Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Considering Buying Custom Engineered Product? Here's How.


EPG is a category referred to by engineers, architects, manufacturing professionals and many more in supply chain and manufacturing circles. It’s the category that offers that ‘wow’ factor in our business. It allows for custom engineered and manufactured products to reinvent how a product is built, maintained, or how it is distributed. Or, in the case where a product is only in its infancy, EPG assists in the design-stages of the equipment which will enable a company to build it.

When considering a company for your engineered products, it’s wise to do your homework, like requesting case studies if none can be found on the company’s website. The complexity to which a company can engineer is an important factor as well, including electrical, hydraulic, mechanical and even software engineers designing the way a piece of equipment will operate.

Has the company built the products they’ve engineered? This is where trial and error takes place. This is where real world experience comes into play. Handling Specialty consolidates the engineering department into the same building as their manufacturing plant. This is where the two worlds meet - conceptual and material. This is where mistakes are put to bed. This is when a company gains experience from doing.




This is another department which exists in the same building alongside manufacturing and engineering at Handling Specialty. These three departments, plus sales, accounting, purchasing, marketing and more all exist within the same four walls at Handling Specialty’s Grimsby offices.
When a company can work together to see a project through like Handling Specialty can, it’s definitely worth your while to look them up when considering the design, build and support of a piece of equipment as important as an engineered product.


For more on this subject visit the original post at http://www.handling.com/company/blog/buying-custom-engineered-product-be-smart-about-it/




Thursday, February 11, 2016

Fun Fact: Handling Specialty is in the Guinness Book of World Records!


With a challenging project come great rewards. The largest underwater stage hydraulic lift system measures a world record 3,650 square feet. Who built this behemoth you ask? Handling Specialty Manufacturing Ltd.

Built for the Bellagio Casino, Resort and Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada, the stage houses a show for Cirque du Soleil’s “O”.  The show takes place in a pool containing 1.5 million gallons of water. Four hydraulic lifts raise and lower the four-piece stage.


The success with this project marked the beginning of the company’s recognition as one of the very few companies in the world capable of implementing a turn-key project of this size and complexity winning them work with cruise lines and
other underwater stage firsts around the world, like The House of Dancing Waters in Macau.

For more on Handling Specialty's custom engineered equipment capabilities please visit the website.

 



Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Team Work is Important in Realizing Success in the Supply Chain


In recognition of MHI's I work in the supply chain hashtag, Mike Roper has contributed a blog and video about his time in this dynamic industry.

Hi, I’m Mike Roper, Sales Manager at Handling Specialty, and I work in the supply chain. I started my career at Handling Specialty as the technical sales representative 13 years ago and became the company’s sales manager one year ago.

Working in the Manufacturing and Supply Chain industry has allowed me to meet fascinating people working with some of the biggest companies in the world, all over the globe.


Through these connections, and with the help of our engineers, manufacturing and services group, we’ve successfully delivered custom engineered material handling systems to a diverse range of industries.

Something I’ve learned through my experiences with the supply chain is that team work is integral in designing, building, specifying, and selling the right equipment for the appropriate application. It’s a fantastic feeling; watching a company grow with the solution or solutions you’ve provided.

Working in the manufacturing and supply chain industry has taught me that this is a diverse industry with many contributors, and I’m proud to be one of them.

Mike Roper

800-559-8366

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

The Validation for Diversification in Material Handling


With a combined history of literally hundred’s of years of design experience in engineering, manufacturing and selling into multiple industries, Handling Specialty has become the premiere source of custom material handling solutions. But it wasn’t always this way.

 

The company, established in 1963 and working primarily within the automotive industry, grew considerably through the 90’s when they went from commodity to specialty manufacturing. Educated by the auto industry, Handling Specialty created a dynamic Parts and Services department featuring 24 hour service, a project management group, and dedicated quality assurance staff to support their existing client base and expanding markets.

In 2002, Handling Specialty decided that diversification would better serve the company moving forward, and re-imagined a business plan that was 90% automotive to just 20% over the next decade. By 2013, the year Handling Specialty turned 50, they would look back on their choice to diversify fondly.

 

“A company doesn’t make it fifty years without reinventing itself from time to time, and being flexible to the needs of the customer, realizing a more diverse set of goals.”  Explains Tom Beach, President of Handling Specialty.

 

With two dynamic manufacturing facilities, one with a seventy foot high bay for vertical builds, Handling Specialty’s capabilities to design and build for virtually any industry is only limited by their client’s imaginations. The engineering department designs each product with safety, efficiency, and ergonomics in mind to ensure satisfaction and return business.


 

Today, Handling Specialty works in the Rail, Transportation, Energy, Entertainment, Aerospace, Defense, Advanced Manufacturing and Automotive industries. The majority of the work coming out of their manufacturing plants is custom engineered for specific applications. Quality, stability, personality and a small business attitude, is still how Handling Specialty governs their operations; allowing for that personal touch, which remains a favourite quality among the world’s largest business leaders.

 

Handling Specialty offers conceptual engineering, consultation, design, manufacturing, testing, installation, commissioning, and training as well as on-going planned maintenance services for multiple industries all over the globe. Word of mouth, repeat business, marketing and sales efforts all contribute to the company’s bottom line, and a bright future.

Monday, February 1, 2016

10,560 Transport Trailers in 30 Seconds


The marketing department at Handling Specialty carried out a quick data gathering exercise recently.



We placed our video camera at the windows facing the high way to capture the transport trailers that rumble by day after day. We counted 11 transport trailers within the span of 30 seconds pass by the windows of Handling Specialty at 2:30pm EST along a stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) which runs parallel along the south end of lake Ontario from Hamilton to Niagara Falls.



Now that’s just thirty seconds during a time of day which isn’t particularly busy. Now, imagine those 30 seconds times 2; to make up a minute. That’s 22 transport trailers. Now times that by 60 to make up an hour. That’s 1,320 trucks every hour on average. Now multiply that number by 8; to make up an average work day. That’s 10,560 trucks on the road moving product on a Wednesday.


That’s just trucks carrying product on one particular stretch of highway in southern Ontario, Canada. Imagine the planes and ships and trains doing the same and all of the trucks all over North America and the rest of the world! It's kind of mind-blowing; the amount of people employed to move product from point A to point B.


That’s the industry we're in. #iWorkInTheSupplyChain

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

The Supply Chain from a Marketing Point of View



This document was prepared for the MHI #iWorkInTheSupplyChain event.


It’s truly incredible how many aspects of everyday life are affected by the supply chain. Before I began marketing in the manufacturing industry, I had no idea the range and scope my marketing efforts could achieve.
 

I’m thankful for my entry into this dynamic industry, where marketing has a tangible effect on business and brand recognition. Much of what I do is internal marketing, keeping our employees encouraged by our growth, training dealer networks how to market themselves and the brand I am representing at the time, and, of course, externally marketing my company’s capabilities to the world.

 

Each business I have represented in the past eight years has either been active in global markets or communicated to me their interest in pursuing a worldwide audience for their products or services. My job, regardless, has been to broaden our reach and bring new opportunities to my manufacturer through advertising, social media, web applications, proposals, and tradeshows. I have seen a lot of the world in my short time representing manufacturers on a global scale, and I look forward to seeing more of it.

 

But the scope of the supply chain is seen on both fronts, abroad and here at home. The footprint in our daily lives is unmistakable. Now, when I drive the highways, spot a warehouse, or look out my office window, I am reminded by the ratio of transport trucks to pedestrian vehicles, and what it truly means to be a part of the supply chain. It is a web of endless activity which spans the globe, and brings goods and services to the world at large.

 

Michael Poeltl


800-559-8366

Monday, January 18, 2016

Handling Specialty Adds New Product to Assist in Your Manufacturing Needs

With the recent addition of the OSA-LATOR Indexing table to the Handling Specialty product line; including custom Head stock/Tail stock Positioners was an easy choice.


What are some of the major benefits to employing a Head stock/Tail stock Positioner? It offers a properly positioned weldment, regardless of the size, which reduces welder fatigue, increases safety, improves weld quality, and saves on production floor space. By relocating the weldment or assembly component, workers are not forced into unsafe or ergonomically uncomfortable positions.
 

Why choose a Head stock/Tail stock over a Rotator?
  • In a welding application, welds are presented to the operator with optimal weld positioning, torch access, torch angles and resulting in improved quality.  
  • A rotator will not provide the same flexibility. Vertical welds will always be vertical welds on a rotator while a HS-TS will translate vertical position welds to an optimal flat or horizontal position.
  • In an all applications [inspection, assembly, cleaning, etc] the part is rotated into the worker envelope, reducing ergonomic concerns, increasing productivity and up-time

  • To learn more about this new product addition, a webpage dedicated to the Head stock/Tail stock Positioners can now be found on the Handling Specialty site along with a downloadable version of the brochure.