ArrowCorp Inc • 204-632-1000 • http://www.arrowcorp-grain-cleaning.com
Reprinted from GRAIN JOURNAL May/June 2012 Issue
In late 1989, three business associates became partners in establishing Arrow Product Handling Ltd., based in Winnipeg, MB.
Twenty-two years later, the three – Colin LeGrand, Fred Hass, and Rick Gergatz – are still friends and equal business partners in their business venture, now called ArrowCorp Inc.
The business has grown from operating as a resale agent for other grain manufacturers to becoming a leading manufacturer of its own grain and seed processing equipment sold throughout Canada and the United States.
“The three of us worked for Simon-Day (the Canadian arm of Carter-Day) when a downturn in the economy led to cutbacks; however, we used our knowledge of the people and products to start our own venture focusing on our areas of expertise,” says Rick Gergatz, who is vice president of product development and technical sales.
Colin LeGrand is president in charge of day-to-day management and oversees dust control equipment, while Fred Hass is the company’s secretary/treasurer.
From Distributor to Manufacturer
“At first, we were manufacturing reps for other businesses, but in September 1996, we purchased the Kipp-Kelly (based in Winnipeg) density and granulator product lines,” says Gergatz. “This got us into the manufacturing side of things, which gives us the ability to control our own destiny.
“In December 2004, we acquired Premier Grain Cleaner Company, which earlier that year had started manufacturing indent length separating equipment from its facility in New Brighton, MN. Adding Premier gave us a complete line of equipment to serve seed, grain, and milling customers, which make up our three major areas of focus.
“The New Brighton facility also gave us the ability to manufacture in both Canada and the United States, which is rather unique for our business but has worked out well. This flexibility helps us offset some of the variances in exchange rates, and it gave us a presence in the U.S. market, which now makes up approximately 60% of our business.”
Two Main Sites
ArrowCorp’s headquarters in Winnipeg, where 25 employees work, was recently expanded by 5,000 square feet to create a total of 22,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space. Manufacturing takes place there and also at the 23,000-sq.-ft. Premier Grain Cleaner Company site in New Brighton, where 30 employees are based. The company also has a small sales office in Rocky Ford, CO.
“Our two manufacturing facilities are linked via our computer system, so that all design, manufacturing, accounting, and so forth are coordinated,” says Gergatz. “I can check on the inventory and what is being worked on at any time.”
Building Customers
“When we started, we were the new guys on the block in the ag trade, which is a very traditional industry, so it took time to develop clientele, especially when we moved into the United States,” says Gergatz. “It takes patience to make the right connections with decision makers in larger corporations, but if you do what you say you are going to do and don’t make promises you can’t keep, people respect that.
“The best advertising is by word of mouth, but you have to remember that bad news travels faster than good. A wise salesman once told me that there will always be situations that go wrong, but how you respond is what customers will remember and determines whether they come back to you.
“We take care of our customers, and we have a lot of repeat customers in an industry that has fewer players than it used to, as a result of consolidations. We specialize in solving problems for customers, and we customize our equipment to fit particular situations. We are here to help customers from a project’s start to finish and afterwards.”
Making It Good and Easy
ArrowCorp’s slogan is “40 Years…Count on it.”
“The equipment we design and build – whether it’s branded ArrowCorp, Kipp-Kelly, or Premier – has a 40-year life cycle, if it is properly maintained,” says Gergatz. “We use quality components to build equipment that is industrial-strength and robust. Our equipment may cost a little more, but that’s because of the extra engineering and steel that goes into making it. We want customers to know that we are a reputable company that builds good equipment and that we back our products.
“When I worked at Simon-Day, I was responsible for ‘putting out fires,’ when customers had problems. I was actually ‘in’ the equipment – taking it apart and putting it back together – so I have always had the maintenance person in mind. All equipment has to be taken apart at some point, for maintenance or other reasons, so we make sure that our equipment is simple and strong, so that it is operator and maintenance friendly.”
Grain Cleaning Products
ArrowCorp’s line of particle separation equipment (in capacities from 50 to 10,000 bph) includes several models of aspirators (or air separators) used primarily as pre-cleaners, where product passes through, and an airstream removes unwanted objects. “We are developing larger equipment, including some scalper/aspirators to keep up with large volumes of product, especially rice and wheat, that needs to be cleaned prior to drying and storage,” says Gergatz.
“In the 1920s, Kipp-Kelly was the original manufacturer of rotary granulators used by the oat milling industry, and today we are one of two manufacturers of oat cutters. This industry has expanded a little because of the growing health interest in eating oats. We upgraded our manufacturing equipment in 1997 and are in the process of doing another upgrade, to boost capacity and ease of maintenance. There are many rotary granulators that are still in use after 40 to 50 years of everyday production, so ArrowCorp still supplies parts to keep these older machines working while also offering new models to address additional requirements.
“We still make the old Kipp-Kelly flotation destoners, which are used by flour mills, cereal plants, grain elevators, food plants, and mineral processors to separate product by weight using vacuum or pressure. We are expanding into new applications, especially for the bean industry. In the next year or so, we’ll be introducing the Atlas – a larger destoner designed for today’s increased grain handling volumes.”
Kipp-Kelly started building gravity table separators and destoners in 1934. These gravity tables still are used today to separate dry, granular, free-flowing material, where similar-sized particles differ in weight. These are used in the seed and food processing industries, as well as in industrial industries such as mining, forestry, and recycling. “The Pegasus is our newest gravity table,” says Gergatz. “It is simple to use, and operators like it, so it almost sells itself, as people tell others about it.”
Premier’s indent length separating equipment, including indented cylinders for use in the company’s own equipment, as well as others, has become a key product area for the business. “We sell a lot of indents in Canada and are building a market in the United States,” says Gergatz. “A year and a half ago, we started selling a new patented quick-cylinder-change model primarily designed for the seed business, where you need to be able to change size quickly.”
ArrowCorp also designs and sells dust control equipment, custom screens, and other ancillary processing accessories.
3-D Modeling
“Manufacturing has improved a lot in the last 15 years thanks to 3-D design capabilities,” says Gergatz. “In 1996, we were one of the first in Winnipeg to use SolidWorks’s 3D computer-assisted design program and we still use it to design everything. That program, plus the introduction of laser-cut steel, has changed our way of manufacturing drastically.
“The time it takes from design to production is now months instead of years, and the equipment is light years ahead of what was achievable in the past. Everything is more consistent, tolerances are much tighter, and equipment is easier to manufacture. Developing new products isn’t as costly because you can get new designs faster and address customers’ special needs much easier.
“We spend a lot of money on R&D, and every year, we have projects to either introduce new products or improve existing equipment. None of our models are static, as we’re always in a state of improvement. As new improvements come along, we incorporate them.
“The real challenge is keeping up, as everything continues to change and move faster. The only constant in today’s world is change, and you must accept and adopt change or get left behind.”
Still Growing
“Since the beginning, we have been growing, a little at a time,” says Gergatz. “We are a healthy company and always on the lookout for complementary companies that we can partner with or acquire that fit our scope of work and tie into our basic business model – particle separation for seed, grain, or recycling, in which you separate by size, width, or density.
“Right now, Canada and the United States keep us busy, so we don’t concentrate on the rest of the world unless a specific opportunity arises. We have made sales to South America and Asia, but export takes time and money to develop. For now, we are concentrating on expanding business right here in North America.”
