The following was written by MHEDA for The MHEDA Connection with the notated exceptions [ ]:

SALES SUCCESS STORY

[AWP Supports] MH Equipment  Furnishes a Solution

Allsteel Office Systems, a Muscatine, Iowa-based manufacturer of file cabinets, bookshelves and cubicles, was faced with a dilemma. Warehouse workers were using carton clamps to move finished goods from wire decks onto pallets for shipment. When forklift operators picked up the finished products, the clamps would routinely squeeze and damage the wire decks.

During one of MH Equipment (Mossville, IL) Sales Representative Bill Baker's regular calls on Allsteel, a longtime customer with whom he'd developed a relationship, the problem was brought to his attention. “We weren't sure what to do at first because the fire codes in Muscatine don't allow solid deck shelving,” Baker explains. “We were making it too complicated and thinking we needed to put a punch plate or something on top of the deck. But once we really thought about it, all we needed was something for the clamp pads to slide on.”

Baker determined that installing two three-inch-wide strips of 12-gauge steel on the decking would solve the problem. But there were 1,284 damaged panels covering over 25,000 square feet. A prototype was developed in the maintenance department, and within a couple of hours it was clear that this solution would work. However, the condition of many of the panels was so bad that modifying them was unlikely and new, custom-made decks would be necessary.

That's when Baker contacted Shelly Daddone at AWP Industries. AWP had produced some custom orders in the past for MH Equipment, so Baker knew the partnership would come up with a great result. It developed into a $31,000 sale that was completed in 2006. “It turned out to be a much more cost-effective solution and worked better than before.”

Each of the new decks was delivered on time and the customer couldn't be happier with the results. It just goes to show the value of a good long-term relationship.

Custom-made decks from AWP Industries feature welded metal strips for forks to glide on.

Source:  “MH Equipment Furnishes a Solution” The MHEDA Journal: 
October 18, 2007.

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