New developments
According to Chief Executive Officer Alex Lawton, after the company’s merger with iron casting business Renaissance Manufacturing Group in spring 2024, higher-volume green sand casting was brought into the mix. Green sand casting employs a mixture of water, clay, and sand to make molds, with ‘green’ referring to the moisture content of this economical and adaptable method that helps the mold keep its form as the molten metal is poured in.

Since we last spoke, various service components of the business were also fortified thanks to the brokerage of standalone machine shops. New capabilities have been made possible since the merger, and time is being spent on working to integrate and harmonize several companies into one. Marketing and Communications Coordinator Nate Vandergrift states that cross-site collaboration has grown in the past year, with products that can be made at several Lawton facilities.

Other developments include the KUKA RMC90 robot, currently in a development phase, which is an upgrade from the old pattern of foam tools, Lawton tells us. The robot is a way to skip the tooling process, which is better for speed and quality levels as well as for the environment. The company is also multiple years into a project around its enterprise resource planning software in its production facilities, and has added customer relationship management software called HubSpot. The team also continues to be open to artificial intelligence in the form of large language models, which has made running certain internal processes like human resources and data collection and reporting easier.

A top focus has been the assimilation of the group of Lawton companies as they better understand how to work together. This went from a company with disparate businesses in the same market to a more centralized, integrated offering, and the goal is to deliver the capabilities of these parts in a more consistent way to the customer. “We want to do more business across more locations with the culture we know and like,” Lawton says.

Mastalir adds that it is important for Lawton’s people to understand the full capabilities of the company, especially because salespeople have been accustomed to only promoting the products and services under their own roof. In expanding, these people need to be able to know all the things that can be added to the portfolio of customer service and become experts in the entire business.

The vision of the company’s business strategy is to become supermarket-like, offering a matrix within the business and each plant to serve customers on every possible thing they may want when it comes to iron, steel casing, and more, says Lawton. Lawton Standard can handle any manner of volume, offers a service group, and provides numerous value additions like machining. These make it an ideal one-stop shop for iron and steel.

Smart and sustainable
Since summer 2024, all the company’s sites are ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certified. Lawton notes that less energy consumption leads to a better work environment because of efficiency, and since 2022, the company has diverted nearly 10,000 tons of spent foundry sand from landfills to be put to use in manufactured soil, layering for construction projects, and concrete and brick-making. Mastalir adds that both customer interest and corporate mandates are trending more toward involvement in sustainability efforts, an area in which Lawton Standard has outpaced a lot of its competition.

Around 15 years ago, the mindset around sustainability tended to involve understanding and keeping track of agencies with which companies needed to be in compliance, as well as determining which ones were truly concerned with making an impact, Lawton shares. Over time, the business underwent the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council’s Green Masters Program to enhance its knowledge, implemented an environmental management system that works in tandem with its quality management, and joined the Wisconsin-based Green Tier initiative. Green Tier allows organizations in the state to align business practices with sustainability-based targets through committing to environmentally friendly practices.

Lawton Standard has since become one of the first foundries and overall companies to qualify for Green Tier 2, which is reflective of its general drive toward improvement in all areas and its desire to be a better community member, a value important to the company and its customers.

Navigating the waters
It has been a challenging few years following the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, says Lawton. 2021 to 2022 saw an explosion in demand and lead times, with the goods economy going wild. Although this has since rebalanced, the industry is still weak. While not quite at crisis levels, recessionary effects are being felt thanks to fluctuations following the 2024 election.

Lawton Standard has found pockets of strength in niche areas like artificial intelligence because of components it can provide to service data centers and waterworks systems with an infrastructure focus (to replace aging pumps and valves). The company has tried to hunker down through tough times while developing aspects like sustainability, software, and robotics, Lawton tells us.

He believes that businesses are very adaptable, especially in the United States, and his company will indeed adapt as long as it knows the playing field. The team spends a lot of time building relationships with its customer base, aiming to show prospective and long-time clients alike that Lawton and its companies will always be close by. “You’re never more than 10 feet away from a casting,” says Vandergrift, which illustrates the company’s focus and commitment to the customer experience.

Alex Lawton is optimistic about 2026 being a return to strength and growth. “We will create our own luck by going after the right things,” he says. Lawton Standard is always thinking about the markets it serves, with the goal of being highly diversified company-wide. The business continues to grow in markets like defense, with the desire to expand into areas like agriculture, and this growth will likely persist in the years to come. Vandergrift adds that while employees do age out and retire, there are many industry programs seeking to drum up more students to become interested in the foundry industry.

Lawton Standard does not need to focus on acquisitions per se but will remain open to opportunities while also giving time to initiatives like mechanization and process improvement. The next period of strength for the company will likely see it in a better position than in its last one, and according to Mastalir, the team will make sure it is ready to rise above the competition and give the customer the best experience possible. At Lawton Standard, the work will always be aimed at ensuring that the company is growing with its customers as they come back time and time again.

The post Coming Together and Stronger Than Ever<p class="company">Lawton Standard Co.</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Being smaller than many others in the industry puts QCC at a distinct advantage. Many of the dozen staff members at the company’s Mentor, Ohio, location are cross-trained, experts in essentially everything there is to know about the torch industry.

In 2024, the company welcomed new staff, which underscored the importance of workers learning as much about the sector as possible. “It’s really about making sure we are cross-trained,” says General Manager Josh Flagner. “Small companies tend to have one person who can do one thing and others who can do something else. As you get ready to skill for growth, increase revenue, and put together contracts for pieces of business, it becomes harmful to have person-specific jobs or tasks. So we are working very hard on cross-training.”

Within the industry, Flagner and Sales Engineering Manager Franklin Mayse often encounter representatives and salespeople from other, larger companies. These are friendly relationships but serve to remind Flagner and Mayse of the importance of knowing everything about torches, from what gloves to wear to the best torch for a specific task, as part of the team’s expertise is being able to work with local gas reps to solve customer problems.

Smart growth
Growing at a measured pace, QCC acquired assets from a small machining company last fall, which were moved to its Mentor facility. This included a new CNC mill, measurement equipment, quality control inspection equipment, and some manual machines. This year, the company will invest in outside training at a machine shop to create in-house experts for its CNC machines, and it is currently upgrading its part cleaning line and procedure. The team will be able to offer Cleaned for Oxygen Service certification to customers.

Prioritizing environmental responsibility, QCC also recently purchased water tanks for its treatment system and is actively working on chemical mitigation with an outside firm to ensure nothing harmful goes down the drain. “We are having a company come and mitigate the chemicals once we are done, take it away, and make sure we are doing our part to conserve the local environment,” Flagner shares. QCC’s membership in ReMA, the Recycled Materials Association, and AIST, the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, speak to the company’s enduring focus on quality and sustainability.

Made in America
Unlike many of its competitors, Quality Components Company manufactures its products in America. Designed and built to last, the company’s products are widely used in scrap yards, foundries, steel mills, shipyards, railroads, and other industries for scrap cutting, fabrication, steel conditioning, and emergency purposes where quality, reliability, and durability are essential.

For the past several years, the team at QCC has been part of many conversations about offshoring, reshoring, and tariffs, with customers caring about “Made in America” more than ever. Although some competitors like to promote domestic manufacturing, the reality is that some of them offshore their manufacturing to Poland, Brazil, and other countries, or are owned by foreign multinationals.

When discussing QCC’s gas apparatus torch niche, Flagner says many others in the sector are sourcing foreign product and performing assembly work in the U.S. (or doing all of it overseas or in Mexico and importing and selling in the States). At present, there are only two domestically owned and domestically manufactured and sourced companies, with the majority doing their work overseas. QCC, conversely, is committed to making every effort to source as much of its material in America as possible. “For a small company like ours, a lot of the reason we do that is that it’s easier to communicate and control things with our vendors if they’re domestic.”

“There’s lots of lip service paid to domestic sourcing in our niche industry, but not a lot of action,” Flagner tells us. “What we’ve seen is a lot of talk about how much domestic sourcing matters and obviously, we’ve got DOD manufacturing that heavily wants to be domestic. There are all sorts of big contract and projects where it’s really important to be a domestic company.” Although QCC doesn’t sell directly to the Department of Defense (DOD), it has a series of products specifically designed for applications relevant to DOD activities, as DOD contractors come to QCC for products.

Continuous improvement
Ever since QCC was founded in 1975 as Quality Repair Company—a torch and repair shop for local steel mills—the company has dedicated itself to high-quality, timely customer service. Continuing to build on its expertise, the company began manufacturing its first torches in 1985 after identifying the best features and components in existence. And in 1999, after adding engineering and manufacturing to its roster, the business changed its name to Quality Components Company.

The years that followed saw QCC continue to develop, engineer, and build additional torch offerings, and simultaneously build its reputation. “In 2017, we designed our patented flowmeter and QC-series torch tips, and to this day, QCC is the only oxy-fuel equipment manufacturer capable of producing a torch that can cut non-ferrous material up to 60” thick,” states the company.

Today, QCC counts many scrap providers and scrap contractors among its customers. All of them provide steel to local mills, where the product goes straight out and comes right back so it can be remelted. Many mills have bought scrap companies to shorten the supply chain and are now vertically integrated.

At present, QCC has an approximate 40/60 split between direct customers and distributors, and about the same split between scrap yards and steel mills. “We have a heavy presence in a lot of mills in the Midwest, the East Coast, the South, and even Canada,” says Flagner. Although all areas of the business are growing, the company is seeing increased activity from scrap yards, many of them located nearby. The reasons are both environmental and cost-related; recycling is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and it makes sense for companies to keep it in-house.

“There is a huge push for saving money and saving energy because of the steel manufacturing process,” Flagner explains. “Old-fashioned blast furnaces use a ton of energy and make a lot of pollution. Recycling—if you can do electric arc furnace and melt the scrap down—saves a lot of energy.”

Looking ahead
By the end of 2026, Quality Components Company aims to expand the team with additional full-time staff, and Flagner and Mayse say there are plans in the works to increase the company’s volume, enabling the company to continue investing in equipment, developing its cleaning line, and expanding its offerings.

“We talk a lot about making torches, and we’re really great at that,” says Flagner. “However, we’re also great at making flowmeters, regulators, and gas apparatuses. We have gone into steel mills and created custom station drops, where we are regulating and metering oxygen and natural gas for their furnaces or their torch stations, or anything they need in those facilities.”

A hands-on company, QCC will create custom gas apparatus for efficiently moving gas around, ensuring the pressure, filtration, and regulation are all correct at torching stations. “We are going to provide you the knowledge, the expertise, and the service that goes along with making the best torch. We make a torch that’s durable, has the highest quality, and breaks less than other torches,” says Mayse.

“Everybody else is about customer service and salespeople, but not everybody else can get Frank on a plane to Alabama to figure out why you are having an issue in your melt shop and fix that issue,” says Flagner. “Our goal in 2026 is to make sure that when and where we go to market, we are not just a torch or regulator company, we are a problem solver. We are going to come out and help.”

The post Solving Customer Challenges with the Best Torches in the Business<p class="company">Quality Components Company</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Center Street Technologies is a team of subject matter experts who have come together to demonstrate the capacity of additive manufacturing as a means to augment existing manufacturing processes by producing large-scale polymer-based structures and components.

Using advanced modeling and simulation paired with leading industrial controls and automation, and through an innovative approach to design, engineering, and materials sciences, the company’s comprehensive manufacturing solutions have served partners in aerospace, defense, and many other industries that recognize the added value of this approach.

Growing manufacturing capacity in a big way
It is an exciting time for Center Street Technologies. Having proven the performance of its equipment and the validity of its processes, the company has positioned itself as a beacon of opportunity for players across markets and sectors, particularly where there is demand for high-mix, low-volume parts, like the maritime industrial base and shipbuilding sector where supply issues not only threaten production, but also national security.

“A known issue right now is the ability to source castings needed for production in a timely manner. At Center Street, we’re able to rapidly create patterns that have been damaged in use or are obsolete and needed for sustainment with little to no existing digital engineering data,” explains Matthew Heffinger, the Product Engineering Manager at Center Street Technologies, of the company’s reverse engineering capabilities for large-scale components.

And they are large indeed. The company’s flagship machine, the AMC2304, is aptly named for its capacity. At 12’ x 24’ x 8’, it boasts 2,304 cubic feet of build volume. Equipped with a dual gantry system capable of high output large format additive manufacturing (LFAM) and five-axis machining, it serves as the company’s principal production platform.

Development projects start in the digital environment and are taken to the smaller AMC160. Again, named for its size and capacity at 4’ x 8’ x 5’, the AMC160 is equipped with the same three-axis extrusion system as the AMC2304 as well as a new six-axis articulating Comau industrial robot. Complete with Siemens industrial controls, it serves as the core development platform for Center Street.

“All of our systems run Siemens SINUMERIK ONE controls, which is their latest and greatest controller,” Heffinger says. This robust control system enables the design and production of highly accurate digital twins. “We’re able to digitally emulate the whole control system to prove out new controls and engineering-related developments prior to downloading them to the physical equipment. It’s a very accurate simulation of our control system as a whole,” which enables a more efficient and effective development lifecycle.

According to Process Engineering Manager, Casey Gonatas, the AMC160 “is a smaller volume machine with the same extruder where we can develop different components, tool pathing strategies, or perform any other kind of R&D activities we need to, without interrupting production on the AMC2304.”

Adding the six-axis robot to the AMC160 enables the integration of multiple advanced manufacturing technologies working together to produce parts. The addition of the robot enables the use of many end effectors to fulfill different tasks in a staged approach, such as pick and place operations, milling, inspection, and automated fiber placement (AFP).

“We’ve successfully machined parts using the robot with the machining spindle as the end effector. It has been an exciting development to be able to do the milling work in that cell as well, which is now more of a direct comparison to the AMC2304 that’s able to do the printing, machining, and inspection,” explains Gonatas.

The integration of Grale Technologies’ inspection application—considered a leader in commercial digital metrology functions that offer real-time measurement of parts without interruption—elevates the efficiency and accuracy of the AMC systems.

Greater capabilities, validated results
Over the last year or so, Center Street Technologies has worked diligently to expand its general production capabilities while continuing to identify ways to address gaps in manufacturing through advanced technologies and additive manufacturing.

For instance, its efforts in lightweighting are timely given the 2025 updates to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards. Lightweighting, also referred to as foaming, is a process whereby the extrusion process is altered to offer a lighter overall weight without the need to adjust shapes or toolpaths. According to Heffinger, “Current lightweighting techniques in the 3D printing industry limit you to lower performance polymer materials, but we have developed methods to lightweight aerospace-grade, high-performance polymers,” which is gaining the attention of leading industry players.

Commercialization of new technologies and approaches is always a challenge, particularly as many customers are risk averse. It is hard to offer an outright guarantee that the applications and components will perform to expectations; however, over the last several years, Center Street Technologies has been collecting data to ensure the quality of its products. What the team found was that it was not always necessarily the cheapest option, but was faster, more efficient, and dedicated to optimized quality and throughput.

From a quality management standpoint, Center Street Technologies is on the verge of becoming AS9100D and ISO 9001 certified. Having received official recommendation for certification from its auditor, certification is expected in February 2026. The company is also working toward CMMC Level 2 compliance, which will further improve its credibility within critical industries like aerospace and government entities.

“As we spend time addressing government-related issues and developing technologies to solve complex problems, it gives us the ability to mature our technology and provide a more viable product to the commercial markets,” Heffinger explains. Where time is money, this is invaluable.

The application is especially useful for prototyping as it requires less rework or subtractive manufacturing to achieve quality results. During the design phase, the team can adapt quickly and make necessary adjustments through digital engineering capabilities before going to print, controlling quality throughout the entire process.

Scaling success
The team at Center Street Technologies is a small, tight-knit group that leverages its two machines to address issues that traditional manufacturing cannot, particularly where high-mix, low-volume components are concerned.

As Gonatas notes, “We have the two machines for producing parts, so that’s our main constraint internally as far as scaling up to a higher production rate. But the nice thing about how strong our digital backbone is, is that everything can be easily scaled to fit different machines, platforms, and customer requirements,” which highlights the flexibility of the process.

Through its work, Center Street Technologies is striving to build confidence not only in advanced manufacturing applications like additive manufacturing, but in the sector as a whole through strategic partnerships dedicated to workforce development. With its partners, the company serves as a conduit between academics and industry to seek out ways to strengthen the advanced manufacturing workforce through development programs and initiatives to ensure that there is a pipeline of talent at the ready to scale with demand.

“There’s a lot of development within academia that is never implemented within the manufacturing industry. We want to interface with research labs and academia to transition the technology and make it reachable to the broader manufacturing industrial base,” Heffinger explains. At a time when the U.S. is losing legacy manufacturing operations and struggling to find a skilled workforce capable of fulfilling growing demand, these efforts are not only appropriate, but valuable.

As Gonatas tells us, “There are less and less people trained in traditional manufacturing roles, so being able to attack it with more of a digitally focused approach—something with more quality control and engineering going into the work—is something that we can bring to the table and have a positive impact on an industry that’s hurting right now.”

Advancing the industry
From workforce development to advanced manufacturing applications, Center Street Technologies continues to identify the best use cases to demonstrate the value of its approach and the impact its technology can have on American manufacturing. Additive manufacturing and advanced manufacturing approaches will be key to unlocking the true potential of the U.S. manufacturing sector and economy, and those who recognize this value are poised to thrive.

The focus moving forward will be “getting people in the industry or potential customers to see the value and think of additive manufacturing or advanced manufacturing as more of a realistic solution, not just as a last resort or a cool niche,” explains Gonatas, who notes that at Center Street Technologies, “we’re making real products that are fully capable of meeting a customer requirement.”

The goal is to get operations to take that leap of faith, to look beyond traditional manufacturing processes to unlock the value of additive parts and components. Such parts are proven, validated, and capable—now they just need to be fully leveraged for their value to be truly realized.

The post Advancing Manufacturing and Industry With Additive Manufacturing<p class="company">Center Street Technologies</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Brand and Marketing Manager, Ryland Thiel, says that Tornado Infrastructure Equipment’s solutions have become even more capable with the evolution of technology over the years. This is key, as, when an excavation operation digs a hole as part of a project, it will typically run across hidden electric or gas lines when using a backhoe or dozer machine. This can result in strikes to these lines, leading to a potentially hazardous or dangerous situation with impacts to nearby infrastructure.

Hydrovac technology is the answer to this, avoiding such impacts by offering a more controlled dig site that effectively resolves the risks of digging. Hydraulic excavation applies high-pressure water to break up the soil and create a slurry, and unlike digging, this method will not damage underground utilities. A vacuum system on the truck suctions up that slurry into a debris tank that can then be transported for disposal offsite. Because the excavation is precise, only removing the necessary amount of soil, less backfill is needed when the job is done. It even works in winter, where hot water swiftly loosens frozen soil.

Many North American municipalities are now calling for companies with these capabilities to provide excavation services using hydrovac trucks, and requirements like these have, in turn, created a clear pathway for Tornado’s products to find clients while further accelerating its market growth.

Over the past few years, the company has seen huge gains in its production rates, increasing production from around 80 trucks annually to around 120, with a 2025 target of 180 trucks and an additional milestone of having sold over 1,800 hydrovac trucks since 2008.

This growth in production rates has meant year-on-year profit growth as well, especially thanks to strong deals made with business partners who supply Tornado vehicles to their clients through a dealership infrastructure. Thiel tells us that unit sales have more than tripled—from 87 units in 2021 to 320 in 2024—and profit has grown by over $100 million.

The business has also expanded through mergers and acquisitions; just this year, Tornado acquired CustomVac Services, which has dealt with hydrovac services in the hazardous waste space. Tornado is also set on growing its operations facilities and is building another 5,000-square-foot facility in Red Deer, Alberta that will focus on production and help the company meet the growing demand for its products. Finally, the company has recently signed new deals with partners such as Ascend Hydrovacs out of Calgary, Alberta, to produce a new type of truck to be launched this year under the Ascend brand.

When it comes to what makes the company distinct in its field, Thiel says, “Quite simply, our products are the best in the industry.” Being of extremely high quality, all components needed to produce the best Tornado end products are sourced from top name brands.

Thiel is appreciative of the company’s suppliers, who give Tornado a competitive edge thanks to quick turnaround, leading to reliable and durable products. For example, the company employs a 24”-diameter core drill that makes for easier concrete removal on job sites as well as site repair that will reduce job time and not impact the environment.

At present, Tornado is looking to keep pace with rapidly evolving innovation in the industry by introducing the Vortex System 2.0, which has only recently arrived to market. Vortex 2.0 is a centralized information system that reports on the monitoring of different components on the vehicle and provides diagnostics, including a troubleshooting process directly in a van body. Thiel explains that this is an onboard interface/screen that displays the results of more than 100 sensors on a vehicle to report diagnostics and performance information—anything from a complex blower’s cubic feet per minute (CFM) rate to whether or not a filter needs to be changed. One can control functional vehicle components through electrical wire or even operate the vehicle itself using the system.

The Vortex 2.0 system serves to benefit operators, Thiel says, and can operate in any climate across Canada and the United States. For those who operate and manage a fleet of hydrovac trucks in a city, the real-time monitoring system permits all trucks to be tracked remotely via a global positioning system. This allows for a greater degree of planning in preventative maintenance scheduling, which in turn, keeps downtime to a minimum.

Certainly, this has been a volatile and unpredictable year for countless businesses, but thus far, for Tornado, there have not been any negative effects to production-related growth alongside its growing client demands. Thiel notes that, although there is ongoing uncertainty in the North American market (as well as globally) with challenges relating to the tariffs imposed by the United States, Tornado has not seen any tariff-related consequences or risks to its growth projections, and is proceeding with a sense of momentum and confidence.

This dynamism is evident as the company continues to expand its existing product lines and introduce new ones as well. For example, when it comes to hydrovac truck operations, spraying water into the soil creates a mixture that cannot be disposed of like typical concrete or asphalt; this newly created material needs to be disposed of at specific locations, which can often mean expensive dumping fees that are passed on to the customer.

There is a solution to this, however. Thiel tells us that at a utility event in October 2025, the company will be announcing its line of trucks which use compressed air instead of pressurized water to break down material. He points out that, although these have seen wide use in the European market, these trucks essentially do not yet exist in North America, so this fleet will be a huge asset to the excavation industry in the coming years.

Never resting on its laurels, Tornado Infrastructure Equipment will continue to focus on research and development, as well as providing a customer-centric approach, Thiel affirms. Continuing to provide the highest quality product in its industry is made possible by focusing on client needs and designing products with intent, while also providing relevant solutions to support customers’ daily operations.

To this end, Thiel says that digital and technological solutions are increasingly finding a home within the company’s wheelhouse. “It’s a digital age, and we are venturing rapidly into it,” he affirms. This includes finding solutions through technology to connect companies, truck operators, operations management workers, as well as customers and partners into a platform that will let Tornado further boost the quality of its service and product delivery while addressing manufacturing and supply chain challenges.

Adopting technological solutions will be a continued focus in the future to provide a more optimal customer journey, as well as tracking and monitoring the company’s performance through each point of interaction with customers over the typical 25-year life-cycle of a Tornado product. And as always, to address customers’ challenges, the company makes use of direct feedback to help gather intelligence on where it needs to focus its attention. Thiel believes that this approach will ensure that the team is aiming at providing quality end products while simultaneously searching for new business opportunities and markets to diversify its excavation equipment products. “Improving our customers’ journey, wherever that can be achieved” has been and remains the calling card of Tornado’s one-of-a-kind service in its field, he says.

As Tornado Infrastructure Equipment looks to the years ahead, its commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, and product excellence remains unwavering. From its humble beginnings in 1984 to its position today as a leader in hydrovac technology, the company has never lost sight of the values that built its success: quality craftsmanship, responsive service, and continuous improvement.

The post Innovation with a Customer-Centric Approach<p class="company">Tornado Infrastructure Equipment</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

As to what helped DY Concrete make it to the 10-year mark, Vice President and Co-Owner Jason Delehay cites its commitment to customer support.

“We build our business around customer service and support, and that’s something we’re really proud of,” he says. “In the concrete pump industry, when you have issues, it’s very rare that those problems occur at one in the afternoon; it’s always one in the morning, so we have people in place that answer our phones. They can direct an operator on a jobsite, troubleshoot on how to get around problems, and diagnose issues.”

The company’s pumps are manufactured by South Korean company, DY Innovate (DYI). DY Concrete imports these pumps and then adds electrical, mechanical, driveline components, and other finishing touches. The fully-assembled pumps are then sold to clients through a sales network spanning Canada and the United States.

Used to pour and pump concrete at worksites, the company’s pumps fall into two main categories: line pumps and boom pumps. Line pumps have stationary pumping units and can be mounted on trailers or trucks. These compact pumps use hoses for pouring purposes and are well-suited for foundations, driveways, and other residential projects requiring concrete. Trailer or truck mounted boom pumps are much larger, with elongated boom arms that move vast amounts of concrete. Boom pumps are typically used for big projects like parking lots, high-rises, and airports. DY’s pumps feature a user-friendly design and 360-degree continuous swing-boom technology.

New products include the TP-30 trailer pump, which augments the existing TP-50 and TP-70 line. Powered by a 140-hp Tier 4 Final engine, the TP-30 has an output of 50 cubic yards an hour on its rod side and 34 cubic yards on its piston side. Small-size trailer pumps such as the TP-30, meanwhile, are efficient in demanding or cramped worksites.

The 38X-5ZR is a more sizeable addition to DY’s product line. With a vertical reach of 37.5 meters, horizontal reach of 33.5 meters, and output of 160 cubic meters an hour on the rod side and 108 cubic meters an hour on the piston side, this massive boom pump was built to “Midwest spec,” says Delehay. This means the 38X-5ZR was built to meet technical specifications required by Midwestern states, including regulations regarding cold-weather conditions.

Also on deck is a new 20-meter pump called the 20X-4Z which will feature “the lowest unfolding height in its class in North America,” and should be “mounted and ready for delivery in early Q1,” he shares.

In addition to its product line, the company maintains a parts and service branch in Calgary, Alberta, is partnered with a sub-dealer in Ohio, and is starting to work with a service sub-center in North Carolina. And now, the company’s much anticipated e-commerce site, which will enable customers to order parts and equipment online, is in the final testing phase. If all goes to plan, the e-commerce platform will launch this fall. “Anything related to a concrete pump will be available on that site,” Delehay notes.

While the site welcomes all clients, smaller companies should find the platform particularly helpful. Businesses with only one or two pumps run by a time-pressed owner who has to pump concrete themselves will appreciate having a quick, convenient method for ordering parts and components. DY will deliver parts directly to clients based in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and ship to customers elsewhere via the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. “Whether it’s FedEx, UPS, or putting it on air cargo, we can pretty much provide the majority of the United States and Canada with quick overnight delivery,” says Delehay.

Of all DY’s new products, its virtual reality (VR) simulator might be the most attention grabbing. Produced through collaboration between DY engineers and programmers in South Korea, the VR simulator gives users the realistic feeling that they are pouring concrete from a pump. “We’ve got a lot of really good feedback on it,” says Marketing Director Braden Huggins. “The operators were very impressed with the realistic nature of it. Of course, you don’t have the vibrations (or your concrete guy yelling at you!) but operators said as far as the functions, it’s really spot-on. We’re hoping this will be a good training tool for DY customers.”

The VR simulator was a hit at an in-house ‘pump rodeo’ the company hosted in June to celebrate its 10^th anniversary. An obstacle course in which participants had to maneuver a boom pump around a variety of impediments was another popular draw with rodeo attendees.

The company hopes to make the simulator commercially available in the near future as it was also a key attraction at the company’s booth at the last World of Concrete (WOC) event. WOC is “the industry’s only annual international tradeshow dedicated to the commercial concrete and masonry industries,” in the words of organizers, and it is also one of DY Concrete’s pivotal promotional forums. The team is already gearing up to display its trailer pump lineup at WOC 2026, and the company is also actively involved with the American Concrete Pumping Association (ACPA) trade association.

Looking ahead, DY Concrete Pumps aims to increase the amount of community and charitable work it does. “As a company, we’ve looked for more charity opportunities with our local community,” says Huggins. A food drive held last Christmas was a big success, with staff donating a significant amount of canned goods. This year the company is launching a breast cancer awareness campaign. One of the company’s trucks will be decked out for this campaign and showcased at the next WOC show as well as local community events and parades. People will be encouraged to add the name of a loved one who has been affected by breast cancer on the side of the vehicle. DY Concrete has also supported local animal shelters and Future Farmers of America (FFA) groups. This caring attitude is typical for people who are part of what Delehay calls “the DY family.”

“Whether it’s employees or customers, when you’re underneath the DY umbrella, you’re treated like family and treated with respect, and that goes a long way,” he says. “We’re continuing to build a culture here where people are proud to come to work. People are proud to represent our brand outside of work as well. You’ll see employees at personal functions wearing DY brand clothing.”

The notion of a family is not just metaphorical; Delehay and his father Joe are the owners of the company, and clients have “direct access to the owners. You don’t have to go to a board of directors and wait two weeks to hear something if you have an issue with your truck. We’re all about making sure we get things done right away and get things done the right way,” he says.

In terms of challenges, the company has been buffeted by some economic headwinds as of late, with the workforce dropping from roughly 80 employees at the time we previously spoke to around 55 today. “There’s been a little bit of uncertainty in the market this year,” says Delehay. “Talk of wars and political challenges have made people kind of hit the brakes a bit. Interest rates are still higher than where they should be, and everyone right now is dealing with the ever-changing world of tariffs. These seem to change every other week. Of course, that affects our cost and retail pricing.”

When the company does ramp up again and hire new staff, it will likely focus on youth. “We’re always looking for that younger generation,” Delehay states. “We’re looking at building with people who want to be here for the long term. If they have a good attitude, then they can build a career with DY.”

He is optimistic about the future and proud of the company’s heritage. “In 10 years, we’ve had a lot of growth. We’ve exceeded people’s expectations of where we’d go in 10 years… we want to be able to say we’re the best overall when it comes to service and supporting our customers.”

The post Built to Perform<p class="company">DY Concrete Pumps</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Although their shot at the American dream did not come without struggle—a journey that saw the founders borrowing money and enlisting help from their families—the two persevered, with the happiest of results. Today, their considerable framing and extrusion business is established and flourishing in Rochester, New York.

A strong framework
Co-founder Chris Hill describes Framing Tech as primarily a B2B company, with clients spread across the United States. The typical client is an industrial automation integrator or equipment manufacturer that relies on Framing Tech products to serve as the skeletal support framework for their equipment. This can include enclosures around the equipment to keep personnel from accessing pinch-points, a process called “guarding.”

Other industrial applications for the company’s products include assembly workstations, incorporating LED lighting, tool or part presentation, monitor and PC mounting, and more. Automation and robotics companies also use Framing Tech products for perimeter guarding, acoustic attenuation, laser shielding, and vapor containment and exhaust.

Internally, the company’s framework is similarly strong, operating on a series of integral core values. Several of these core values specifically speak to customer relations, including conducting relationships with honesty and accountability. Hill says that the business is supported by an experienced team of more than 30 workers (many of them with decades of service), each dedicating their unique skill sets to the company’s overall success.

Framing Tech supports internal professional improvement initiatives for employees as well as inter-departmental cross-training, both of which contribute to building a multi-talented workforce. Hill says that this kind of approach helps everyone gain a fuller perspective on what the company does and equips them to handle the challenges of daily demands and responsibilities.

Engineering Manager Marcus Taylor says that the company is always focused on customer service. While a lot of other extrusion companies may try to sell everything at once, effectively watering down their capabilities, Framing Tech focuses on the frame itself, including efforts into frame aesthetics.

Going for good looks
Compared to the competition, the finish that is apparent on the company’s offerings is in a class of its own and showcases Framing Tech’s commitment to the quality of the final product. “Our engineers know we’re trying to make a premium product, and we don’t cut corners,” Taylor says, instead taking the time to produce products that represent the company at its best and reflect pride in craftsmanship.

When it comes to Framing Tech’s product offerings, quality and agility are of utmost importance. The company’s considerable product suite is frequently used in conjunction with a customer’s own equipment. As Hill says, “It’s especially important for us to bring the highest aesthetic to the client’s finished product.”

The company also serves individuals and DIY clients through e-commerce sales, partnering with Online Metals to sell products directly to its clients, like aquarium support frames, woodworking equipment, van conversions, and even PC gaming rigs, to name a few. Going beyond customer expectations of delivery dates, creative designs, and product solutions is a challenge that Framing Tech is always up for.

Always evolving
Evolution is another core tenet that Framing Tech has always held, as the business continually works on ways to improve its processes. Quite often, this involves expanding capabilities through new equipment, such as its water jet, press-brake, panel router, 5-axis profile machining center, additional SolidWorks licenses for computer-aided design, and more. Continuous improvement also impacts Framing Tech’s internal workflows thanks to investments like open-source ERP (enterprise resource planning) software that runs its entire platform and has given a large boost to internal efficiency.

Hill says that, among the innovations of recent years, Framing Tech has developed an extrusion-based construction for a belt conveyor that accommodates longer lengths, higher speeds, and payload requirements, and allows for shorter lead times. Its trademark Framing Tube, meanwhile, is a steel pipe-joint system that typically offers an option at a lower cost than aluminum profiles for applications like presentation stands, bin racks, product transport carts, and more.

Taylor explains that the company does a lot of work for workbenches and workstations, unique doors, access points, and similar. Today’s customers look to Framing Tech to consider issues related to factory worker comfort and ergonomics in its designs, and this shows in its work on pieces like electric actuators that go into products like standing desk builds and assemblies, with recent developments allowing for the delivery of a plug-and-play actuator system that makes it simple to account for ergonomic needs in these products.

Hill notes that five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic had the entire industry scrambling as the company’s operations had to go remote for a while. However, he also says that the current state of the industry is about to change for the better. While the past couple of years have been consistent but generally flat, mirroring the dips in the U.S. economy, new federal regulatory policy and a renewed effort in re-shoring will put the company in a strong position to support growth with a 21st-century product, offering advantages in a broad variety of applications.

Taylor says that custom capabilities like the 5-axis profile machining center are amazing, with only 10 percent of Framing Tech’s customers utilizing the company’s full capabilities when it comes to custom machining and extrusion.

The Framing Tech way
Framing Tech aims to be a unique voice for its clients in the extrusion industry. Taylor says that a lot of companies in the space today are seemingly trying to offload the upfront design work to the customer, often in the form of online software that a client can design, print, and order directly from a website by building it themselves. This approach isn’t true to the company’s customer service model, as Framing Tech is a truly custom design house and manufacturing facility with everything set up to get quotes out quickly to clients (usually within two to three days) and shipping a fully assembled frame within a matter of weeks.

Looking forward, Hill says that Framing Tech is excited to continue its internal improvement efforts with its ERP system, and is focused on fully exploiting and better utilizing the capacity of available apps. The company will also be developing a new website, allowing for a seamless customer and user interface experience; the purchase of all products and solutions; and a full exhibition of service capabilities, as well as better customer service through the integration of live chat and the company phone system.

Framing Tech will be more proactive, too, in the approach of its sales department, becoming more engaged with the current client base and establishing new connections as it continues in its third decade. As Framing Tech looks ahead, its foundation of quality craftsmanship, dedicated customer service, and continuous innovation positions the company for sustained growth in a rapidly evolving industry. With a forward-thinking mindset and a strong internal culture, this company is well-equipped to shape the future of framing, one custom solution at a time.

The post Making a Good Business Great – the Framework of Success<p class="company">Framing Tech</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“We finished our expansion, and we moved into our new building at the beginning of this year. I would say that’s the biggest change here in Bluffton,” says Thomas Neubert, Chief Sales Officer at GROB Systems, Inc.

Thanks to this recently completed 135,000-square-foot expansion, the Bluffton plant is now over half a million square feet in size. Physical growth has been accompanied by new hires; the team at GROB (pronounced “Grow-buh”) has grown from 839 people last year to roughly 950 today. “Our target is to get up to 1,000 this year, and then grow at about five to ten percent every year,” adds Neubert.

The Bluffton site and a substantial office in Troy, Michigan comprise GROB’s physical presence in America, while the parent company also has branches in Europe, South America, and Asia. The ISO:9001 and 14001-certified plant manufactures and assembles machining centers, automated palletizing systems, and assembly systems for battery systems and e-motors. “We do everything—the entire production chain,” states Neubert.

In addition, the team prioritizes “staying well connected” with its German headquarters, enjoying a regular exchange of ideas, plans, and even employees from the U.S. to Germany and vice versa.

In addition to its facility in Bluffton, GROB Systems is supported by roughly 45 service technicians throughout the U.S. and Canada, generally residing near areas where customers are concentrated. “It’s really helpful to be close to them to react quickly to any issues,” says Neubert.

About 80 percent of GROB Systems’ work is for the automotive industry, while its secondary markets include energy, aerospace, medical, die and mold, and defense. Among myriad other skills, GROB excels at manufacturing equipment that is used to make parts for electric vehicles (EVs). GROB’s G900F machining center, for example, was designed to process giga and mega-castings commonly used by EV firms to build their cars.

As of late, EV sales have been in a slump, and GROB has reacted accordingly, looking to enhance the amount of business it conducts with the defense and semi-conductor industries. GROB machinery makes parts for the former and computer chips for the latter, and semi-conductor manufacturing equipment “requires very high accuracies and extremely clean environments,” Neubert explains. “There must not be any trace of copper on the surface of the machine part, so if you have hoses or pipes where some coolant goes through and these are made of copper, then it doesn’t work. We are developing a special machine for those requirements.”

For its part, the defense industry requires high-quality, high-accuracy, ultra-reliable equipment capable of handling hard-to-machine components, he adds.

As Neubert makes clear, GROB has not abandoned the EV market, and remains committed to producing equipment to make components for battery cells (used in EVs and other applications). GROB’s parent company has taken this mission a step further and forged a partnership with another German firm, Dürr. The partnership aims to build factories that will produce lithium-ion batteries, and things are progressing well, with GROB outlining its battery-factory building prowess at trade shows in Germany and elsewhere. Last year, reports Dürr, the two companies expanded their machine and system portfolios for the production of battery cells and made them more efficient. Now, “we can provide an entire solution for a battery plant,” says Neubert.

Brand-new products from GROB include a Vario rotary table for the company’s G550 universal machining center. In tandem with the G550, this new system offers “a special table solution for turbine parts, as well as thin, slender parts,” notes GROB literature.

Meanwhile, GROB’s new PSS-R900 rotary pallet storage system features flexible configurability and is intended to augment efficiency, productivity, and output. Dubbed “Generation Two,” the PSS-R900 is “an improved version of Generation One, but is also cheaper and has more pallets and better connectivity. The real game-changer is that you can automate two machines with it. You can put two machines facing each other and in the middle is the pallet storage system serving both machines. So, you basically cut the costs in half,” details Neubert.

GROB also continues to modify and sell its pioneering GMP300 liquid metal printer. While most 3D printers produce parts made from plastic, the GMP300 uses various aluminum alloys to print components. Plans are afoot to expand the printer’s repertoire to include other metals and “allow [for] more complex applications, more complex geometries,” Neubert tells us. The team uses the GMP300 itself to make production components including “some parts for clamping fixtures and assembly applications.”

The company has also been tweaking its line of specialized robotic solutions. These include GROB Robot Cells (GRCs)—compact robotic systems that augment five-axis universal machining operations. The names given to these products include numerals that reflect their payload capacity; the GRC-R12 for example, has a 12-kilogram payload. GROB plans to add new sizes, functions, and tech features to its GRC lineup.

GROB Mobile Robots (GMRs) are autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) that assist with centralized tool management and pallet storage. The basic machinery of these robotic vehicles hasn’t changed much, but GROB is focused on “constantly improving the software” used in its GMR models to boost performance, states Neubert.

GMRs don’t require human operators, which partly addresses one of the biggest challenges facing GROB Systems in Neubert’s view: manpower, or the lack thereof. “We have enough space here, we could easily build two more additions to the plant. But you need to find people, and find the right people,” he says of the Bluffton facility.

To this end, GROB Systems aims to develop new, skilled workers via its apprenticeship program. The four-year program offers a mix of mechanical and electrical education, classroom courses (paid for by GROB), and in-plant training. Apprentices who successfully complete the program earn a journeyperson’s certificate and are offered full-time work at GROB Systems, Inc. “We have grown from 2020, when we had about 20 apprentices every year… Now we are at almost 50 a year,” says Neubert proudly.

The company has also launched outreach efforts aimed at raising awareness of GROB’s purpose among high school and elementary school students and generating interest in manufacturing. “Everybody knows what a lawyer is, what a doctor is, what a teacher is. But nobody knows what a manufacturing engineer is. We want to create some excitement [around that] and it’s been pretty well received.”

In the same spirit, GROB Systems has been working hard to bolster its overall image. The Bluffton plant faces a busy roadway (Interstate-75) but conversations with existing and prospective customers indicated that few drivers who passed the plant understood its function. To remedy this situation, GROB Systems will be displaying large, highly visible banners outside the facility. These banners will contain product pictures and short blurbs along the lines of “We Build CNC Machines” or “We Build Assembly Lines,” states Neubert.

Hopefully, drivers will take note and gain an appreciation of what GROB Systems does. At the same time, the company continues to attend events such as trade shows, exhibitions, and conferences to network, demonstrate its wares, and keep abreast of trends.

When it comes to developments within the manufacturing sector, Neubert expresses concern about the U.S. government’s newly imposed tariffs on imported products and materials. While GROB Systems makes equipment in America, it relies on supplies from outside the U.S. which might be subject to import duties, raising production costs for the firm. Staff from GROB Systems “have talked openly with our customers. We had a good conversation with them” regarding tariffs and possible price increases, says Neubert.

Remaining well-informed and “updating your business plan accordingly” is paramount in this new environment, he adds. “The biggest challenge is really that there is no certainty about what’s going to happen. If we know, okay, the tariffs are there for the next ‘x’ years, you can work with that. But it seems like it could change at any time, so you have to be very agile and flexible.”

That said, some changes on the global economic front do bode well for GROB Systems. While the EV market is stagnating, interest in battery cell production remains strong, which plays into the company’s strengths, says Neubert.

“The U.S. and the entire world are trying to be less dependent on China. There’s a lot of battery manufacturing in the U.S. and they need equipment, and maybe this equipment should come from a different place than China. And we are, I would say, the only company of this size that can handle such projects in the U.S. and build here as well. That’s one area where I see very good potential,” he states.

The post Expanding its Facility and its Workforce<p class="company">GROB Systems, Inc.</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“Everything is done completely in-house. We don’t sub out any of our processes,” says Owner/CEO/President Steven Griffin.

The industrial, institutional, and transportation sectors constitute the company’s main markets. Industrial solutions from Sky Blue include heavy-duty degreasers and cleaners, lubricants, and metal cleaning products, while institutional products include solutions for house cleaning, water treatment, commercial laundries, and custodial work. While Sky Blue products are used to clean buses, trucks, boats, and planes, most of the company’s transportation-related business centers on car washes, car detailing firms, rental car agencies and similar.

“Automotive is our life’s blood. That’s where our roots are, and that’s what we do the most today,” states Chief Financial Officer Kaleb Thomas.

Sky Blue works with customers across the U.S. and indeed, around the world. “We’ve done projects all the way from India to Canada, South America, Europe; we’ve done all sorts of different things. We’ve shipped product by plane, by boat, by rail, by truck,” says Chief Operating Officer CJ Tuckett.

Blending tanks, filling machines, and bottling lines in the Sky Blue facility are used for liquid and powder blending processes. The company also offers warehousing and shipping services and leak-proof packaging in various sizes and configurations. But whether it’s a proprietary product or something custom manufactured for a client, quality control is central to everything Sky Blue does. The chemistry in car cleaning products must be flawless in order for an automobile to emerge “clean, spot free, and shiny… It’s more than just throwing a bunch of foam in a tank and stirring it up,” says Griffin.

To this end, Sky Blue maintains a quality control team and every batch of chemicals the firm manufactures receives a batch number for easy tracking and a certificate of analysis (COA). The latter is a document that cites the lab tests a product was put through and the results (Sky Blue performs viscosity and pH tests, to name a few). The company adheres to national and international chemical standards and keeps on top of regulatory changes in the field. Regardless of shipment size, multiple sets of hands and eyes scrutinize all products prior to distribution, notes Tuckett. He adds that the company is close to achieving ISO 9001 certification.

This same diligence is expected of vendors who supply the company with raw materials. Sky Blue works with a preferred list of qualified suppliers who can provide quality goods complete with certificates of analysis. “There is a vetting process that we use in making sure the supplier meets our specific needs,” Griffin explains. Indeed, the COVID pandemic aptly demonstrated the benefits of maintaining a well-established supply network. Unlike other businesses, Sky Blue continued to be well supplied with raw materials and actually assisted other companies who found it difficult to obtain certain goods.

And the company is equally focused on safety. Sky Blue employs a safety manager and conducts all required OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) courses. Training is offered on corrosive substances, handling hazardous and/or flammable materials, operating forklifts, and more.

“We have a training schedule that we follow,” Tuckett explains. “We basically do a training a week if the need arises. What’s great about being a small, family-owned firm is that we can adjust, pivot, and shift. If we’ve been having some issues with x, y, or z, we can focus on those areas.” For instance, Sky Blue recently overhauled its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to “up our game” as Thomas puts it. The new, improved ERP system collects data about inventory, purchasing, production, quality control, and safety.

The company traces its roots to Steve’s father, Alton Griffin, who established a combination tunnel car wash/full-service gas station in Ogden in 1963. Alton’s timing was terrible (“They actually opened on the day JFK was shot, so their grand opening didn’t go over so well,” says Griffin). Still, Alton worked hard and soon sensed an untapped business opportunity. Unable to find commercially available car wash chemicals, he hired a university chemist to create simple formulas for the young firm.

After much research and development, car wash chemicals were developed and put to use. Alton Griffin was so impressed with the results, he began marketing his proprietary car cleaning solutions to fellow car wash operators, auto dealers, and other clients.

The business grew and eventually Steve Griffin’s older brothers departed Ogden to pursue their own careers. As the youngest son, he stuck around as the company continued to evolve. The car wash and detailing portions of the company were sold in the late 1980s as the team decided to focus on blending, mixing, and selling car wash chemicals. The company currently manufactures 20,000 gallons of chemical products a day.

As noted, Sky Blue offers its own line of car cleaning chemicals. These are largely sold in “the inter-mountain region here in the Western United States”—which comprises Utah and Idaho, says Griffin. Some of the customers buying these products have been with the company for decades, he adds. Sky Blue also installs and sells car wash equipment including in-bay automatic tunnel wash infrastructure and other machinery. A full-time team is employed for this segment, which primarily operates in the inter-mountain region.

In total, 35 people work for Sky Blue at present, up from roughly 30 at this point last year. While the qualifications required for a position depend greatly on the job at hand, new hires are expected to embrace a set of core tenets that Thomas refers to as, “Blue Team Values.” These values include integrity, continuous personal growth, relationships, collaboration, and customer success. The team aims to forge close links with employees, vendors, and customers alike. Sky Blue is a “family first company” that has no problem giving employees time off to care for a sick child or attend a school performance, adds Thomas.

“Everyone works as a team… It’s not about making a quick buck. It’s about building relationships,” he continues. The family focus continues to this day, with family members occupying key positions. Steve Griffin’s wife is the lead receptionist, while COO Tuckett is his eldest son-in-law; Brandon Tuckett, Vice President of Sales, is CJ Tuckett’s uncle.

As part of its family-centric approach, Sky Blue undertakes extensive philanthropic work, supporting civic beautification programs, homeless shelters, and community centers, among other ventures. “If you don’t give back to your community, it’s ultimately going to make a failure of your company,” shares Griffin.

Clearly, Sky Blue is doing something right, given that the company has “multiple employees” who have worked at the firm for over 20 years, says Thomas.

“Not only do we have long-term employees; we have second generation employees as well. Two generations working inside of the company,” adds Griffin.

The company isn’t shy about promoting its products and services. In addition to its online presence, Sky Blue relies on “old-fashioned” marketing, including “knocking on doors, making cold calls. Trade shows are huge for us. We send our whole team out to trade shows to canvas for new contacts, new potential customers,” says Thomas. The firm also assists its customers at trade shows, visiting their booths and lending a hand when needed.

Going forward, there are “so many new things we’re working on right now,” says Griffin, pointing to water reclamation services as an area of particular importance.

Water reclamation—being able to recycle water and use it again—is becoming a huge issue, especially in the drought-ridden Western United States. The challenge is that any water captured during the car wash process needs to be purified to remove any chemicals it contains, and this must be done in a manner that is both cost-effective and eco-friendly. As such, Sky Blue is “working on a car wash line that not only meets bio-degradable standards, but meets reclaim standards completely, clear through the tunnel car wash,” states Griffin.

The firm also anticipates a boost to its bottom line: “We’re looking at 30 percent growth this year and we want to maintain that moving forward,” says Thomas.

Within two years, the company hopes to open a manufacturing plant on the East Coast to help with logistics and reduce shipping costs. Once that is achieved, Sky Blue Chemical may consider additional growth options. “We have some really hefty goals and a great vision for the long term,” states Thomas.

The post This Family Firm Has a Formula for Success<p class="company">Sky Blue Chemical</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“The acquisition by Daikin will strengthen our position in the Global market,” says Fabian Udo Beims, Sales and Marketing Director of Continental Hydraulics.

Being part of a strong company like Daikin—which has 90,000 employees—means greater access to resources and funds for investment. “It will allow us to improve in our product portfolio, speed up some of our initiatives and product launches, and strengthen our position in the market in terms of mergers and acquisitions,” shares Udo Beims.

Continental Hydraulics has a 114,000-square-foot plant in Shakopee, Minnesota, serving industrial and mobile applications across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Providing products and services to many top-tier customers, Continental’s client base includes construction, screening and crushing, mining, agriculture, oil and gas, machine tools, metal forming, food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, wood manufacturing, power generation, and more—“anything you can imagine that has hydraulics in it,” says Jason Dunlap, Interim General Manager and Director of Operations.

While sales were down for the company’s competitors in 2024, the opposite was true for Continental. “We have market share in all the sectors we are in, and are experiencing growth in all sectors in the last three years,” says Udo Beims.

Of course, Continental employs technology to make its processes more efficient, but the team is mindful of the need for human connections with its many customers. This has led to adopting a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) approach which sees buyers and sellers interact with one another through a P2P platform.

“We are trying to find ways to automate yet have a personal connection and not use automated or AI communication like some companies are doing,” says Eastern Regional Manager, Jamie Omvig II. “We have a customer service team and regional managers who are available by phone or email. We do a lot of face-to-face meetings with our distributors and direct customers to provide as much personal communication as possible. It’s a delicate balancing act, because what we don’t want to do is become inefficient and consume time on things that aren’t critical. We try to balance and manage that as best we can, particularly with our distributors.”

Indeed, Continental goes to market in different ways, with sales channels based on the Voice of the Customer approach, says Udo Beims.

Dunlap can be found regularly at the Gemba (shop floor), to ensure 100 percent customer satisfaction while supporting the employees and ensuring they have the tools to succeed, an example of Daikin’s people-centred management style.

“Daikin truly believes in a PCM structure, which fits perfectly with my leadership style,” Dunlap says. “We are trying to bring our employees into the mix right in the decision-making process, making sure they are challenged and that they are part of the decision-making here when it directly affects their responsibilities for the day. Nobody knows the job better than someone who’s doing it. For management to make its own decisions without consulting the employees is the wrong direction to go, and it’s definitely what we don’t do here—we make sure we bring everybody in here.”

Coming on board around the time of the Continental acquisition, Dunlap is happy with how everything is progressing in a timely fashion. “Corporate support is essential in this industry, and we have agile leadership that has the proven ability to move quickly on capital requests for machine replacements and moving our facility into Industry 4.0.”

Another Daikin acquisition, Till Hydraulik, has helped the company enter the German market. “Globally, we produce almost every single hydraulic product line you can think of,” says Dunlap. “We’ve had many success stories with our pumps,” with some customers finally requesting replacements for pumps that have been out in the field for 40 years or longer.

Ever continuing to innovate, Continental Hydraulics offers its customers new and existing products. These include IO-Link hydraulic valves, an electronics communications protocol product line that is unique in the industry. “It is a differentiator in the market,” says Omvig. Another is the company’s line of zinc nickel-plated hydraulic valve products. “That’s a standard feature for us, and kind of unique in the industry,” he adds. “For a lot of our customers who use our products—particularly mobile equipment or industrial applications where there is a lot of wash-down or a corrosive environment—it’s a very popular feature that again, not everybody offers,” he says. “We certainly have an expanded product offering that we are being very judicious about, but it is coming.”

Certainly, Daikin’s acquisition of Continental Hydraulics and its expansion into the global hydraulics market mark a strategic move that strengthens its position as an industry leader. By leveraging its extensive resources, people-centered management approach, and commitment to innovation, the company is not only enhancing its product offerings but also reinforcing customer relationships through a balanced mix of technology and personal engagement. As these companies continue to invest in growth, branding, and product development, they remain well-positioned to drive long-term success in the hydraulic sector while upholding their well-earned reputations.

The post Strength Through Innovation<p class="company">Continental Hydraulics</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The idea for Grand Slam Safety came to life in 2008 during a local high school basketball game. Company President Bob Lyndaker, then a community member and passionate about sports safety, was approached by Jan Lehman, President of the school’s booster club, with a request: could they create a safe outfield fence for the school’s baseball field? This seemingly small problem sparked a series of events that would ultimately lead to the creation of a new company.

Lyndaker took on the challenge by dedicating himself to thorough research. “I spent a couple of months researching online, even consulting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website,” he recalls. “I couldn’t find anything, so I decided to build a model and share it with engineers.” His persistence paid off when he received positive feedback from engineers and sports industry experts, which inspired him to move forward with developing a prototype.

Alongside his close collaborators Bob Chamberlain, Dave Moore, and Mickey Lehman, Lyndaker presented the prototype to the local school board, who agreed to let them install the system as an experimental project. The successful installation at Beaver River Central School proved the concept, and Grand Slam Safety was officially founded in 2009. From this point, the company embarked on a journey to refine the product, secure patents, and eventually build a full-fledged business.

In the initial stages, the company faced significant challenges typical of many start-ups. The business operated out of Lyndaker’s basement and Advisor/Salesman Bob Chamberlain’s garage, and limited funding, a lack of specialized equipment, and the steep learning curve of entering a completely new product category made growth difficult. The early days were characterized by resourcefulness and ingenuity, relying heavily on personal savings and the support of friends and family. The founders were deeply committed to their vision of creating high-quality, safe systems for athletic fields, which kept them going through these tough early times.

By 2014, the company was ready to take a major step forward. It acquired a former paper mill in Croghan, New York, and transformed it into a manufacturing facility. This acquisition allowed the business to move from a small, makeshift operation to a full-scale production hub. “That’s when we really jumped into it with both feet,” says Lehman. “Even though the company was formed in 2009, 2014 was when we began manufacturing in earnest.”

The new facility provided the team with the space and resources needed to ramp up production and expand capabilities. What started as a team of a few people working out of a basement soon grew into a full-time staff of 34 employees. This included experts in a range of fields, from sewing and metal fabrication to welding, engineering, sales, and customer service. With these expanded capabilities, Grand Slam Safety was poised to make its mark in the industry.

One of the factors that sets Grand Slam apart from its competitors is its unwavering commitment to customization and quality. The company specializes in creating athletic containment systems tailored to meet the unique needs of its clients. These systems include outfield fencing, divider curtains, batting cages, wall padding, and canopy netting, all designed and fabricated in-house. “We thrive on providing customers with customized products and systems,” says Lehman. “We believe we offer some of the best products in the field.”

Lyndaker adds, “What’s surprising is how unique our full-spectrum approach is in the industry. We design, fabricate, and install everything ourselves, which isn’t common among our competitors.” This level of control over every aspect of the design and manufacturing process has allowed the company to produce some of the most high-quality and reliable products on the market. Whether for a school, sports team, or large organization, Grand Slam Safety’s products are built to withstand the test of time and provide superior safety.

Indeed, the company’s commitment to customization has garnered recognition from a variety of high-profile clients, including Major League Baseball teams. Its work has also extended to other industries, including space exploration, where it designed a specialized netting system to protect employees working with lasers in manufacturing. Although Grand Slam Safety keeps many of its high-profile clients confidential, its reputation for innovation and excellence speaks volumes.

From the very beginning, innovation has been a driving force behind Grand Slam Safety’s success. The company’s first two patents were for its original outfield fencing system, which has since been adapted for indoor use. Over the years, it continued to innovate, most recently with a groundbreaking quad divider curtain. This system allows multiple training spaces to be created within a single facility, making it ideal for soccer training facilities and other sports venues. The quad divider curtain also features an edge-seal containment design, which ensures that balls do not escape the training areas, a key feature for many clients.

The company’s engineering, production, and installation teams have earned high praise for their craftsmanship, with manufacturing advances including 3D printing, programmable parts cutting, and vinyl/fabric welding. One notable project was completed in 2020, when the company was selected to install the backstop at the iconic Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, for Major League Baseball’s summer game. This prestigious project, along with several other accolades, including the New York State Empire Award, helped cement Grand Slam Safety’s reputation as a leader in the field of athletic containment.

While it initially focused on serving clients in the United States, the company quickly expanded its reach internationally. In 2016, it completed an installation at Bakhtori Field in Seoul, South Korea, and has since completed projects in Hawaii, marking its presence in all 50 U.S. states. “We’d like to do more work in Canada,” Lehman shares. “We’re building relationships there and exploring opportunities.” This international expansion reflects the growing demand for Grand Slam Safety’s products, which have earned a reputation for quality and reliability across borders.

The company is also well positioned for future growth, with plenty of capacity at its Croghan facility. “We have room to double production pretty easily,” says Lehman, highlighting the company’s readiness for increased sales efforts and regional partnerships. As Grand Slam Safety continues to expand its reach, it remains committed to providing exceptional service to its clients, no matter where they are located.

“Our growth has been organic,” says Lehman, “relying heavily on word-of-mouth referrals.” While these grassroots methods have served the company well, Grand Slam Safety is now looking to broaden its national network and expand its sales force. Building stronger relationships with distributors and identifying new markets for its innovative products are key priorities for the company as it looks to scale.

“We’ve grown so much since COVID, and it’s exciting to think about where we’re headed,” says Lyndaker. With a renewed sense of purpose and plenty of opportunities for innovation, Grand Slam Safety is poised for an even brighter future.

From its humble beginnings in a basement workshop to its current position as an industry leader, Grand Slam Safety has proven that dedication and innovation can turn a small idea into something extraordinary. As the company looks to the future, it remains committed to the principles that have made it successful: customization, quality, and continuous improvement. With new patents, an expanding international footprint, and a strong, dedicated team, it is well on its way to achieving even greater heights in the years to come.

As Bob Lyndaker puts it, “The potential for expansion and innovation is right in front of us. We’re excited for what’s next.” With a firm foundation and a clear vision for the future, Grand Slam Safety is poised to continue leading the way in the athletic containment industry for years to come.

Focus quotes:
“The founders were deeply committed to their vision of creating high-quality, safe systems for athletic fields, which kept them going through the tough early times.”

“The company specializes in creating athletic containment systems tailored to meet the unique needs of its clients, with systems including outfield fencing, divider curtains, batting cages, wall padding, and canopy netting, all designed and fabricated in-house.”

“What’s surprising is how unique our full-spectrum approach is in the industry. We design, fabricate, and install everything ourselves.”

“Grand Slam Safety has proven that dedication and innovation can turn a small idea into something extraordinary.”

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