Discover how Graham Engineering’s new service subscription model ensures exceptional support for clients
For over half a century, Graham Engineering (Graham) has been a leading global player in the extrusion industry, bringing innovative products that set new standards of performance, precision, and reliability across the market. Alongside its brands American Kuhne and Welex, the company specializes in creating solutions tailored to the unique needs of its clients by leveraging its proven stable of machinery and industry-leading Navigator controls. Dave Schroeder, President and CEO, discusses Graham’s history and core expertise in an exclusive interview with Manufacturing Today.
“Don Graham, the Founder, established the company in 1960 as a true engineering firm. I joined in July 2013 as President and CEO to bring insights into our strategic direction. Historically, Graham specialized in blow molding, producing packaging and bottles typically made from polyethylene and polyolefin materials. However, we recognized that we needed to diversify our business while retaining our core engineering focus when it comes to problem-solving and creating solutions. To that end, we acquired two equipment companies: American Kuhne in 2012 and Welex in 2013. The American Kuhne side of our business specializes in extrusion systems for applications such as pipe, profiles, wire and cable, and precision medical extrusion. Meanwhile, Welex focuses on extrusion for sheet applications, producing sheet which is later converted into items like yogurt cups, plates, and even dashboards for automobiles. At the end of 2021, we sold the business to a middle-market company in New York called PPC Enterprises, ensuring the legacy we have developed with Don continues while taking the business into its next chapter, which has been an exciting transition. In 2022, we acquired Kennedy Tool & Die (Kennedy), a leading mold supplier that shapes bottles and packaging, enabling us to provide fully turnkey solutions. Kennedy is an integral part of our blow molding product line through the supply of molds and tools for the production of bottles, containers, large articles run on our Graham Wheels, and our Accumulator head machines,” he opens.
With three businesses under its umbrella, Graham’s diversified capabilities enable customers to benefit from a broader range of dedicated solutions that meet their specific needs. “Throughout our history, our core mission has been to solve problems and provide solutions within the plastics industry, particularly in the extrusion sector. More than 30 percent of our business is dedicated to medical and precision medical extrusion, complemented by a wide range of consumer packaging, such as bottles, containers and thermoformed products. These products are utilized in various applications, including food and beverage packaging, household cleaners, consumer durables, wire and cable, and precision medical tubing. In simple terms, most of our operations revolve around extruding polymers, silicone and rubber into tubes, which are subsequently transformed into bottles, wire & cable, catheters, and pipe, to name a few. When we are not working with tubes, we produce profiles, creating shapes or profiles suitable for everything from campers to material rods, and sheet, albeit thin and wide. We purposefully diversified the business to enable growth by leveraging our innovation, people, and capabilities in extrusion across a variety of end markets to ensure that we are not solely focused on one segment of the industry,” Dave elaborates.
Having experienced continued growth in the services side of the business, Graham has added a service subscription model to its portfolio, which is designed to
provide a thorough support structure for customers. Dave tells us more about what this subscription model entails. “Most markets around the world are still struggling to maintain a skilled workforce, especially in technical roles on the shop floor or manufacturing floor. Considering these challenges, the primary rationale behind our subscription model is to foster a strong, ongoing connection with our customers, as they need reliable support systems to ensure smooth operations. We have established a model that anticipates our customers’ needs for immediate support if any issues arise. Historically, without a service subscription in place, when a customer encountered a problem, they would contact us to explain the issue. Then, we would require a purchase order to set up a project and charge for hours and costs associated with resolving the problem. This process can be cumbersome for our plant personnel as when a machine is down, they are focused on solving the problem, not the administrative side. With our service subscription in place and the administrative tasks set up in our systems, we can streamline this process. When a customer calls, we can immediately jump on the phone, take control of the machine, and engage technically to get the customer back up and producing. As a result, our response time is much faster, which is particularly important for those on the shop floor.”
As Graham continues to evolve and adapt in a competitive landscape, it will continue to build on its legacy of quality, innovation, and customer commitment. “As a business, our history has been characterized by the release of different types of technologies, from our control platform to the integration of our three brands into a unified system. This integration process has always been exciting to us as it entails a lot of learning, and combining all these common platforms has strengthened and improved our company. When it comes to investing in technology, the approach is very different between managing a single product line and multi-product lines.
“While diversifying our offerings enhances our service to end markets, it also adds complexity to our operations. Thus, a lot of our investment is directed toward managing that complexity while maintaining our core competencies in extrusion and integration. Most importantly, we prioritize supporting our customers in the marketplace with our machinery. We are dedicated to developing innovative machinery solutions that allow our customers to efficiently make high-quality products,” Dave ends.