Emery Thompson
Emery Thompson
PMF’s Deep Drawing Capabilities Bolster Efficiencies for Food Processing Customers
Good timing in business is everything. When a PMF team member reached out to Emery Thompson’s Vice-President, Slade Harmon, on LinkedIn, little did she know her timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. “We had just parted ways with a supplier who couldn’t get the quality or tolerances right on one of our cylinders. When PMF reached out to us saying they were confident they could meet both, I’ll be honest, I thought they were crazy,” Harmon chuckles, then goes on to add: “This cylinder we needed is 20 inches deep, 1/8-inch thick 304 stainless steel, with a welded, pre-stamped end cap. Grinding and polishing that weld to meet Food Safe standards at a 20 inch depth is no easy task. But PMF made the whole process sound so simple and easy to do.”
- Slade Harmon, Emery Thompson
Creating Efficiency
As Emery Thompson started working with PMF, they realized some unexpected efficiencies they had not considered. Harmon goes on to add, “Although we certainly had the capabilities of producing the cylinder in-house, it became very labor intensive. There were about 20 steps in the process of creating each cylinder. The production was messy. It required additional safety measures like special ventilation and respirators, plus other safety equipment. We knew it was possible to have deep drawn cylinders manufactured by someone else, but we found the tooling costs alone would be too high on relatively small quantities. We didn’t think we’d find someone who could do this at an affordable price. And then to find PMF able to accommodate us in good old Pennsylvania, well we felt like we hit the jackpot!”
Teamwork
PMF takes pride in the legacy relationships they have with so many customers. According to Ken Healy, PMF’s EVP & Director of Engineering, “We take a lot of pride in the long-term relationships we have with so many customers. That’s what we strive for. We’re more effective when we’re able to jump in and understand their business and their industry. It’s really satisfying to watch that team mindset come together. It’s no longer ‘us’ and ‘them.’ We’re in this together as one team.”
PMF’s deep drawing and flowforming capabilities are a big appeal for tight tolerances needed on precision parts in the food processing industry. Harmon reinforces that as he shared how Emery Thompson struggled with other suppliers in the past. “Many other suppliers have reached out to us, promising us the world, and then it turns into a nightmare. We invest all this time getting started with someone and then it ends in disaster. But with PMF, we are elated with the part quality. I guess when you think about it, we both took a chance on each other, and it worked out perfectly.”
