We first learned about Ferry through the Association of Rotational Molders. We bought our first RotoSpeed machine in ’93 or ’94 and have bought one about every other year since then. It’s been a good experience overall. They’re responsive whenever I need something. In recent years, we have upgraded all our machines to the latest controls, including IRT, and they’ve done a good job of making the old equipment perform like new. It’s worked out well.
We originally had six McNeil machines, but we retired them over the years and replaced them with Ferry machines plus added several additional machines. That’s because we get higher quality parts and they’re more productive — much more productive, actually.
The machines themselves are very well engineered with sophisticated controls and good monitoring software. We use all their reporting software, so from anywhere in the world we can tie into our intranet here and see what’s going on with any machine in real time. The machines automatically generate reports that that help us control our process and feed our MRP system. It’s really helped us become more sophisticated as a company.
Ferry continues to innovate and improve their machines, so every time we get a new one there’s a new feature on it. If you want something special, they try to do it for you. They’re a solid organization all the way through. From their engineering and software people all the way up to Harry, the president, they’re focused on customer satisfaction.
