On January 31st, QC Industries will set a record for the number of distributors that will come in for our Level One conveyor training. The school, which is conducted on a regular basis at our headquarters in Cincinnati, is regarded as one of the best training schools among the many manufacturers represented by our Distributors.

During every session we hand out surveys to help with our continual improvement. Here are a couple of comments that show why our attendance has been so strong:

Jason Kraft, Sales Engineer, Voelker Controls, Franklin, Ohio says, “QC Industries is by far one of the best training schools of any of our manufacturers. The classes move fast and keep your attention. Alhtough you’ve been here for a couple days, it seems like hours. They also have a great happy hour and dinner at Montgomery Inn.”

“As if the  fast paced nature of the training wasn’t enough, they have a great facility and demos. Honestly it is the best training our team has attended. Having our sales team spend a few days at QC Industries just supports why we represent them. Pure and simple, this company is on it. The company is growing you can feel the buzz,” said Dan Heiling, President of HeiTek in Phoenix, Arizona.

Training consists of a well rounded view of all of the product lines we offer. The broad stroke approach allows us to cover favorite topics like the competition comparison and the new Conveyor Configurator.

Even during the down turn of 2009, we had just under 70 distributors in for the introduction of our Automation Series line of conveyors.

“We have a clear appreciation of the time and financial resources it takes to travel in for training. We simply want to make the best of our Distributors investment,” said Dave Endres, General Manager of QC industries.

It seems every time we go to a trade show, someone takes a look at all the four- and five-foot-long conveyors in our booth and asks “Do you make any conveyors longer than that?”

Yes, yes we do. And here’s the proof.

I walked out into the shop today and found our crews building up an 18″ wide by 25′ long AS65 Center Drive conveyor and asked if I could take few photos. It took two of us just to roll the conveyor into place for pictures.

This particular conveyor was pushing the maximum length for our Automation Series conveyors, which is 26′, but it’s quite common for us to build conveyors in the 15-20′ range.

At trade shows we tend to use the shorter ones just because they’re much easier to move around and show all the features without having to walk someone 20′ away. Plus, there’s really not much to see but more aluminum and more belt when you start talking about longer conveyors. But, yes, we can and do build them longer and wider on a regular basis.

You will have an opportunity to visit with us as we wil be exhibiting at the ATX West show in Anaheim, February 14 – 16; in Texas at the new ATX Texas show, March 14th and 15th; at the ATX South show in Charlotte, May 2nd and 3rd; as well as at the Pack Expo in Chicago over Halloween, October 28 – 31.

This year we are introducing our newest line of conveyors, the AS40Z Automation Series Angled Frame Conveyor. The new AS40Z combines the great selling features from our Automation Series platform including the Pivot™ and Tension Release Tail with elevation changes in three different configurations.

Our new Conveyor Configuator now gives customers the ability to configure their own conveyors systems and request quotes from their distributors 24 hours a day. It incorporates intelligent rules from our engineers to ensure that everything works together properly. If a customer makes a selection that would result in a conflict, the Configurator gives smart suggestions to correct the problem. Once the system is configured, customers can download all the appropriate specifications sheets, drawings and CAD models they need to incorporate the conveyor into their plans.

This summer QC Industries’ conveyors will appear in a motion picture released by Sony Pictures. There may be a hint or two dropped along the way, but they will be hard to decipher as we are bound not to disclose until the world wide release. What we can say is that after exhaustive research Sony Pictures chose QC Industries over all other competitors for this opportunity!

Happy New Year and here’s to a prosperous 2012!

If you can’t wait for your printed issue to arrive, you can read the full story on their website.

We’re honored that New Equipment Digest has chosen to feature one of our Automation Series products on their cover again. When we initially launched the Automation Series line in 2009, it appeared on the cover of the March issue. They were also awarded one of NED’s “Best of 2009″ awards.

In the meantime, you can configure conveyors, request quotes, and download drawings, CAD models and specifications through our Conveyor Configurator.

Our on-call support team will be able to ship certain parts during this period. If you have an urgent need, please contact your local distributor or leave a message for our on-call staff by calling our main number (513-753-6000).

We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This morning I got a call from our production team that started out with “You’re gonna want to see this.” That kind of call can go one of two ways. When I got out there, what I found was definitely on the “good” end of that spectrum.

The conveyor they showed me was one that’s getting ready to ship. It’s an accumulating conveyor for one of our OEM partners that’s received several enhancements from our engineering team.

It’s a mostly-standard AS40 Automation Series conveyor. Lane dividers have been added to help guide the product to the drive end of the conveyor, where a special UHMW “nest” was been placed. It’s designed to fit the product perfectly and holds it in place until a robot can pick it up and move it on to the next step of the operation; other pieces accumulate behind it. An extra bar has been added between the lane dividers that keeps the product from stacking up vertically while it’s accumulating.

This is the kind of “special” our engineering team handles on a regular basis, since many of the projects we work on have some sort of complexity that needs a little more than is available from a completely standard conveyor.

Ever since we launched our Automation Series conveyors, we’ve received requests to bring the aluminum frame and tension release technology to our angled frame lines. Today we’re excited to announce that we’ve done just that with the launch of AS40Z Angled Frame Conveyors.

The AS40Z line is built on the same rigid aluminum frame we use for our AS40 and AS65 conveyors. It’s designed to reduce twisting, which is often the cause of tracking problems in competing conveyors. They also feature the same Tension Release tails, so you can relieve the tension on the belt for quick and easy under-belt cleaning with just the push of a button.

We brought one of the most popular components of our 125Z Series Angled Frame Conveyors – the Z-Track™ mechanism — over to help make it easy to track the belt. As with other Automation Series conveyors, V-Guide belts are an option. They’re especially helpful in applications where the conveyors are in hard-to-reach places.

AS40Z conveyors are available in three styles — Z, L, and R. Z conveyors go from horizontal, to incline, back to horizontal, which makes them ideal for moving product up and over aisles or other equipment. L conveyors are horizontal to incline, which is useful for moving product up from a low discharge height and depositing it into a box or bin. R conveyors are incline to horizontal, which is great for applications that need to elevate product and then connect to another conveyor or machine.

These conveyors are available in widths from 8″ to 24″ and in lengths up to 20 feet. They can handle loads up to 120 lbs. The most popular angles — 30°, 45° and 60° — are available as standard, while other angles can be requested through special orders.

For more information, see the AS40Z section of our website or contact your local distributor. You can also contact our knowledgable sales staff at (513) 753-6000.

They are extremely compact motors due to their brushless design and come with a digital operator that can be placed up to 65 feet away. They offer a number of advantages over our standard AC motors, including:

• Continuous torque at any motor speed from 80–3,000 rpm
• Accurate speed control with feedback to ensure a constant speed within ±.05% of the set speed (when using the digital controls) even when loads are being added or removed
• Eight set speeds that can be controlled automatically or manually
• Speed setting can be controlled using the internal or external potentiometers, the digital operator or by varying the external DC voltage
• Parallel shaft gearhead that’s ideal for stopping, starting and reversing
• IP65 motor, with an IP65 remote digital operator panel that can be placed up to 15 feet from the controller
• Multiple alarm and protection modes that prevent you from overpowering the motor

Our brushless DC motors are ideal for applications where you need accurate control of the speed or where a high number of starts and stops are involved. Consult our Sales Department for more information.

There are great stories within the MHW article. The push from their father to cut their teeth somewhere else before coming on board. The sounding board which they bounce business ideas off of each and every quarter and then of course the succession plans that you need to have in place regarding estates, trusts, wills, etc.

But I feel the untold story about this business is the success they’ve had navigating through tough times over the last few years. Let’s not forget Cleveland is smack dab in the middle of the rust belt and we — all of us — are still digging hard during difficult times. According to Department of Numbers, Cleveland has lost  143,000 job since May 2000. So for a company to be having success, making moves to grow and hiring a great staff, I’m telling that story and shining a light on this company.

Knowing Jeff and Trevor now for many years. I was always impressed that their father made them go to work and be successful with other companies first. So thanks to dad for preparing the boys and setting the company up for potential turbulence and of course the work ethic to make success happen. The great part of the untold story is we are living, growing and prospering together with Conveyer & Caster and it is to be continued.

Last week our marketing team took part in our annual Marketing ROUNDtable event hosted in collaboration with our friends at Balluff. The event started at the beautiful Metropolitan Club in Northern Kentucky where Balluff played host. The Met overlooks the Ohio River with views of Paul Brown Stadium as well as Great American Ball Park. The entire group enjoyed a great dinner, drinks and good “marketing” conversation!

The next day, you guessed it — QR codes, Social networking, content for blogging, white papers, and marketing automation were just a few of the many topics discussed at Balluff’s North American headquarters. Last year’s theme gravitated towards personal interaction and trade show related discussions. This year was completely different and even more exciting as the conversations swirled around social media and marketing best practices.

Kelly Panko, Marketing Communications Manager from Balluff said, “Loved the format with a couple of timely presentations, a tremendous amount of great discussions and free-flowing dialog. The meeting gave everyone an opportunity to talk about projects they’ve done and suggest new ideas so at the end of the day we aren’t wasting time and money on dead end projects.”

We had two great presentations. One was by business consultant (and former Marketing Manager for ATS) Jim Beretta and the other by Scott McCafferty, the co-founder and Managing Director of WTWH Media, a family of over 25 dotcoms and two industrial publications including Design World Magazine.

Others in the meeting included Chris Thompson, Marketing Coordinator and Graphic Designer with QC Industries Conveyors; Anjna Petal, Marketing Manager from Epson Robots; Alisha Howard, Marketing Manager from Markem Imaje; Lisa Pitzer, Marketing Manager from Oystar Jones; Melissa Freeman, Marketing Manager and Marc Ostertag, President of B&R; Mike Hilsey, Director of Marketing from Flexlink; John Budd, Director of Sales and Marketing from Fiero Fluid Power; Roger Judson, Director of Sales for PMA and of course Tom Rosenberg, Director of Marketing, Kelly Panko and Roger Altendorf, Business Development Manager from Balluff.

Thank you all for coming this year. We are looking forward to another great meeting next year!