BUZZ • HYTROL IN THE NEWS

Conveying a Sense of Community

When he was asked about Hytrol's people, Gregg Goodner's response was emphatic: "Many of them never leave."

Employee loyalty is a strong suit of Hytrol Conveyors in Jonesboro, Arkansas. So much so that Gregg Goodner, Hytrol's president, makes an extra effort to commemorate an employee's 40th anniversary with the company.

"Employees who have 40 years or greater service with us, we take a piece of stainless and etch out a bust of them on the laser," say Gregg. The busts are laser carved using photos of the employees, and when completed they go on pillars in the company office, "a symbol that employees are our pillars of strength," he says. There are five busts in place, with two more on the way this year.

"I get the next plaque off your {TRUMPF} machine," says Sam Wright. "I started out as a mechanical draftsman, the drafting boards." That was 1968. Today, Sam works in design quality with engineers on field issues, in sales and some customer support too, "I'm a jack-of-all-trades."

"I started here in the 60s and they were growing and there have always been a lot of opportunities here. I like a challenge and this business is a challenge every day. It's like building a car from scratch and I get to see the final result."

Sam is one of many examples of how Hytrol, a leading manufacturer of conveyors, sortation and accumulation systems, builds its strength through long-term employee relationships.

"I feel like I've been with the company for 40 years, but I'm 45," says Boyce Bonham. "My dad went to work for Hytrol when I was five. When I graduated from high school, Hytrol was giving away two scholarships and I was selected as one of the recipients." It helped Boyce earn an engineering degree and opened the way to a rewarding career, which he didn't necessarily think would be at Hytrol.

Boyce was planning to work at Hytrol for the short term because he didn't think conveyors would be interesting from an engineering standpoint. But then it started to change. Conveyors were "becoming smarter," he says. Faster, too, from 60-70 feet per minute up to today's 600-700 feet per minute. Boyce was hooked. "The conveyor world was starting to become a lot more interesting from an engineer's aspect. So one thing led to another and here I am." More than 23 years later.

Changing The Way Conveyors Convey

Since its founding in 1947, Hytrol has been a leader in innovative conveyor systems. Hytrol introduced electronic accumulation in 1997 and according to Gregg "it changed the industry dramatically."

Electronic accumulation introduces logic to the often complex accumulation of various size cartons on a common conveyor. Hytrol led the way in making the control of this process as easy as working from a laptop PC. The system, called EZ Logic, is now the de facto industry standard. So much so that, when customers spec-out an electronic accumulator system, they automatically ask for EZ Logic "just as they would Coke or Kleenex," says Gregg.

Hytrol has to be innovative because 30-40% of their systems are custom-built. Again, here's where people make the difference. "We have an engineering staff of 45-55 who design, develop and build a product." So no matter what customers demand, Hytrol has the experience to meet it. Their customer list reads like a who's who of famous companies – GM, Ford, Sony, Barnes and Noble, O'Reilly Auto Parts, K & N Filters, Sub Zero, Anheuser Busch, and scores more.

Most of Hytrol's applications are in warehouse distribution and manufacturing. "Ours is probably the most recommended, specified and purchased package handling system in North America," says Gregg. But he has an appetite for more. "Food, beverage and pharmaceuticals are areas we'll be looking at. There's going to be a big push to ensure that food doesn't get contaminated and more of this manufacturing will be done in the U.S." To meet the stringent cleanliness requirements of food makers, Hytrol offers ultra smooth finish stainless steel systems. As an answer to the skyrocketing price of stainless, Hytrol also builds powder coated mild steel systems that meet sanitary standards at lower cost.

Another Hytrol innovation is a 24-volt powered conveyor with a pancake motor that mounts to the side of the conveyor. "This design is quieter and actually cheaper than the powered roller," says Gregg. The ordinary powered roller has a motor inside the roller and is prone to build up heat and wear faster with a life of about 2,000 hours. With the new drive, service life leaps 10 times to 20,000 hours. The drive system, called E-24, integrates with EZ Logic to offer precise control. "It's easy to install, build and maintain," says Gregg.

Engineers + Customers = New Ideas

"Innovative products and innovative design are the lifeblood of the business," says Gregg. "We're trying to stay ahead of the game based on input we get from end users."

And how does engineering factor in? Let's just say the engineers aren't cloistered behind the desk. They're often out in the field with customers, face to face. "It's worked out well for us," says Boyce, "because engineering is my background and I can share what our products do for customers. It helps us come up with new ideas. It's a good way to get customer feedback." Yet Sam observes that it's sometimes difficult for engineers to work with customers. "There are two different philosophies to that. It can be very humbling or very rewarding. I've been kind of lucky because I can branch both sides of it."

Perfecting The Process

Hytrol is well along in adopting the latest innovations in manufacturing processes. "We're in the fourth year of lean manufacturing," says Gregg. They've also realigned their four core businesses into focused factories, three by product and the other is support. "We're more productive than we've ever been, have the highest backlog we've ever had, we've got the best quality in the industry and on-time delivery is 98%-plus."

At the heart of Hytrol's advanced efficiency and productivity are two TRUMPF lasers. "The development of the laser is going to help us tremendously," says Gregg. "We can burn it on the laser, take it over to the press brake and it's ready to assemble. Before, we'd have to go through a cleaning and de-burring; it was a lot more handling. Most everything is cut on the laser, including holes. It's now a two-step process. This makes a difference because of the high price of stainless. "We're cutting everything with the laser, except for high-volume pieces of channel more than 10 feet long."

Boyce and Sam are enthusiastic about where lasers have taken them as engineers. "We've just touched the surface of what we can do from an engineering aspect. Engineers can think more out of the box," says Boyce.

Sam, who is due for retirement at the end of this year, has seen the Hytrol plant go from drill presses to press brakes to lasers. All this change, he says, "keeps you on your toes. I've been very fortunate."