Shuttlewagon® • 816-569-6486 • http://www.nordco.com
Reprinted from Grain Journal January/February 2016 Issue
Shuttlewagon is on the move – pushing innovation, quality, and service.
With four new models of mobile railcar movers introduced in the last four years, the Grandview, MO-based manufacturer and service company is, according to James Nagel, vice president of sales and marketing, leading the way in innovation, quality, and service for mobile railcar movers.
As one of four divisions of Nordco, Shuttlewagon is focused on electric-driven, diesel-driven, and used and rebuilt mobile railcar movers. It also offers rentals, field services, and in-house rebuild and repair services.
Continuous Improvement
Shuttlewagon’s commitment to product development and customer service is evident in the company’s evolution, since its inception in 1972. Initially, under the Central Manufacturing company umbrella, Shuttlewagon started production with a single model mobile railcar mover. By 1985, it was offering three models – 400, 500, and 600 Series.
In 2007, the company was acquired by Nordco, an Oak Creek, WI-based equipment and engineering services supplier to North American Class 1 railroads, regional and short-line railroads, public transit systems, railroad contractors, rail mills, and equipment leasing companies. The move, relates Nagel, helped propel Shuttlewagon into the position it is in today as an innovative mobile railcar mover manufacturer serving numerous industries, including agriculture, port authorities, mining, chemicals, and energy.
“Who we are today is quite a bit different than who we were as Central Power Products or Central Manufacturing,” explains Nagel. “Today, we’re defined by a process of continuous improvement that permeates all segments within our business. Through that, we have been able to evolve by listening to the customer, understanding the pulse of the customer and our own people internally, and exhibiting ideas to improve the customer experience. That’s been a predominant theme under the Nordco umbrella.”
Four New Models
Most recently, the company introduced North America’s first all-electric mobile railcar mover that was launched as a part of its Navigator platform. This new product will be exhibited at GEAPS Exchange 2016, Feb. 28-March 1 in Austin, TX.
Additionally, in 2011, Shuttlewagon developed the SWX 840, then the largest, highest-capacity-producing mobile railcar mover in the world, according to Nagel. Further, the company also introduced a remote progressing vehicle, which is a 100% remote control-actuated machine and continues to be the smallest purpose-built mobile railcar mover in North America, he adds.
“There is a deep-seated desire across all of Nordco to innovate. We call it the Nordco Continuous Improvement System,” Nagel says. “It emanates out of lean manufacturing, which is the way all of our facilities are set up.
“With that comes creative thought, strategic thinking, listening to the customer, making improvements to the product, and providing solutions to the marketplace that no one else has thought about – or maybe they’ve thought about it but haven’t dared to pursue it. We’ve done that, and we’ll continue to do that,” he says, adding “We’ve got new products coming out next year that will expand our operating base further across the industry, specifically in moving railcars.”
Another innovative feature of Nordco’s Shuttlewagon line is that they are the only railcar movers built in America that use rubber tires for traction instead of steel wheels. This technology allows the movers to pull empty and fully-loaded railcars more efficiently than comparably-sized movers using steel wheels.
Models are sized and outfitted to meet the needs of virtually any size of operation. They range from a drawbar pulling rating of 15,000 lbs. to more than 60,000 lbs. In addition, there is a remote-controlled model for small moving operations with limited personnel.
Shuttlewagon uses industry-standard direct-type coupling that readily connects to all American Association of Railroads (AAR) couplers. This means that its mobile railcar movers connect to railcars like a handshake. In addition, unlike railcar movers that must borrow weight by lifting railcars via the coupler, the company’s movers use their own weight, along with the superior tractive power of rubber tires to move railcars.
Success through Customer Access
Among the factors that have contributed to the company’s growth (it now staffs 140 employees) is its direct approach to the customer.
“That’s really the predominant story, if you will, with regard to why we’ve been successful – giving that customer direct access to the OEM in a category of equipment that’s oftentimes considered ‘black magic,’” says Nagel.
This vertical relationship with the customer is part of what delineates Shuttlewagon from the competition, in that it has an unfiltered line of communication through its sales force and service technicians that feeds directly back to the management, engineering, and production teams daily.
“We get feedback straight from the customer, unfiltered by some intermediary who potentially could lose something in translation,” Nagel explains. “This has been an approach that we instituted back in 2010. It’s been an evolution – again, off the back of continuous improvement – but it’s been a great contributor to our double-digit growth that we’ve experienced each of the last four years,” he adds.
Beyond that, the company also offers full machine coverage that includes preventive maintenance, as well as a warranty against breakdowns. Additionally, in 2015, Shuttlewagon introduced a two-year, 4,000-hour warranty on all of its machines.
“Why do we do that?” asks Nagel. “One, because we’re confident in the quality and the integrity of our product. Two, given the fact that we have our own people out there servicing and taking care of the equipment, we feel like it gives us an edge to be able to support the product in such a manner,” he says.
At the risk of sounding clichéd, Nagel says the company is very customer-centric. To that end, he says, Shuttlewagon’s goal is to increase product velocity through its value chain in markets that utilize transportation. The way that it does this is by providing highly-engineered and specialized products that align with support services throughout the product’s full life cycle.
What does it mean internally for the company?
“If we’re in contact with a customer or user, it doesn’t mean we’re perfect, but it means when we’re in contact with a customer or user, we pull out all the stops, and we get that customer up and going,” Nagel says.
To accomplish that goal, Nagel notes that solutions are not dependent on one individual but an entire team of people.
“Our people, internally, whether they’re a group of engineers here at the factory, or if it’s a field service technician out in the field with the support of our service department here at the factory, or some foreknowledge that our salesperson has because he’s intimately familiar with the nuances of a customer’s systems and environment – it’s all those people coming together to affect a solution with the customer at the forethought of that execution process.”
