PARKER HANNIFIN New business approach leads to new contracts

Parker is working more closely with customers on new products.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- A new way of going after business is leading to more production work at Parker Hannifin Corp.'s local pump plant.
Engineers are spending more time with customers, Parker officials said Wednesday in a tour of its operations for local manufacturing companies.
Bob Dolwick, marketing manager for the company's gear pump division, said some engineers have been placed in business development and innovation technology teams that work collaboratively with customers to identify their needs and create products to fill them.
Chris Johnson, senior project engineer, said listening to a customer's needs is crucial.
"We don't just go in and quote them a product," he said.
Results from the new effort include two large orders that will be produced by Parker's pump plant on Intertech Drive.
Starting in January, the plant will produce pumps that will be part of a newly designed fan motor for a small front-end loader used in industrial plants. Dolwick said Parker had no relationship with the customer before but was able to come up with a better designed product than its competitors.
Second project
In March, the local plant will begin making pumps for a fan drive for recreational vehicles.
This project was driven by new environmental regulations that will lower tailpipe emissions. The vehicle's engines will run hotter, however, so Parker has designed a product that uses a cast iron pump rather than an aluminum pump.
Dolwick said Parker is placing both products in Youngstown because that plant came up with the best plan in competition with other Parker pump plants in North Carolina and Florida.
He credited the United Steelworkers of America union at the Youngstown plant for adopting lean manufacturing techniques that have made the plant efficient. The other two plants are nonunion.
The Intertech Drive plant employs 160, while Parker has 80 at its Logan Avenue foundry and 75 at its Logan Avenue offices.
Cleveland-based Parker took over these local operations in 1999 when it acquired Youngstown-based Commercial Intertech Corp.
Rapid growth
Dolwick said Parker, which has 10 billion in annual sales, has grown so large that it changed the structure of its engineering operations last year. One division focuses on new products, while another works with customers on improving existing products.
Just because a product was created years ago doesn't mean it can't be improved, he said. Parker engineers go out into the field to see how customers are using products and recommend ways that they can be run more efficiently, he said.
The visit to Parker was organized by the Advanced Manufacturing Initiative, which was created two years ago by Youngstown State University and area manufacturers.
The group tours area plants so company officials can see how advanced manufacturing techniques are being used locally.
Company officials who toured Parker's local operations appreciated what they learned.
Mark Peters, an executive at Youngstown-based Fireline, said manufacturers face similar issues even though they are in different industries. Hearing how others are dealing with them is helpful, he said.
Fred Houston, who bought Grinding Equipment and Machinery in Youngstown earlier this year, said he is looking to gain as much knowledge as he can about manufacturing.
"Once you learn something, they can't take it away from you," he said.
shilling@vindy.com