satisfied.”

The company is now gearing up for continued growth to meet increasing customer demand. Its expansion plans, however, faced some setbacks during the pandemic. “Before COVID, we had an ambitious plan to expand across the street,” Waiwada explains. “The site includes seven acres and the potential for an additional 50,000-square-foot building. We even modified the driveway for higher occupancy in preparation for construction. But once COVID hit, everything came to a standstill.”

The team is pivoting in the face of the challenges that COVID presented to the expansion. “We have to expand,” Waiwada says, “because we’re currently limited at 40,000 square feet, which is a combination of both buildings: 30,000 in plant one, 10,000 in plant two. At this point, we can’t add additional presses, so our capacity is inherently constrained. If we really want continued growth past a certain threshold—which we established a few years ago—then we need to change our current business model as a whole or expand our capacity. So I think long-term expansion is going to be critical for continued growth.”

With four decades of success already under its belt, this family-owned business has the experience and momentum to successfully expand in order to provide the customized solutions that have earned Ames Industries its place in the market. We look forward to seeing what comes next.

The post Customized Solutions for Customer Needs<p class="company">Ames Industries</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Being family-owned has a deep impact on the company culture. Founder Erdman Epp prioritized hard work and an attention to detail, values he instilled in his staff and family members. “There is a really strong focus on the people that we have on our team,” says Communications Manager Elly Pimentel. Chief Executive Officer David Epp “knows every single person’s name at the factory, which is an astounding feat,” she continues, “and that dedication toward the team and keeping the team sustained is what allows the company to have longevity.”

“The foundation of the company was based on the building of people as much as it was building a product,” adds Vice President of Operations Claus Schroeder.

Another foundation for success has been a “continuous improvement mindset,” he says. “We’re never satisfied until good is better and better is best, and those fundamentals, I think, really help the durability of the organization and attract people that are like-minded.”

Adventurer Manufacturing has just opened a new panel facility. The upgrade came after a close study of the company’s value stream, a map of its processes, and an identifying of opportunities. “Primarily, quality control and material productivity were the two highlights that we identified in the original assessment of the panel operations,” Schroeder says, “and then we were fortunate enough to find a really good facility that checks all the boxes and takes us to what I would call world-class manufacturing infrastructure.”

The company has embraced lean methods “to ensure proper material [flow], proper people flow, to reduce the seven wastes of an operation, and then streamline that and guarantee that we approach that generational target that we’ve set for ourselves as far as the durability of the product and the integrity of the product,” he says.

In addition, the company’s main campus was recently modernized. This includes an addition of approximately 40,000 square feet with 30-foot ceilings. The company has also replaced all the lighting in the facility with LED fixtures “to provide a really good, bright workplace,” says Schroeder. “Air quality is 100 percent better now that we’ve got proper air ventilation. We’ve done a lot of the [lean] structuring of flow of tools and materials.”

And these efforts for improvement will continue. “Now that we have moved out the panel operations from the main site, we have more room, and we’re looking at reconfiguring the production line to further apply some of the lean methods for material flow. We are adopting a lot of the best practices from the industry for just-in-time materials so we have low inventory values and proper workflow, so the productivity of the team is optimized.”

As the manufacturer of the industry-leading Adventurer and Scout brands, the company is committed to producing the highest quality, most user-friendly product possible. “I think one of the universal elements that span both the Scout line and our Adventurer product offerings is sourcing all of our materials [to] provide the highest level of quality right out of the box,” says Pimentel, noting that the team is thoughtful in selecting its vendor partners and obtaining all components that will go into the campers.

Of course, a superior design is also crucial to success. “The customer really does appreciate the simple, uncomplicated approach to design components and overall user experience,” says Director of Marketing Lewis Abercrombie. “That is a big element that we really lean into and is a key driver in product development and engineering, and we see that reflected in what our customer values. Within the truck camper category, Scout stands out aesthetically. When you see a Scout, it is notably different than other offerings in the market today. That is a key point that I think is resonating with the customer—the overall aesthetic and design of the product itself.”

The company’s commitment doesn’t end after the customer drives away with a new camper; customers are more than “just a sale.” Instead, the team makes sure “that the ownership is equally supported and enjoyable,” Pimentel says. “That is something that I think differentiates Scout and Adventurer.”

“We place a lot of focus on the ownership experience,” she says. “If you go to the Adventurer Manufacturing Google page, comment after comment—especially in these last few years—speaks to the ease of ownership and the support that our team offers.”

The company is actively cultivating strong relationships with dealers as well as with customers. “We are a dealer-based business model,” says Pimentel. “We manufacture, and we rely on a network of highly capable, very well-trusted dealers, and growing that network as well is going to be key to our continued growth.”

Scout Campers recently added a new popup series, and two additional popup models are planned for release in the coming months. “We are moving into that space from having a strong history in the hard-walled camper [side of] the industry,” she shares.

“That’s really the core focus,” Abercrombie explains. “We do have exciting model year updates coming for our hard-walled campers, but that popup category is really something that we’re investing in, really expanding our popup product offering… There has been a lot of anticipation and interest from the customer in this popup category. It is definitely more of a compact version that offers some versatility, so we are really excited to bring that on board.”

Looking ahead, continuous improvement means not only streamlining procedures and eliminating waste, “but also continuing to strive for what’s best,” says Pimentel. “I don’t think that our ability to imagine or our ability to develop product is going to slow down. I think that we are going to continue to see our user base grow in impactful ways because that user base is also supported by a very strong and vibrant community.”

“When I look to Adventurer’s future, I see one that is very supportive in the outdoor industry and aligned with community, building the kind of community that you would want to bring your family into, where you feel safe and you feel that no matter how you grow as a consumer, as a user of the product, that we are there to grow with you,” she adds.

When it comes to product innovation, “we will continue to offer new and exciting products that are going to meet our customers’ needs and that might expand our line into new categories,” says Abercrombie. “We are open and always keeping an eye on how we can best serve our customer and the market, and how we deliver that within our product lines. So we always have an eye toward potentially modifying and expanding into new areas and then, additionally, on just the overall experience. We are looking ahead over the horizon and thinking about how we can create branded experiences that our customers can visit in person.”

After a more than half a century as a family-owned business, Adventurer Manufacturer certainly has the foundation to bring those branded experiences to the customer for many more decades to come.

The post A Spirit of Adventure<p class="company">Adventurer Manufacturing</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“We were able to handle the harshest materials in the harshest environments,” says Vice President of Sales and Product Management, Graco Industrial Division, Peter Linder. “It was because Minneapolis was 20 below zero, and somebody needed to grease a car within the first era of technology in the automobile.”

In business since 1926, The company’s expertise has only increased over the decades as the team deals with the most difficult materials and fluid handling challenges. “Fast forward to today,” Linder says. “We’re able to handle the most abrasive TIMs used for EV battery assemblies throughout the world.”

TIMs, thermal interface materials, are highly abrasive and hard to pump and are just one of the harsh materials the company can manage. And handling difficult material is natural for a company that cut its teeth on overcoming challenges. “We’ve established the position as a leader in our space through technology,” says Linder, “and we followed the evolution of the various processes that Graco supports (finishing and dispensing); we strive to make every process better for customers around the world.”

Graco has grown steadily over the past 98 years, adding regional headquarters in Belgium, China, and South America while maintaining its global headquarters in Minneapolis, and the business has maintained a leading position in the global marketplace over the century for several key reasons. First is the company’s commitment to maintaining close relationships with customers and solving their problems. “If you stay super close to your customers, you’ll see the problems that they’re facing,” Linder says, “and then you can solve the problem and provide a return on investment.”

Second is the team’s commitment to quality. “We’ve always maintained a really, really high expectation of quality,” he says. “If you were to walk through a Graco factory, they will all have a similar look, feel, and even smell because you’re using the same cutting fluid, and in each of those factories, you see each person responsible for quality. In some operations, you’ll see a quality control (QC) department; that means the parts have to move their way around a facility to get to the QC department. Whereas at Graco, we have a QC bench at every single station. So, if you’re an operator running a machine, you’re also in charge of quality, and if it doesn’t pass quality, there’s one person that’s responsible. [Graco] has high accountability per person, and it’s done the right way every time.”

The third factor is the company’s pursuit of leading-edge technology. New, market-leading products have always driven the company forward and attracted customers. “Compared to our peer group, we put a lot more energy into engineering,” Linder says. “If you just look at dollar-for-dollar spend, we’re probably [spending] twice as much as our peer companies would spend on engineering.”

The company is careful to balance that expenditure with its return on investment (ROI). “When you’re putting that kind of money into engineering, you really need to make sure you’re getting an ROI out of your engineering teams,” he says. “We look at all problems to be solved through ROI, because Graco is very fact-based, and we’re very ROI-driven as well.”

Indeed, it is paramount to find the most efficient, cost-effective solution to benefit all parties involved because, if the solution is “really expensive for the customer, then it has not actually solved a problem,” Linder points out.

Graco’s dedicated engineers tend to stay with the company for the long term, bringing both expertise and extensive experience. “It’s amazing and pretty unique, I would say, to see engineers who have been here for 20-plus years,” Graco Industrial Marketing Director Arria Cocei-Stacy says. “We have this longstanding body of knowledge. Every time we design a new solution, we take it to the next level and challenge ourselves to raise our own bar of performance. To me, that is part of the success. It is not like we are just bringing somebody new and putting them in front of something; it is really that body of expertise and know-how that was built and maintained over decades. I think that really has a lot to do with why we are able to achieve and sustain our market-leading position.”

The longevity of Graco’s products is another unique attribute. “We don’t expect the product to last [only] five years; we really plan for it to last 50 years,” Linder says. “There have been more than a few products that come through our tech assistance or tech services line where people read you the serial number, and you have to go, ‘That thing’s 35 years old.’” Then, remarkably, the customer will reply, ‘Yeah, I just need an O-ring for it,’ or some other minor replacement part in order to maintain the still-working product,” he shares.

“The quality, the longevity—it’s our whole culture,” he says, adding that the company “thinks about this in the long game: ‘I’m going to put this in an automotive plant. I want it to last 25 years under the harshest environment possible.’”

Of late, Graco has been expanding its product range to best serve its customers. “We’re starting to look at [the whole] process,” Linder says. The company already covers a portion of many processes, but wants to cover the entire process for a smoother, more efficient customer outcome. When a single company is responsible for most or all of a customer’s process, “It’s a more durable process and a better ROI for them.”

Handling the complete process makes Graco “highly accountable,” and customers can rest easy knowing they are in good hands from start to finish. Acquisition has been—and is expected to continue to be—an effective means of expanding this coverage. “We can become a complete solution or, at least, a more complete solution, through acquisition,” Linder says.

Already a leader in safety and quality, Graco is always seeking to improve its offerings. When developing a new product for the end user, Linder says that the team likes to ask the question, “How can I make their life better?”

Cocei-Stacy adds that, “Graco is raising the bar from quality and safety to workers’ well-being.”

Take one of the company’s newest products, for example. The new Stellair™ Air Spray Gun portfolio was carefully designed with ergonomics in mind to make it as user-friendly as possible. “We hired a U.S. ergonomics firm, and they’ve done all the work and the testing,” she says. This means that the product design is backed by science. “We have a lot of data on our products and comparable industry alternatives. We are happy to see that Stellair ACE uses up to 25 percent less muscle effort than comparable industrial air spray guns. We believe that when painters produce stellar results, everyone wins, and we hope to see other spray gun manufacturers take on this ergonomics approach in the future.”

A manual spray gun for industrial painting, the Stellair ACE boasts unique, carbon-reinforced construction, which allows it to weigh just 209 grams. This makes it up to 50 percent lighter than virtually any other manual, pressure-feed sprayer on the market. The benefits include a much more comfortable experience for the end user. Watch it here: Expert-Approved Ergonomics: Stellair and Stellair ACE Air Spray Guns.

After nearly a century in business, Graco’s longevity demonstrates the superior quality of the company’s products and its commitment to customers. When looking ahead, management plans to continue on this path of success in order to keep winning over customers. “The goal really is to make it so efficient to do business with us and to create a process that someone’s trying to solve, that they step back and go, ‘I never want to work with anyone but Graco because that was such a great experience,’” Linder summarizes.

The post The Fluid Handling Experts<p class="company">Graco</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

After speaking in 2023, Manufacturing in Focus sat back down with Marketing Manager Matthew Pereira to gain more insights into how Mainway Handling Systems optimizes its customers’ operations, highlighting the company’s commitment to excellence and adaptability in a rapidly changing market.

One of Mainway Handling Systems’ key strengths is its extensive industry knowledge and experience, particularly within the Canadian market. As Pereira explains, “We have years of experience—decades of experience in the Canadian market specifically. This is crucial because there’s a lot of nuance within the Canadian market, even between provinces, such as building codes and the weights and measures regulations, to name a couple.” Understanding these nuances is essential, especially in today’s world, where e-commerce and online orders are more prevalent than ever.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this shift toward e-commerce, fundamentally changing consumer shopping habits. “The pandemic really exploded the market,” Pereira notes. “Consumers have developed a habit of online ordering for everything from groceries to pharmaceuticals.” This surge in online activity has added significant complexity to shipping and distribution processes.

The increase in online orders has made automation more complex. “It is becoming a much more varied context for automation now,” Pereira says. “Previously, automation was mostly about warehouses, conveyors, and moving your product. But now, there are so many variables to consider, such as temperature control, overnight delivery, and handling different types and sizes of items.” The demand for customized solutions has never been higher, as warehouse operators strive to meet growing expectations while maintaining efficiency.

Pereira emphasizes the importance of flawless operations in maintaining customer satisfaction. “All of this leads to tighter margins,” he explains. “A single error in warehouse and systems design or automation can cause a domino effect, resulting in unhappy customers and increased returns.” Mainway Handling Systems addresses these challenges by positioning itself as a one-stop shop, providing customers with a seamless experience from start to finish.

One of Mainway Handling Systems’ primary goals is to minimize physical handling of products. “We aim to take the handling out of material handling,” Pereira states. “The less physical contact with the product, the safer and more secure it is, reducing the risk of damage. This increases accuracy and ensures customers receive their packages promptly.”

Automation also enhances safety and efficiency, reducing the likelihood of human error and minimizing labor costs. By leveraging state-of-the-art technology, Mainway Handling Systems ensures that its solutions align with the highest industry standards, making the company a preferred partner for companies looking to streamline their operations.

A critical component of Mainway Handling Systems’ offerings is the controls of the system or the warehouse management system, which acts as the “brain” of the operation. This system coordinates the internal functions of the system, manages internal inventory, labels the package, and provides many more functions, in many instances ensuring everything runs smoothly. “Our warehouse management system is crucial for customers utilizing a systems integrator like Mainway Handling,” Pereira explains.

The company’s expertise in creating customized solutions sets it apart. “No two warehouses are alike, even within the same company,” Pereira notes. “Our approach starts with collaboration, treating our clients as partners rather than just customers.” This collaborative approach ensures that Mainway Handling Systems understands each client’s unique requirements and designs tailored solutions to meet those needs.

Mainway Handling Systems excels at delivering customized solutions that enhance efficiency and accuracy while supporting business growth. “We design systems that can be adapted as our clients’ throughput grows, without disrupting their current operations,” Pereira explains. This ability to scale and adapt is a significant advantage, ensuring that clients can continue to evolve without facing major operational hurdles.

The company’s one-stop shop approach extends to designing and manufacturing its conveyor systems. Its 24-volt motor-driven roller conveyor features run-on-demand zones, plug-and-play options, and ergonomic designs. Most of the components are sourced and manufactured in Ontario, allowing Mainway Handling Systems to proudly display the Ontario Made seal. This local manufacturing ensures superior quality and gives the company control over lead times and supply chain reliability.

Mainway Handling Systems’ success is also attributed to its strategic partnerships with industry leaders. These collaborations enhance the company’s ability to provide comprehensive solutions for various spaces, including warehouses up to a million square feet. Notable partners include Modula, Packsize, Intralox, FMH, Ryson, and URBX. These relationships enable Mainway Handling to offer diverse solutions, ensuring the best possible outcomes for each client’s unique needs.

Mainway Handling Systems’ commitment to flexibility and openness is a cornerstone of its approach. By considering various options and maintaining an open mind, the company consistently delivers targeted solutions that meet individual customer requirements. This approach has garnered trust from a wide range of prestigious clients, including FedEx, DHL, Longo’s, Shoppers Drug Mart, Decathlon, BookDepot, Canpar/Loomis Express, Carquest, Walmart, Yusen Logistic, and IKEA.

The company’s dedication to customer satisfaction extends beyond installation, providing value-added follow-up services including preventative maintenance, parts supply, service, retrofits, mechanical and electrical work, installations, relocation, and emergency repairs. This comprehensive support ensures that clients can rely on Mainway Handling Systems for all their automation needs throughout the duration of the project and well after installation.

Looking ahead, Pereira is optimistic about the company’s future. “I would say the future is still very bright,” he shares. “We are focusing on the parcel, e-commerce, final mile, and 3PL logistics sectors, which are experiencing exponential growth in North America.”

Mainway Handling Systems is well-positioned to become an industry leader in larger, more sophisticated sortation systems. “The systems we are seeing are more sophisticated from control, operations, software, and technology standpoints,” Pereira explains. This expertise sets the company apart, allowing it to address the complex demands of modern logistics and e-commerce.

After building a strong foundation in these areas, Mainway Handling Systems is poised to become “a leader of warehouse automation in Canada when it comes to sortation and e-commerce.” As the company continues to innovate and expand, it remains a key player to watch in the evolving world of logistics and automation.

With its unwavering commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and industry leadership, Mainway Handling Systems is set to redefine warehouse automation and logistics solutions. As e-commerce and online sales continue to surge, the company’s expertise and adaptability position it for continued success and growth in the years to come.

The post Optimizing Operations<p class="company">Mainway Handling Systems</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.