Philadelphia Mixing Solutions (PMSL) in Palmyra, PA, made a bold decision several years ago. Realizing that little new process plant capacity was being added in North America, the long-time maker of industrial mixers, which was spun off from Philadelphia Gear Corp. in the 1950s, abandoned its old business model and took on a new role. The manufacturer transformed itself into a mixer repair service for process-plant managers across the country. As a result, it has bolstered revenues by 35% since 2000--even while the overall process-equipment industry has declined. The makeover wasn't easy, however.

For starters, PMSL had to whittle down most of its 200 plant workers over the span of a few years. From 1997 to 2001, the company let go of all but its most senior employees, straining its already rocky relationship with their union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. "Initially, it was not good," John Beccia, plant operations manager, tells Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operations. "But we worked hard with the remaining 12 to have them understand what was required, where we were headed, the company philosophy, and we made them part of the group." The company kept workers involved and informed--a strategy it credits with smoothing and strengthening ties with its personnel (total company employment is now 90 with 19 plant-floor employees). "They're made aware of everything," says Beccia. "We have quarterly meetings where they're brought up to speed on sales, goals, what's happening, who's doing what, customers."

Additionally, the company had to retrain its field team, redefining their roles from order takers to mixer-maintenance experts. Equipped with testing devices such as a noise meter, an infrared thermometer, a stethoscope and an amp meter, each member of the team now conducts in-plant surveys of current mixing equipment. "This involves walking through a plant and seeing how many mixers there are, the condition they're in, what makes and models there are, and how they're running," David Proctor, vice president of sales and marketing, tells Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operations. "We tell them to talk to the plant manager about their maintenance habits. And when they do this, they inevitably hear about where the plant is having problems. Then we say, 'Here's how we can help.'"

Gaining the expertise to fix all major brands of industrial mixers was a daunting task for the veteran manufacturer, who had established a reputation in custom design and had barely dabbled in repair and maintenance. For starters, just the sheer number of mixers it had to learn to service was challenging. A large chemical plant, for instance, could count as many as 500 or more mixers, the majority of which would not be PMSL products. To gain mastery in this new business, PMSL developed a Service All Mixers program, purchasing a wide range of mixers on the secondhand market, reverse-engineering them and figuring out how to repair and rebuild them. This entailed locating, dismantling and measuring old models, then making drawings to be used for producing new parts.

Another challenge for the company was reconfiguring its 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and transforming it into a world-class maintenance and repair operation. Most of its manufacturing equipment, from metal presses to machining centers, had to go. What stayed were equipment necessary to produce specific parts. Additionally, the company retained its powder-coat painting equipment, upgraded its test lab, constructed a 750,000-gallon test tank in a separate building, and purchased other repair-related equipment, including a steam-cleaning unit. Also, it entrusted manufacturing operations for a new, proprietary line of PMSL mixers to outside contractors.

While the changes have not come easily for the company, vice president Proctor points out that they were nothing short of essential. "I realized that not in our lifetimes will we start adding (process) capacity again. So I knew our timing was good for this. And if we hadn't begun these activities," he tells Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operations, "I have no doubt Philadelphia Mixing Solutions would be out of business."

Source:

Company Profile: Philadelphia Mixing Solutions: Trading Places
Rick Carter
Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operations, March 2005
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