Archive for March, 2009

We’ve mentioned before how much we value the trade shows put on by Canon Communications. They do a great job of bundling multiple related shows so customers can see a wide variety of vendors in one place.

Chris Round was recently interviewed by a reporter for a story in the Los Angeles Business Journal about Canon. A few of his quotes were sprinkled throughout the story:

“Canon does a really good job bundling shows,” said Chris Round, marketing manager at Cincinnati conveyor belt maker QC Industries, which exhibits at four Canon shows. “For people to get (a) clear understanding of this complex equipment, there’s no better place than a trade show…”

“Yes, trade shows are pricey,” said Round the conveyor belt salesman. “But from that show in Anaheim I got 200 qualified leads, meaning people who plan to buy conveyor belts in the next six months. So the value is extremely high — I cherish every show.”

My apologies for the quality of the image. It is a scanned page since the LA Business Journal requires a subscription to view articles on their site.

Our friends at Amerivap have produced a new video (sorry, it’s not embeddable) showing their Houdini conveyor belt cleaning system. In the video they cover our 125 Series and Flextrac conveyors with condiments while their Houdini system cleans the belt. It’s amazing how well the system works for getting the gunk off the belt.

We’ve just received a copy of the March edition of New Equipment Digest and our Automation Series Conveyors are featured front and center on the cover. Be sure to check out NED’s digital edition for the full story.

With more than 215,000 subscribers, NED is one of the largest trade publications in our field. Any opportunity to get in front of their subscribers is valuable, but the center slot on their cover is something we’re very excited about.

As you’re probably aware, the Obama administration’s stimulus bill includes a “Buy American” provision for the use of stimulus funds. Industrial Market Trends points out that it can be very difficult to determine what constitutes an “American Made” product in our borderless economy by looking at the automobile industry.

“Once you put down the flags and shut off all the television ads with their Heartland, apple-pie America imagery, the truth of the car business is that it transcends national boundaries,” the Wall Street Journal recently noted. “A car or truck sold by a ‘Detroit’ automaker such as General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler Group could be less American — as defined by the government’s standards for ‘domestic content’ — than a car sold by Toyota, Honda or Nissan — all of which have substantial assembly and components operations in the U.S.”

The auto industry is just one of the many industries that have taken a global approach to sourcing parts. With the pressures we all face to drive down costs, sometimes it is hard to ignore lower prices from overseas suppliers. That results in a mixture of nationalities in almost everything we build.

At QC Industries, we can proudly say that all our conveyors are “American Made.” More than 85% of the parts across all our conveyor lines are sourced domestically. In fact — as part of our efforts to keep our carbon footprint as small as possible — more than 60% of the parts are sourced within 100 miles of our headquarters. All of the final assembly is completed at our Cincinnati headquarters.

Photo by Daquella manera

The AmExpo, which moved from Greenville, SC to Charlotte, NC with the ATX South show, will be your next chance to see our new Automation Series low profile belt conveyors. You can register for the show for free. You will only have two days this year — March 11th and 12th — to come by. We’ll be in Booth #2007.

There was a rumor that the show would be leaving for Georgia next year, however it is official that it will be returning to Charlotte for 2010.  Hope to see you there.