Most recently, a powerful storm system called a derecho slammed Houston. Hurricane-strength winds knocked out power to a million homes and businesses in the area and left several people dead in the wake of its destruction. The city scrambled to address emergency calls, gas leaks, and other dangerous infrastructural challenges. Just weeks before, torrential rain inundated the area, causing flooding substantial enough to warrant closures. The area received more than nine inches of rain in a 24-hour period and flash flooding warnings remained in effect for days.

Severe weather events like this are becoming all too common, the intensity of which have significantly strengthened over time. The presence and form of these crises are almost ironic as well. Too much rain causes massive flooding, but extreme temperatures and below average rainfall means aquifers are running dry, worsened by the presence of drought conditions, which is especially taxing for the economy both in terms of the loss of assets and loss of lives.

Between 1980 and 2022, 44 percent of all climate and weather disasters exceeding a billion dollars in damage impacted Texas, so the old saying might be true: everything really is bigger in Texas, even the impacts of natural disasters. In fact, the state is considered the U.S. state most vulnerable to climate change given the frequency and severity of these occurrences. According to Climate Check, the greatest risks facing the state are heat, precipitation, fire, and drought, with different areas of the state facing unique sets of challenges.

When compared to other states, Texas ranks 10^th in terms of its risk for drought, 15^th for fire, 36^th when it comes to storm risk, and 38^th for flood risk. What is more, it seems like there is no season from which the state is safe.

Heat records are being set in the month of May, before the summer has officially even arrived. Dallas and other parts of the state experience record-high temperatures, some extremes that haven’t been felt in close to a hundred years. At 116 degrees Fahrenheit, La Puerta was the hottest city in the country.

Last June was the second hottest summer on record, with the state experiencing 119 degrees Fahrenheit or 48 degrees Celsius. The frequency of extremely hot days is also increasing, which means there is little reprieve from the heat. By 2050, on average someone in Texas will experience an estimated 43 extremely hot days each year.

With this extreme heat, emergency rooms are experiencing greater demand, and greater numbers of people are dying, particularly vulnerable citizens like children and the elderly. Not everyone is equipped with air conditioners, fans, or the means to keep themselves cool, and when the power grid fails, these things are of no service or function.

Further to the individual impacts of the heat, elevated temperatures are also contributing to smog, ozone, and pollution, in addition to exacerbating wildfire conditions, which is another major issue facing the state.

West, south and central Texas face the greatest risk of wildfires. Drought conditions contribute to dryness that facilitates the rapid ignition and spread of fire. Where there is a risk of wildfire, it should be welcome news that the state is also experiencing more intense rainstorms causing flooding, but the reality is that on average, there is less rainfall. Average rainfall is down overall in the winter, spring, and summer months in Texas, which has decreased the rate of flow in rivers and streams, depleting the aquifer upon which many people, farmers, and businesses rely.

Since the 1950s, this aquifer has declined by 50 percent in some parts of the state. This water is of utmost importance to the agricultural foundation of the economy as well as electrical production upon which the economy depends. Further, historic flood plain maps no longer hold valid. Areas that never used to flood are flooding and those that were supposed to flood occasionally over the 100- and 500-year plains are flooding more frequently.

Particularly in the eastern two-thirds of the state, the annual rainfall continues to bring more intense rainstorms and flooding, but the soil continues to become drier, which is increasing the amount of desert in the state. This is due in large part to hotter temperatures causing evaporation, as well as increased usage, particularly during times of drought.

Coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to flooding and wind damage, as well as rising sea levels. Rising sea levels not only submerge land, but they also erode beaches, conditions amplified by the more intense hurricanes, tropical storms, winter storms, rainstorms, and tornados that continue to batter the state.

Along much of the coast, the sea is rising almost two inches a decade and the land is sinking, largely due to ground water pumping. These two things are a wicked combination that can have serious implications.

According to an interactive map created by Climate Central, an organization of scientists and journalists dedicated to the issue (Interactive map shows which Texas cities will be underwater in 2050 | KXAN Austin), many Texas cities will be underwater by 2050, the highest risk belonging to the southern coastline. If this comes to fruition, it will have a devastating human, environmental, and financial toll on the state.

Maintaining these communities, particularly ensuring the infrastructure is sufficient, will be costly, both from a financial perspective and a cost of life perspective. Not only are the lives of those who live and work along the coast at risk, these areas are major economic hubs that are becoming increasingly costly to insure and safeguard. These areas are home to major cities, critical infrastructure like railways, ports, and highways, and oil and gas infrastructure, which is a significant part of the state’s economic strength and identity.

Come wintertime, Texas faces a new kind of extreme. At the same time as cities in Texas are experiencing all-time temperature highs, the state is also seeing record lows, with several cities recording temperatures colder than experienced in Alaska.

Cold temperatures and winter storms like the Groundhog Day blizzard in 2011 that produced rolling blackouts across more than three-quarters of the state due to insufficient energy infrastructure and increased demand on the grid are also becoming more common. The storm caused the loss of power, roads were impassable, and there were water, food, and heat shortages that led to major losses. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were without power, and hundreds of people lost their lives either directly or indirectly due to the storm. It cost upwards of $200 billion to recover from this storm.

The storm shone a light on the fact that Texas’ electrical grid needed significant upgrades, but the cost of winterizing the system was so great that the recommendations of North American energy regulators have been ignored by state leadership, and the costs of cleanup were likely greater than the costs to upgrade would have been. The Dallas Morning News reported that Dallas-Fort Worth hit a record low of minus two degrees, marking the coldest day on record in North Texas in 72 years.

With every massive storm, and through the gradual changes caused by shifting climate patterns, the state’s existing infrastructure and established way of life becomes more strained, which requires immediate action on the part of the state’s leadership.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that emissions need to be reduced to keep the globe from warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. To have a 66 percent chance of preventing the temperature from exceeding 1.5 degrees, greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 45 percent by 2030, and net zero needs to be achieved by 2050. To be closer to 100 percent, net zero would need to be achieved by 2040—an extremely lofty goal.

Much of the state of Texas has already warmed one-half to a full degree in the past century. Of the challenges that rising temperatures present, for every one degree Celsius the atmosphere warms, it holds approximately seven percent more moisture.

To overcome this, it will require massive action on the part of the state and federal governments, as well as local support from the municipalities, which is likely to take time—but there are things that can be done sooner to insulate the state from the ravaging impacts of these natural disasters. Be it investments in the state’s infrastructure—including its power grid to ensure it stands up to increased demand and volatility—or safeguarding individuals with the means necessary to keep themselves warm, cool, and protected from the inevitable shifts in weather being faced, it is time to take these matters seriously to mitigate the costly impacts to life and property.

The post Everything Is Bigger in Texas – Even the Storms<p class="company">Climate Change and Vulnerability in the Lone Star State</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

For nearly one hundred years, ISIS and NARI represented the two largest segments of the recycled materials industry, and in merging into ISRI, this new endeavor was able to grow alongside the industry itself. President Robin Wiener has been with the association since 1989 and in the presidential role since 1997. “It’s a great industry. It gets in your blood; the people are so committed and wonderful,” says Wiener, “and the work being done by the recycling industry is good for communities, the environment, and the economy.”

The former ISRI rebranded in mid-April to the Recycled Materials Association, or ReMA. The name change represents a shift in expression for the association but not in its overall mission. The new brand better represents the association and will help remind consumers in today’s sustainability-aware environment that ReMA represents the entire recycling infrastructure.

Its coverage includes recycled metals, paper, plastics, glass, textiles, rubber, and electronics, whether sourced from commercial, residential, or industrial operations. In fact, ReMA represents recycled materials companies in both the United States and globally, with members ranging from smaller outfits to multi-national corporations in more than forty countries around the world.

Wiener says that the recycling industry is unique because it touches on almost every part of today’s economy. Indeed, ReMA’s members obtain materials from sources like homes, businesses, factories, schools, and parks, supplying high-quality renewable resources to make new products that are an important part of the everyday items and essential infrastructure we rely on, from roads and bridges to packages, piping, cars, and more. This important source of sustainable raw materials for global manufacturing avoids the need to extract precious natural resources while reducing carbon emissions in the process.

Recycling as a sector is part of a smart policy to create meaningful resiliency for the global supply chain. Commonly named ‘critical minerals’ are materials vital to the development and production of clean energy technologies and currently, a critical minerals strategy is being pursued in the U.S. and globally. Many countries have highlighted recycling as an important part of this strategy.

Legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act represents a lot of investment that is being put into developing recycling technologies and using recycled materials to help address the need for greater amounts of critical minerals. For example, with the increased use of electric vehicles comes the need for the batteries that power them. Wiener says that electric vehicle batteries have a long way to get to the same recycling rate as the lead acid batteries found in traditional automobiles, a rate of around 95 percent; efforts are underway, but more work is needed. Both ReMA and the industry at large are focusing on the most effective ways to recycle these batteries.

The association has also developed a Fiber Recycling Readiness Tool to test the recyclability of fiber-based packaging. There was a growing number of fiber-based packaging on retail shelves across the country like paper, paperboard, and corrugated boxes, so ReMA brought together brands and package developers to work with recyclers to develop the tool, which is now helping to design smarter packaging that can be more easily recycled.

In addition to the Fiber Recycling Readiness Tool, the association has proactively reached out to brands and manufacturers to promote Design for Recycling principles to encourage manufacturers to account for the end of a product’s useful life, by considering what else it can become, during the design stage of a product’s development. One such step came around three years ago when ReMA established its Brand Leadership Council within its membership, with many active global brands working with the association on finding ways to increase recycling rates by focusing on improving packaging at the product design phase instead of end-of-life.

ReMA has also done extensive work on a national roadmap for the U.S. to move toward a safe, circular, electrified economy by 2030. It brought together stakeholders in November 2023 at a summit in South Carolina, a growing U.S. hub for automotive and battery manufacturing, to begin development on this roadmap, with an anticipated finish of autumn 2024. Wiener hopes to bring the various discussions around the issue together to facilitate developing policies, practices, technologies, and infrastructure that will allow the U.S. to create a safe, environmentally responsible, and economically sustainable circular supply chain for electric vehicles and batteries.

Attention is also being paid to creating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) toolkits for members; to sharing information and providing resources to demonstrate all that is being done for customers; and to reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain using recycled materials.

The recycled materials industry is always in need of people. Wiener says that as the industry has grown and innovated, ReMA has increased its focus on providing workforce development support over the years, especially through the establishment of initiatives like a youth outreach program. In partnership with JASON Learning (a STEM-based non-profit focused on curriculum development) that began nearly 10 years ago, ReMA has been continuously designing and updating a recycling curriculum intended for grades K-12. The need for workers has placed more attention on the program and on the need to share with young people the career opportunities that await them in the recycling field.

ReMA also has a program focused on expanding its pipeline from historically black colleges and universities through an internship and fellowship program, as well as extending a similar hand to neurodiverse people looking to break into the workforce through an inclusion program launched in 2023. The association is very excited about creating opportunities for those who have traditionally had difficulty finding jobs.

Wiener says that the ongoing decarbonization movement—the reduction and elimination of carbon dioxide into Earth’s atmosphere—is changing the recycled materials industry as well as its role in domestic and global economies. “Decarbonization will increase the demand for and focus on recycled materials,” she says, which will in turn impact the need for materials like copper, aluminum, nickel, and other recycled materials needed to produce low-carbon technologies. It will also affect the global transition to clean technologies like electric vehicles and wind turbines and represents the movement of the economy toward net zero.

There is a great deal of excitement in the many growth areas of ReMA, as well as for its many projects focused on bringing greater attention and understanding to the recycling industry. Although sporting a new name, the association is as committed as ever to its goals in the recycling industry and beyond. “Our future certainly is a decarbonized and electrified economy,” Weiner says. “We want to make sure this is done well.”

The post New Name, Renewed Focus<p class="company">Recycled Materials Association (ReMA)</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The company dates 2003, when three former employees of what was once the Reynolds Metal Co.—a larger aluminum supplier based out of Richmond, Virginia—found a need that was not being served, and this would become the company’s initial target market of aluminum distribution centers. Over the years, SCM would expand its footprint into other markets that include the automotive, building/construction, and defense industries, with distribution centers remaining as the focal point and largest share of the company’s interactions and business.

Supply Chain & Marketing Director Fernando Segovia began his career in the aluminum industry at Alcoa, one of the largest aluminum producers in the world; however, upon joining SCM in 2021, he was impressed by the company’s growth and ability to gain market share. Before long, he came to see that its real success lies in its abilities to deliver a quality product and to create and maintain strong customer relationships.

“We’re very quick to react to any needs or changes that customers want,” Segovia says, and this includes delivering metal in any size or shape to clients in as little as a week or two. Good uptime on equipment, consistent and reliable product quality, and the ability to meet these commitments have helped SCM grow into a successful company.

Coming from a global company that employs tens of thousands, Segovia sees that SCM’s identity as a somewhat small company, employing around 420 people, promotes a more family-oriented and personable atmosphere. This also allows close access to the aluminum industry heavy hitters on staff who bring the knowledge that makes this a strong company on a technical level. “There’s this personal touch with employees at every level that makes it a welcoming, enjoyable environment.”

Another advantage proving useful for SCM is its start-up environment wherein ideas flow from one department to another, empowering new ideas and unorthodox approaches to the industry. Segovia says that this makes operations fun, exciting, and above all, successful.

When it comes to recent developments, exciting is the word. SCM has further expanded its aluminum services in recent years with the installation of a new aluminum cast house, where it can now cast more aluminum billets used in the extrusion process. The new house includes two new furnaces and a vertical casting table, with a casting capacity of 160 million pounds a year. These billets are also one of the few on the market made with recycled content—up to 91 percent—found in scrap metal, which is increasingly attractive to a more eco-conscious clientele.

SCM has also installed a new 11-inch press for extrusions down the street from its existing facilities in its hometown of Prince George, Virginia. All these upgrades represent great momentum within the company, as it can supply more products to customers and continue to increase its market share.

In a fun twist, all the SCM extrusion technology is given names reflecting classic rock musicians, with names like Cash, Elvis, The Boss, and cast lines named after famous double acts like Mick and Keith or Jake and Elwood. These little touches were instituted by the founders years ago and serve as a reminder of that founding spirit today.

SCM’s growth has also occurred internally in unexpected and wholly welcome ways. Within the last two years, the company has inaugurated an in-house health center with a full-time nurse practitioner and a physical therapy professional on staff. These services are free to all employees and their families, with the goal of investing in its workforce and making the company the employer of choice in the Prince George area. This endeavor has seen phenomenal success so far, Segovia says, with some employees being able to diagnose underlying conditions and get the appropriate treatment.

The new health center’s benefits for the workforce complement the company’s strong safety record and commitment to the health of its workers. Segovia says that companies must be responsible for putting in systems and people to mitigate risk, and SCM’s sterling safety record reflects the fact that safety is its number one internal priority.

Another value that is highly regarded at SCM is competition, which Segovia says makes things fun and engaging for employees at every level. The workforce likes to win in all respects, so a friendly, competitive nature is encouraged. Although the workforce is competitive with one another and the broader industry, every action is taken with great care and attention to safety.

Segovia says that the aluminum industry is in an interesting place now because manufacturing in the United States has been constricting for the past 18 of the last 19 months. This is due to the federal reserve raising interest rates starting around March 2022, which also impacted inflation and other areas of the economy. As a result, manufacturing is challenging and in a depressed state, which further affects the aluminum side of the metals industry.

While SCM has been affected by these economic forces, there is still a tangible need for manufacturing in the U.S. Segovia believes that 20 to 30 percent of aluminum-finished products that are imported into the country could instead be made domestically.

Making prime aluminum is a very resource-intensive process, so SCM only uses a certain percentage of it when necessary. The vast majority of the metal made from its products comes from recycled sources, which is an important part of how the company does business.

“We’re as green as they come when it comes to environmentally friendly industries or companies,” Segovia says. This extends to relations with other clients. The automotive industry currently has a push toward going green, which is beneficial to the aluminum sector as it has a high recycled content and is infinitely recyclable, while also being a lightweight material that can lead to less gas usage for vehicles.

Although manufacturing is still in something of a down state, the aluminum industry has a great outlook. There is more passion on both the legislative and consumer levels toward going green across multiple industries that SCM serves, and aluminum has a huge role to play in that push. Whether in the creation of electric vehicles or solar panels, aluminum is a key player in sustainable manufacturing. The company itself has managed to maintain and even grow during this contracted time because of the products it delivers, how it delivers those products, and its relationships.

Looking ahead, SCM is expanding with new alloys, enabling further research and development with its products. It is also endeavoring to reach customers outside its traditional base, aiming to diversify its portfolio with its new alloys and extruded shapes as well as expanding into markets that benefit from products with high recycled content.

Like its push for continuous improvement, SCM is investing resources and time into its technology infrastructure to stay ahead of the curve. Some of its team members were present at the first-ever Artificial Intelligence Expo for National Competitiveness in Washington, DC to investigate how artificial intelligence can be leveraged into improving manufacturing processes.

Above all, Segovia is certain that SCM will keep doing the things it is best at: excelling at delivering its products, impressing its industry, and nourishing the warm and family-oriented organization it has cultivated over the last 20 years.

The post Rocking & Rolling in the Aluminum Industry<p class="company">Service Center Metals</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The company began in 1997 as a single fire suppression product manufacturer and has grown to a multi-faceted manufacturing company, providing fire suppression and environmental impact protection chemical agents, fire suppression delivery fixed systems and equipment, training, and consulting services, supported by its own engineering, consulting, and technical resources.

In addition to its manufacturing facility in Georgia, HCT works with a global network of distributors across North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Australia, India, and Asia, where municipal fire departments, tank cleaning contractors, power plants, bioremediation companies and a multitude of industrial companies use its products and resources.

Among HCT’s products are Pinnacle, a fluorine-free Class A firefighting foam that helps the water on a fire truck stretch further; HydroLock® for efficient tank degassing and cleaning, dropping the lower explosive limit quickly; Dust Wash to prevent flare-ups and excessive runoff from accumulated grain particles, coal dust, or sawdust; and F-500 EA®, the revolutionary Encapsulator Agent, newly recognized by the 2022 edition of NFPA 18A Section 7.7.

Introducing F-500 EA®
To learn more about it, we speak with Hernan Dominguez, HCT’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, who joined the company six years ago, bringing, from his native Argentina, broad industry experience as a safety engineer and business owner.

He tells us how early in the 2000s the company’s chemical engineers began looking at new and unique fire hazards associated with modern manufacturing, namely lithium-ion batteries that are ubiquitous through their use in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, industrial equipment, and energy storage systems.

Another significant manufacturing change in the early 2000s was the replacement of steel, in certain applications, with lighter alloys such as aluminum, magnesium, and titanium. As flammable metals, they presented new firefighting challenges for industry, including at scrap yards where they could be combined with tires and plastics, and at recycling plants.

By 2008, the company’s chemical engineers were ready to begin third-party testing of the innovative Encapsulator Technology on lithium-ion battery fires. This scientific testing is recognized by NFPA 18A Annex 4.3 as lithium-ion battery hazards continue to be a source of growing risks within all industries and the fire service. F-500 EA® would revolutionize the approach to firefighting and hazard mitigation and now is poised to become industry standard.

Not only has this technology proven its superior ability to effectively deal with fires caused by lithium-ion batteries and flammable metals, Dominguez says it has also demonstrated superior hazard-control applications for the oil and gas industry. It can clean up spilled flammable liquids before they ignite, de-gas flammable liquid tanks for cleaning, disperse oil, wash soil, and enhance bioremediation.

He goes on to share a detailed document he authored, outlining the science supporting the F-500 EA® and firsthand observation of the incredible capabilities of the agent in action.

Fire control transformed
We learned that the “F-500 EA® is a unique chemical that can encapsulate hydrogen and hydrocarbons at a molecular level. Spherical Micelles form in water instantaneously, allowing for encapsulation, rapid heat reduction, and an interruption of the free radical chain reaction.

In layman’s terms, lithium-ion batteries, when ignited, are subject to a chain reaction of the combustion process, known as thermal runaway. The propagation of thermal runaway can’t be stopped by conventional firefighting means, as it is not enough to smother the flames by cutting off their oxygen supply. So the encapsulator agent instead extinguishes the fire in three different ways.

Dominguez explains: “If you remove the heat, you extinguish the fire. If you render the fuel non-flammable, you extinguish the fire, and if you interrupt the chain reaction—those free radicals that sustain the combustion—you stop thermal runaway propagation. At the same time, the thickest, extremely toxic black smoke turns into a warm, white vapor, with testing revealing that up to 98.6 percent of the toxins, including carcinogenic toxins, and 96 percent of the soot can be removed to protect the health and safety of company personnel, fire brigades, and firefighters.”

He speaks about the agent’s ability to deal with fires at electric power facilities, at call centers where there are rows and rows of lithium-ion battery-powered computers at work, and in parking garages with electric vehicle charging stations. Water or foam would not work to smother the fire in these circumstances because they’re incapable of lowering the heat and stopping the chain reaction. In addition, the intensity of the heat, up to 600°C, causes water to evaporate and the resulting steam can weaken concrete, as happened in a parking garage in London, causing the building it was supporting to collapse.

By dispersing the encapsulator agent through a sprinkler or deluge system, such a fire could be put out within minutes, with the structural integrity of the building secure and the cars parked adjacent to the burning car unscathed. This is especially effective in today’s parking garages, substations, battery energy storage systems, aircraft hangars, and more to protect businesses in all markets and maintain continuity. To demonstrate his point, he shared images of a successful Applus+ certification test carried out in a parking garage in Spain.

F-500 EA® also has the potential to make a significant contribution to fighting the wildfires and forest fires that have caused massive destruction in California, northern British Columbia, and Alberta in recent years. Mixed with small amounts of water, it can be delivered by plane or helicopter to the site, or through the hoses of frontline firefighters, vastly reducing the massive amounts of water commonly used. Encapsulator Technology can preserve human life as well as wildlife and reduce the toxicity of wildfire smoke, a leading cause of lung cancer and other diseases plaguing wildland firefighters.

Put to the test
“In 2019 I went to the Amazon to train firefighters,” Dominguez says. “They’d been fighting a fire for fifteen days in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, and it was amazing to see the results, how quickly the fire was put out. They did more tests last year, and now they are looking to replace foam with this technology because it is fluorine-free and can’t harm the environment. Plus, it works.”

Fires at scrapyards and recycling plants, with their volatile mix of metals, rubber, plastics, fluids, and other materials, are of huge concern as they produce highly toxic smoke, adversely affecting not only the firefighters but covering a wider area that may encompass population centers and agricultural activities.

HCT has an affiliation with the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) (formerly ISRI—the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) where the F-500 EA® is making a huge impact. Dominguez shared with us two dramatic videos of such fires, one in Kansas and the other in Florida, where we watched the toxic black smoke turn to a white vapor within minutes.

Improving on water
The key to understanding how this works, he says, is understanding the difference between the F-500 EA® droplet and a water droplet. “As a plain water droplet gets near the heat source, heat is removed as steam at 212°F (100°C). When it’s used on a small fire, water can extinguish it, but with a large fire, the water evaporates and never reaches the source.”

Adding foam to water to create a substantial blanket may temporarily knock down the surface fire, but the heat below is trapped, and as the foam blanket disintegrates, the fuel that has been smoldering can reignite.

By contrast, “The F-500 EA® droplet removes heat through thermal conveyance. As the droplet gets near the fire, it doesn’t evaporate; it draws the heat into the droplet, like a thermal circuit. There is no scalding steam after the fire.”

Sharing F-500 technology
We also speak with marketing specialist Heather Emmet, who tells us that extensive third-party testing on the F-500 EA® has been carried out around the world since 2008.

In its first decade of testing in Germany, F-500 EA® showed superior results in comparison testing of water, foam, and powder at Kiwa, an autonomous global organization in testing, inspection, and certification (TIC), training, and consultancy services. This testing has been published by Johnson Controls as they continue to endorse F-500 EA® for lithium-ion battery fire suppression today.

In 2012, BrandSchutz Firefighter Magazine reported that in addition to suppressing fires resulting from lithium-ion batteries, the F-500 EA® can mitigate other risks, including fires involving flammable metals such as magnesium and titanium, rubber tires, and multiple fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, ethanol, and ethanol-blended fuels.

Other tests continued between 2016 and 2023 in the U.S. (General Motors, Tesla, ConEdison, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH); in the UK (Jaguar); in the Netherlands (Kiwa); in China (Nanjing Technical University, Beijing Institute of Technology); and in Italy (Sapienza University of Rome), all pointing to F-500 EA® as a superior fire suppressant and hazard control product.

Backed by the extensive and exhaustive testing the F-500 EA® has undergone, plus its stamp of approval from leading organizations which have implemented its use, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2022, “HCT is now focused on educating and training industry professionals to protect their businesses, employees, assets, and reputation,” says Emmet. “In addition, HCT is working with its distributors so they can educate and train firefighting professionals around the world to respond to fires safely and effectively with F-500 EA®.”

Dominquez recalls conversations he’s had with firefighters who proudly talk about their huge trucks and vast amounts of water expended attempting to put out fires and, on the flip side, recycling plant managers who are frustrated by firefighters “who spend hours and sometimes days trying to extinguish fires with water or foam. We have to teach people how they can be much more effective fighting fires without massive amounts of water while prioritizing safety,” he emphasizes, “how they can reduce toxicity by encapsulating the vapors and make a positive impact on the environment by not wasting water reserves. We have to demonstrate how F-500 EA® works and change people’s mindsets.”

The post Don’t Fight It, Encapsulate It<p class="company">Hazard Control Technologies</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“We don’t sell capacity, we sell solutions,” as the company puts it, and it has earned its place with clients in today’s fast-paced world where logistics makes all the difference between success and failure.

No comparison
For company Vice President Kevin Bemiller, there is simply no comparing companies that offer basic transportation to the well-honed, professional services offered by Revolution. With its unique hybrid transportation model incorporating an asset-based carrier, full-service broker services, “and a 3PL for managed transportation services,” Revolution is a leading, highly trusted Logistics Service Provider (LSP).

“We are air freight, ocean freight, heavily expedited freight, and all over the road, domestic and international,” Bemiller explains.

Revolution was founded in 2019 by professionals in the transportation space, primarily in operations. With expertise in areas such as IT Asset Management (ITAM), Transportation Management Systems (TMS), and Supply Management (in which he is a Certified Professional), Bemiller was brought on board to grow customer relationships, sales, front-facing elements of the company, and Revolution’s brand.

The company was in business for a brief time before it faced COVID, the worst pandemic in a century. Not only did Revolution have to deal with serious shipping disruptions, but some customers went bankrupt. Determined to succeed, the Revolution team kept going for months, until the world began opening up again. “We were impacted, but it’s something we were able to work through,” says Bemiller. “We were able to be efficient through the pandemic and come out on the other side in a very positive light.”

Exceptional performance
Revolution Trucking’s reputation speaks for itself, from its 99.3 percent on-time performance to its 99.9 percent control tower uptime; a net promoter score of 91.0 percent; and an exceptional 99.4 percent customer retention rate.

“We are an asset-based LSP, and want people to see we are not just a broker,” says Bemiller. “We own our own trucks, and we use partners as well.”

Customers in manufacturing, automotive, life sciences, technology, consumer goods, technology (including IT, full server farms, and data centers), pharmaceutical, food and beverage, clothing and apparel, infrastructure, and the military count on Revolution for its world-class, professional services.

On time for the Fortune 500
Counting many Fortune 500 companies among its clients, Revolution is often praised for its work. The company was recently commended by BorgWarner Inc., known as one of the world’s biggest suppliers of automotive powertrain components. In April, Revolution achieved 100 percent on-time pick-up and delivery.

“‘Time-sensitive’ and ‘mission-critical’ are two key terms I often like to present,” says Bemiller. “Everybody can pick up and deliver; I get that. They can be late and say whatever they want. But we solely exist in a space to build a better mousetrap—which is why we started Revolution—to provide solutions customers need but often didn’t even know they needed,” he explains.

“We do a lot of the front-end work versus just booking trucks. That is what we are as an LSP; we provide the whole solution. It’s the little things that make us different.”

Much of Revolution’s success comes down to client communication and building trust. This is especially important in disaster relief situations, including work with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA. “It’s a unique niche that we have,” says Bemiller, “and we earn trust through customers of ours who are delivering to those sites.”

This includes one of the world’s most respected tool makers and manufacturers for the U.S. military. “No one in government is going to just pick a business like us out of the air and say, ‘help us.’ We’re only as good as our last shipment, and you’ve got to earn the right to every shipment.”

The highest standards
Revolution Trucking serves all 50 states including Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. Island territory of Guam. The company takes on full-service international projects including air, ocean, and container work. Along with safety staff, the company also prides itself on its own fleet services and representatives across America.

A believer in raising up people and providing opportunities for growth, Revolution is a disabled-owned business and is certified through Disability:IN, the world’s leading non-profit resource focused on business disability inclusion. “Revolution is certified as a Disability-Owned Business, showcasing its dedication to diversity and inclusion in the business and professional employment world,” says Bemiller.

The company is an active member of the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) (formerly ISRI—the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) and accredited by the Better Business Bureau. Along with holding ISN® and ISO 9001:2015 certification, Revolution also has SmartWay certification.

Representing an innovative collaboration between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the freight industry, SmartWay certification is “designed to help businesses learn to move goods in the cleanest, most energy-efficient ways possible, increasing efficiency, reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution, and protecting public health,” says Bemiller.

Dedicated to sustainability, Revolution continues to actively implement initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint. This includes using fuel-efficient vehicles, exploring alternative fuels and renewable energy sources, reducing mileage by optimizing route planning, and promoting driver training on eco-driving techniques.

Staying on track
In the transportation sector, timing is critical. By utilizing advanced tracking systems—including route optimization software, real-time communication tools, and predictive analytics—Revolution ensures 99.3 percent on-time performance. “These technologies enable proactive monitoring of shipments, efficient planning, and quick response to any unforeseen challenges, minimizing delays,” says Bemiller.

Recognizing that customer needs are unique, Revolution custom-tailors transportation solutions for every client. Providing customers with a dedicated control tower and impeccable service standards, the company’s experienced operations team can handle even the most complex logistics scenarios, and moves critical freight on time and on target, with zero exceptions.

“Choosing less qualified carriers can pose several risks for customers, including increased likelihood of shipment delays, loss or damage to goods, safety and compliance issues, poor communication, and higher overall costs due to inefficiencies,” comments Bemiller. “Partnering with reputable and experienced carriers like Revolution mitigates these risks and ensures reliable and secure transportation services.”

The future looks promising for Revolution Trucking, which remains committed to continued growth, innovation, and delivering exceptional transportation solutions. As the company expands its service offerings, enhances operational efficiency, and embraces emerging technologies, it will undoubtedly further reinforce its position as a leader in the transportation industry.

Says Bemiller, “This comprehensive approach to certification, commitment to quality, and innovative solutions sets Revolution Trucking apart in the transportation industry, ensuring reliability, efficiency, and sustainability for all clients and stakeholders.”

The post There’s a Logistics Revolution Taking Place – And It’s Built on Trust<p class="company">Revolution Trucking </p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

In time, the founder was joined by his son, who came up with an idea: instead of repairing torches manufactured by other companies, why not start making their own?

“If you were a repair shop, a customer would come in with broken stuff,” says QCC’s General Manager Josh Flagner. “You would find out what you had to buy, get those parts, and do repairs.” Wanting to be more than a repair shop, the company started creating its own line of parts.

Years of hands-on experience and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of torches made by other companies led to the privately held company establishing successful product lines fairly quickly. In 1999, the founder’s son bought the company from his father, and the name was changed to Quality Components Company to better suit the business’s new direction and services.

Made to last
At Quality Components, torches, cutting machines, tips, gas distribution systems, and other equipment aren’t just well-made, but engineered for the real world.

“When a customer wants a torch, we know what that torch is supposed to accomplish, and how durable it’s supposed to be,” says Franklin Mayse, Sales Engineering Manager. “No matter what anybody says about how you’re supposed to use a torch, people out in the field are beating them up. They’re poking and moving things with them and using them as hammers. So, we don’t try to find the cheapest way to make a piece of equipment knowing it’s going to get beaten up out in the field. We just don’t do that,” he says.

“Instead, we go above and beyond every step of the way to make sure the equipment that leaves here stands up to what it actually sees in the field, not just what’s on the best practices list.”

The result? At QCC, all components are domestically sourced. The company uses high-quality stainless steel and doesn’t offer a ‘value’ line. The company ensures there is enough bracing in its tubes, often using thicker tubing than many competitors.

Unlocking potential
For decades, QCC had been a successful but small Ohio-based company with fewer than a dozen dedicated employees. Well-known in the area and not so much outside of it, much of QCC’s business came through word-of-mouth recommendations. There was no advertising, and there were no dedicated salespeople trying to generate leads.

Then, a prominent group, recognizing QCC’s tremendous potential for growth, acquired the company about two years ago. This saw the business bring experts on board, including Nick Dinardo as Marketing Manager, a newly created position.

Although there are larger players than QCC, the group recognized the company’s importance in a niche market. With an established customer base, QCC stands out from bigger companies who have “a lot of institutional blind spots,” says Dinardo.

“As a business becomes gigantic, and they put processes in, some people get left out,” he says. “So there is value in being a small business, being able to take on lower-volume custom jobs, and deal with customers and solve problems. And that’s why we acquired QCC in April 2022, and we have been running it since then.”

For the company and its clients, the acquisition has brought welcome benefits, as QCC transitions from a modest-sized business into a larger entity. As a company, QCC now has marketing plans and sales strategies, attends trade shows, and continues to build its decades-long reputation for quality.

Keeping the quality
General Manager Flagner—who has an extensive manufacturing background—remains proud that the new owners kept every single employee when they took over. “We worked hard to keep the ‘quality’ part of Quality Components Company,” he says, acknowledging that there are cheaper ways to manufacture products but refusing to do so, choosing instead to maintain QCC’s legacy.

“Every piece of every product line we have, we buy from domestically sourced raw material. And we can verify every hole is the right size and every angle is the right angle,” says Flagner. “We do all of that in-house and don’t have any parts made elsewhere and sent to us. We don’t offshore parts or anything like that.”

Flagner is also proud of QCC’s original staff for giving the new owners a chance and staying with the company. “We’re having a really good 2024 and are expecting big success in the second half of the year,” he shares.

The company’s reputation for quality and innovation is no recent development and goes back to the beginning. Although the founder wasn’t an engineer by trade, his hands-on experience and troubleshooting know-how enabled him to design outstanding products. His knowledge, combined with a dedicated staff, including a torch assembler and gas assembler who have been with the company for 34 and 25 years respectively, has helped make QCC what it is today.

Mindful of the need to bring on new workers, the group behind QCC has welcomed younger staff in their twenties and early thirties, including the shop supervisor who is a CNC mill specialist and another newcomer in the torch department. QCC is successfully balancing new hires with seasoned employees for the benefit of both customers and company.

Domestic and international
For clients, one of the many advantages of working with Quality Components is its location. Mentor, Ohio is just a few minutes from Cleveland, the heart of American steel production. It isn’t unusual for customers to walk in the door and say the head of their damaged torch needs to be fixed.

Many local clients are small scrapyards that need torches to cut metal to the right size and shape for resale to steel mills, foundries, and processing plants. QCC works with customers at all stages of the metal’s life cycle, from the moment molten hot steel is made, cooled, and cut to steel processors who cut steel for their clients. Other customers include shipyards making frames and support structures, and railroad track maintenance and repair.

“Most of our business is in the United States, but we are always looking at ways to expand that to other markets,” says Flagner. The company also serves clients in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Europe.

Patent success
As part of its commitment to innovation and quality, QCC has several patented products under its belt, including a line of flowmeters. Uniquely designed and made with heavy-duty brass and 1/4” inlet and outlet construction, these flowmeters boast internal floats within transparent tubes, 1/8”-thick durable plastic outer tubes, and many other features. According to the company, “The outer tube has a calibrated scale printed on the inside surface to protect it from dirt and scratches and accurately measures to within plus or minus four percent of full range, exceeding the most stringent maritime industry requirements of five percent.”

The company is also known for another patented product, its QC Series caster torch tip. Designed to work with QCC’s QC Series torches, these tips are extremely effective in the oxy-fuel industry and are capable of cutting materials over 60” thick!

The company is also behind the QCC 4900 Series powder cutting torches. Specially designed to cut through challenging non-ferrous materials like stainless steel, nickel, and cast iron, these hand-held torches feature unique “powder” nozzles, which “feed iron powder into the flame to enable cutting,” says the company. These are available in lengths from 36” to 120” and have options including heat shields, skids, and head angles of 180, 90, or 75 degrees.

Ideal for hard-to-process metals, the company’s iron powder cutting torch works well for cutting unusual structures like castings, stacks, or bundled materials like coils, since they inject fine iron powder into the flame. Sufficient heat is taken up by the powder instead of the metal that’s being cut to maintain a temperature below the ignition point of stainless steel. This allows stainless steel to be cut like normal carbon steel.

Boots on the ground
Perfect for scrapyard customers, these torches were a hit at the recent ISRI show (ISRI recently rebranded itself to ReMA, the Recycled Materials Association). Being a ReMA member allows QCC to have a platform servicing scrapyards.

“We were the only company at that show selling torches and cutting equipment for the scrappers—we are the boots on the ground,” says Flagner. “While we’re not the only company selling to ReMA members, this shows that of all the other brands of torch businesses supplying scrapyards, none of them are putting in the time and effort that we are. We’re trying to be on the ground with the people doing the work, making sure we have good solutions for all sorts of different applications,” he says.

“Scrapping is so diversified,” he adds. “There are different types of metal, and people have stuff all over the place. We are out there trying to solve problems, and ReMA gives us an opportunity to do that. With ReMA’s local chapters, it’s a great way to network and meet other companies that are selling to the scrapping industry, and scrapping customers. The big show is great, but probably in the long run, there is even more value in the remote local chapters and marketing there.”

Along with ReMA, QCC is a proud member of AIST, the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. A non-profit association, AIST has about 16,600 members from over 70 countries. “In the long term, it’s a really good organization for us,” says Flagner. “We’re building relationships and getting into steel mills and other operations on the ground level, learning about more technologies and operations with steel manufacturers and helping them solve their problems.”

As newer steel mills are being powered by electricity and run more efficiently on scrap, QCC sees even more business as steel mills process their own scrap on-site for recycling and put recycled steel back into new steel production.

In the future, Quality Components Company will continue to have a hand in every stage of the steelmaking and recycling process. Innovating smarter designs, such as torches that can be positioned further away from hot metals, makes for more precise cuts, using less gas and resulting in longer torch lifespans.

Says Flagner: “There are other machine torch tips like this in the world, but our founder looked at it and said, ‘I can make this better.’ He improved the design, got it patented, and the U.S. Government said, ‘Yep, you made it better.’ So the QC Series machine torch tips are the best solution for that application in the entire industry.”

The post Made for the Real World<p class="company">Quality Components Company (QCC)</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

While the company supported many small businesses and some bigger customers at that time, it had issues filling the gap for customers who needed data destruction services. Company founder and Director of Business Development, John Kirsch, explains that there were not many ethical options for that specific service in the area at the time. With that need in mind, the business spun off its own company to provide this and other e-recycling services into a company that became 4THBIN.

The genesis of 4THBIN turned out to be very well-timed. After strict laws around the disposal of electronics were embraced across European countries, similar regulations made their way over to America around the beginning of the 2010s. California was the first state to adopt the laws, but around 30 states have now implemented them, including New York.

New York’s electronic recycling and take-back laws place the burden of e-waste disposal directly on electronics manufacturers, meaning that companies like computer manufacturers must responsibly dispose of a certain weight of electronics within the state annually or be subject to penalties and fines.

For its part in the process, 4THBIN provides general electronics recycling as well as IT asset disposition, data disruption, shredding, and brand protection services. These are made available to every type of organization, from government departments to start-ups. To date, the company has recycled over ten million pounds of e-waste, with even more expected year over year. “Every single home, company, and business has electronic equipment, and it needs a home,” Kirsch says.

4THBIN aims to be the brand that people think of when it comes to e-recycling and has the highest level of certification in the industry for its services. There is also a guarantee that comes with using the company as it abides by the strictest standards without compromising data. This is the first company in New York to be certified by the e-Stewards Initiative—a globally recognized recycling standard for electronics—and has been granted a platinum grade (the highest possible) by sustainability assessment platform EcoVadis. Chief Financial Officer Sebastian Passarello explains that a company needs to adhere to stringent regulations to be considered for the initiative and must undergo a continuous auditing process to keep the certification.

Kirsch notes that 4THBIN is based on the principles of legality and sustainability. When it comes to the former, data breaches or electronic equipment ending up in a landfill can spell big trouble for companies and may even lead to lawsuits or public relations embarrassment. Clients are subject to electronics recycling laws and are at huge legal risk when using uncertified vendors, so the company wants to help them maintain compliance.

When it comes to sustainability, which is fast becoming a major topic in the United States and worldwide, 4THBIN recognizes that, like the lead in CRT televisions, a lot of older electronic equipment can contain hazardous chemicals which can spread into the environment and contaminate it when improperly handled. The company wants to do its part to prevent that.

Generally, the strong reputation that 4THBIN has built with regard to data destruction and e-recycling across the country is its own reward, according to Passarello. “The ability to be a relatively small company but to also be sought after is a tremendous accomplishment,” he says.

By further cutting out third-party contractors and taking on de-manufacturing capabilities itself, 4THBIN can offer end-to-end service. The company regularly works with some of the most prestigious institutions on the planet, who trust and continue to use it as its services provide the level of security these businesses require.

The company recently completed a merger with a long-time partner, recycling company ecoTech Management Inc. The merger has expanded its footprint to include many more services and will support much larger infrastructure and commodity recycling capabilities. This merger has also allowed both businesses to maintain strong ties to the recycled materials industry.

Passarello says that ecoTech Management has supported the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) throughout several iterations; in fact, an affiliated scrap metal company within the umbrella has been a supporter of ReMA (formerly known as ISRI) for 30 to 40 years. Passarello was even the Secretary of the New York state chapter of ISRI for many years, so the companies always try to support the efforts of a close ally. He points out that ReMA is the strongest group representing the industry, so 4THBIN and its affiliates always try to attend events and maintain their presence with it.

The company is excited about where the e-recycling industry is going, as well as for the opportunities it presents for the future. Current speculation is that e-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream overall, surpassing even many traditional leaders in the field. As technology continues to drive the world forward and evolve in size and shape, more e-waste will be made as a result, meaning opportunities will grow with the industry itself, and 4THBIN will continue to be a safe choice for e-waste removal.

Indeed, the sector is experiencing phenomenal economic growth, especially since equipment is cheaper than ever as new devices are developed and marketed. However, with this success comes a low barrier of entry into the space for potential bad actors. Kirsch says that anyone can potentially become a waste company without the proper bona fides, getting their hands on equipment and data with little to no certification, while customers may not do the necessary research to find the best option.

4THBIN, conversely, was founded in response to the lack of trustworthy options in the area for its clients. “Consumers need to know what their best options are so they don’t get taken in by bad actors in the industry,” says Kirsch. Passarello states that people often see opportunity in a fast-growing industry like e-waste, and neglect to follow the same standards as a company like 4THBIN, which makes it challenging for those trying to operate at the highest level.

Moving forward, 4THBIN will be looking into further brand expansion. After the merger with ecoTech in November 2023 made the two companies even stronger, more opportunities for mergers and acquisitions will be explored. The largest states in which the company currently operates are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, so it will be looking for work in other states as well as updating its in-house technology to accommodate that growth.

Given the prevalence of both electronic equipment and the resulting e-waste, the company certainly has its work cut out for it as countless workspaces and industries move forward with technology that must be disposed of correctly. In a relatively short time, 4THBIN has demonstrated its commitment to—and passion for—e-recycling and the ongoing sustainability efforts of its clients and the world at large.

The post The Leaders in American e-Waste Management<p class="company">4THBIN</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Based near Washington, D.C. in Manassas, Virginia, the rapidly growing business is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Before co-founding PSS, husband and wife team Scott and Trish Palmer already owned and operated Palmer’s Contracting Group, which dedicated itself to designing, building, and consulting for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF), Special Access Program Facilities (SAPFs), and tenant construction throughout the country.

Scott and Trish’s son, Matt Palmer, started working at PCG right after graduating high school and worked there for several years learning the nuances of the physical security industry. “I started working alongside the door installers that we had at this time and learned the installation process, and became proficient at the installations, and I thought, ‘Why aren’t we doing this ourselves?’ and that blossomed into the idea to start PSS.” The launch of a related business was a natural next step for the Palmer team. Matt quickly proved pivotal in the decision to extend the family’s knowledge and expertise into door security.

The family built this new sister company slowly, from the ground up. “We started supplying and installing all of our doors in-house,” says Palmer. “In those early days, it was just the family and one carpenter, with the company doing a couple hundred thousand a year [in revenue],” he recalls. “To expand, we hired a business development manager, and we quickly moved into a multimillion dollar company.” Matt moved into the Vice President role and quickly excelled at pushing the business to new heights.

The business continued to grow at a rapid pace over the next few years. “We are now pushing 40-plus staff members and are nearing $30 million in revenue for 2024,” says Palmer.

The company specializes in a variety of door solutions that are resistant to hazards including sound transmission class (STC), radio frequency (RF), blast, ballistic, forced entry, and multi-threat. Accredited by the United States Government for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF), PSS doors boast RF shielding attenuation ratings from 40 decibels to 60 decibels.

Third-party laboratory testing conducted by Keystone Compliance ensures that the company’s doors meet or exceed IEEE-299-V.6 and other policy documents. All PSS doors come in a range of sizes and finishes, from painted standard hollow metal to high-end custom veneer finishes, including for historical sites.

In addition to providing its own line of specially engineered STC/RF door systems, the company is a door distributor for Overly Door Company, Stafford Bridge, Metal Products Inc., and many more. In addition to providing doors, PSS supplies high-security hardware through Lockmasters Inc., Surelock McGill, KABA Mas, Sargeant & Greenleaf, and other top manufacturers.

PSS has been at the forefront of the industry since its inception. In 2017, the team partnered with Stafford Bridge, a UK-based door company, to deliver a superior forced entry and ballistic resistant solution. In 2019, PSS tested a range of door systems and vision panels by Oregon Ballistics Laboratories meeting the Department of State standard testing requirements US DOS STD-01.01, Revision G. As a result, PSS can offer wood core forced entry and ballistic resistant door systems that will resist 15 to 60 minutes of attack.

The team identified another gap in the market and worked closely with Overly Door Company to improve what had been a standard acoustical solution. “For years, there have been RF mitigations in the walls for these secure spaces,” Palmer explains. “But no one really took a look at the doors.” In turn, PSS “partnered with Overly Door Company, a globally recognized leader in the STC door manufacturer industry, and we redesigned their frame, added innovatively designed seals and other enhancements to specifically mitigate radio frequency signals, and patented it with Overly’s approval. We were successful in creating our own STC/RF door system to protect from RF shielding loss at the openings that were never really addressed at the time. We saw this as an imperative need to prepare for the U.S. Government’s TEMPEST countermeasures sweeping across the industry.”

These efforts put the company ahead of the curve, where it remains to this day. “Our door is one of the fastest to the market,” says Palmer. “Our cost is extremely competitive, and the installation process is equivalent to the original acoustic doors that most [companies] are very familiar with, therefore training and installation is much easier than with a lot of our competitors.”

The company continues to roll out new and improved products. “We have our STC/RF door,” Palmer states. “It’s patented, and it’s an STC 52 with an RF rating of 60.” The team has also recently added a solution that is UL 10C fire rated. “And then we also can reinforce the door and the frame to meet UL 752 Level 3 ballistic rating,” he adds.

PSS has grown substantially over the last decade, but the positive company culture remains the same as the day it was founded. “Our company is very young,” Palmer says. “Our staff is also generally very young,” and their youth brings a healthy level of enthusiasm to the company and the work that they produce. “I think our clients will concur and resonate with that.” This enthusiasm helps the company stand out from the competition. “We really strive to improve the industry standard,” says Palmer. “We strive to provide a great product and a seamless installation process for our clients, and remain at the top of the industry standards.”

The company is confident in its products and backs them up with a promise that they will meet all required ratings. “As long as the surrounding structure is built correctly, we guarantee our openings,” Palmer says.

Presently, the team is studying the market and planning to continue evolving along with the industry. “RF ratings and acoustical ratings will never go away, so that will always remain a focus. The team also foresees an increased focus on forced entry and ballistic resistant doors,” says Palmer.

“The United States has never looked at physical attack as a real threat until recently,” he points out. Many European countries have already taken this into consideration when it comes to secure doors, and the United States is beginning to follow suit. “They have more terrorism activity over in Europe, but now the [U.S.] Government is starting to realize that physical threats are potential and door openings need to be reinforced,” he says.

The company is eager to continue its mission to meet customers’ secure door needs, through contracted research and development for door opening solutions with multiple customers. “Looking onward and upward, we’re going to come out with a lot more products to better serve our clients, be able to supply them with exactly what they need, whenever they need it, and continue pushing forward.”

The post Complete Door Opening Solutions<p class="company">Palmer’s Security Solutions, LLC</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Servicing government and industrial security professionals, automotive and commercial locksmiths, and safe and safe deposit technicians with products and tools, Lockmasters also offers a full line of training courses that cover professional locksmithing, electronic and mechanical safe lock manipulation, opening and servicing, safe deposit box lock servicing, high security lock certifications, access control, and specialized GSA training for government and military personnel.

While Lockmasters itself was founded in 1955, the founders of the company had been working in the security industry for many years previously, inventing secure locks for the government along with instructing both industry and government on how to manipulate locks and protect against manipulation.

The foundation
“That education foundation built up the beginning of our company,” says Brian Henderson, Vice President of Marketing. “We started out focusing on training security professionals to service, maintain, and manage locks and safes and, at the same time, identifying how to provide these security professionals with the tools and equipment they needed to do their jobs more effectively. That got us into this space where we’re a distributor and an educator together.”

Education remains a key component of Lockmasters’ evolution and ongoing success to this day. “Part of what we do,” says Henderson, “is train people how to manipulate and defeat locks because as a technician or locksmith, you need to be able to do that to service your customer.”

As more sophisticated and secure locks are developed, Lockmasters can sell them to its clients, but conversely, the advanced technology makes it more difficult to service and maintain them.

“We’re involved on both sides. We help security professionals know the strategies, tips, and techniques to servicing these locks effectively, even when they’re high-security, and how to access the inside of a lock to either replace it or service it,” Henderson says. “The most common situations are when someone locks themselves out or the lock fails, especially when you’re dealing with combination locks, safes, and door security.”

Lockmasters offers a professional locksmithing course geared toward teaching the servicing, techniques, and tools of the trade to people who want to become a locksmith or an industrial locksmith. This two-week class is hands-on all day in Lockmasters’ facility. A second five-day class provides instruction in door and door hardware installation. There is also a mechanical and electronic safe-locks class; a servicing and manipulation class; and other one-day certification classes on certain types of locks.

Innovative offerings
Lockmasters has expanded since its beginnings to cover all aspects of security products, from automotive and commercial locksmithing to safe locks and safe tools. The company also provides door hardware, government LKM10K secure locks, and specialty doors that are soundproof (STC) and RF (radio-frequency) proof.

“Our founder invented the very first manipulation-proof lock back in 1949,” says Henderson. “That technology still influences lock design today.”

As part of its ongoing evolution, the company has also moved into manufacturing, providing high-security locks, made in the USA, and egress or exit solutions that are specific to the needs of the government, providing exceptional ADA compliance. “The manufacturing aspect means we can build these products ourselves, which is helpful to our government,” says Henderson.

On the distribution side, locksmiths are becoming broader in scope, and some security professionals and facility managers must support many different aspects of physical security, resulting in companies needing access to a range of products, whether commercial, automotive, safes, or door hardware, says Henderson.

“As a result, our clients are getting into multiple areas of the business, including the hardware aspect, like having to put new electronic locks, mechanical locks, exit devices, door operators, or hinges on doors,” he adds. “We represent over 145 different manufacturers, which allows our customers to come to one place to get that breadth of product and the tools needed for those different specialties of the work performed by locksmiths, facility management, safe technicians, and other security officers.” Lockmasters gives its partners the ability to access anything they need from one supplier.

Security secrets
Of course, keeping trade security secrets secret is a vital requirement to the locksmithing business, and to prevent techniques, equipment, and tools from falling into the wrong hands, Lockmasters validates all customers to ensure they are legitimate security professionals before selling to them. In short, the general public cannot come to its website and place orders.

“In some cases, we have products on our website that the general public can’t even see,” Henderson explains. “They’re some of the tools our partners would use in the field and the general public doesn’t need to see those. Security professionals can access certain tools that not just anybody on the street can.”

The company provides nine different categories of physical security products in addition to its education, including automotive, door hardware, electronic access control, government-specific products and tools, safes, safe locks, and locksmithing tools and supplies.

“We have a lot of Ilco product, one of the largest manufacturers in the automotive space,” says Henderson. “In the door hardware space, we carry everything you would see around a door, whether it’s hinges, door strikes, or door operators, and everything from the top three manufacturers of door hardware: Allegion, Assa Abloy, and dormakaba.”

The company is also a full-line distributor of American Security—one of the largest safe manufacturers—and offers a convenient East Coast distribution point.

End-to-end service
Lockmasters prides itself on its customer service, where it strives to stand apart. “We not only carry product in all these different categories, but we have people on staff who are experts in the field,” Henderson says. “People who work here are trained locksmiths, safe technicians, and automotive specialists.”

Lockmasters has a background of actually working in the field dealing with the kinds of problems customers might run into. “We use that knowledge to help them solve problems they encounter and develop some specialized tools,” he says.

There are several tools Lockmasters has developed itself—certain opening tools and rigs for drilling safes—that the company saw were needed in the field but didn’t yet exist. “When a customer calls, they’re talking to someone who understands not just the product, but also the industry. We’re available not just before the sale, but also after the sale,” Henderson notes, meaning if a customer runs into trouble installing or programming a product, Lockmasters’ experts walk them through it step-by-step.

“Our customer service team is good at what they do and are there to serve our partners. We’re from the industry, we understand it, and we know that a locksmith is out there to provide peace of mind for their customer. The customer wants to be secure and ensure that their home, business, and valuables are protected.”

On the grow
As the company has evolved and its reputation in the industry has grown, so has its need for expansion, not only in product lines but geographic footprint as well. Along with its two locations in Kentucky and Maryland, with the purchase of JLM it has now added three additional warehouses in Michigan, North Carolina, and Texas, enabling it to service customers in those areas more quickly.

“For our partners, we’ll ship product we have in stock the same day it’s ordered, and we currently have one-day ground service to customers in the 13 states around Kentucky and Maryland,” Henderson says. “As we expand into these new locations, we’ll be able to provide that one-day delivery service to customers there as well. That’s part of our geographic growth: to provide that level of quick delivery to partners in more areas.”

This growth is considered a great accomplishment, he adds. Even surmounting some challenges during the inflationary times of the last few years, Lockmasters has flourished with continued year-over-year growth in sales.

“Being able to acquire additional companies, such as TimeMaster in 2022, Allied last year, and JLM this year, we’re continuing to grow and expand,” Henderson says. “These acquisitions serve to expand our business and the offerings for our partners.”

The company also boasts a state-of-the-art education facility, offering a world-class curriculum in Kentucky with a second facility in Maryland. Dedicated 100 percent to training, this facility has multiple classrooms specifically set up for different types of training, whether government classes, locksmithing classes, doors, door hardware, and automotive classes. Understandably, of only two companies in the United States approved to do GSA certifications for government and military customers, Lockmasters is one.

Bringing finesse
Of course, education is vital to bringing in the younger generation as some long-time employees will continue to retire in the coming years. Like all trades, locksmithing is also working to encourage more women to step into the arena. “The number of women in the classes has been increasing,” Henderson says. “It’s fabulous to see the expansion of locksmithing.”

A lot of the work in this industry requires finesse, he adds; a lot of work-by-feel, especially when trying to manipulate a lock. There’s not so much brute strength, but instead, the learning of the techniques and tricks of defeating or manipulating the mechanisms.

“It’s something anybody can pick up,” says Henderson. “The general age in the trade industry has been going up, but this is an area where we’ve continued to see more people coming in even at younger ages, so the trade is continuing to grow and develop. Running these classes, we see those trends and we see we’re still filling up the classes. Interest continues to grow, which is exciting for us.”

The post A Key Company in Security-Conscious Times<p class="company">Lockmasters, Inc.</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Avant-Garde is an entrance system technology specialist that has made a niche for itself by ensuring that its customers’ facilities, and the people in them, are safe and secure. Regardless of the facility or the need, Avant-Garde has a solution.

With roots in the audio-visual and technology space, Avant-Garde has specialized in security since 2015 when it shifted its focus to entrance systems, a market sector that was in dire need of the attention of an expert. Since that time, this specialization has been the catalyst for the company’s growth and international recognition as a leading security partner.

“We focus on entrance systems, and that’s all we do. We’re exceptionally good at it and that repetition and that focus is what makes the experience for the customer so great. That’s the key,” says CEO Eric Mager.

Entrance systems come in many forms including full-height turnstiles, optical turnstiles, perimeter security with fencing and guard buildings, vehicle gates, and more, and protect countless facilities around the world. While Mager notes that Avant-Garde didn’t invent turnstiles, the company brought a level of specialization on the contracting side that didn’t exist before.

“There were plenty of manufacturers who manufactured entrance systems hardware, but there wasn’t a provider who sold, installed, serviced, and supported entrance systems technologies that just did entrance systems,” he explains.

With a presence in higher education, corporate offices, mining, manufacturing, logistics, military, healthcare, and construction, where there is a need for perimeter security and secure entrance systems, Avant-Garde is there.

As Mager explains, “Any large business has a need for what we do. If they have a lot of people coming on and off site, they need to control that access in a safe and easy way. Those are the folks that need us. We put in entrance systems and secure everything from dirty dusty mine shafts to beautiful corporate lobbies that are the centerpiece of a corporate environment. We do all of those things, and we find ourselves in all of those places.”

Mager has found himself installing turnstiles everywhere from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to pipelines in the Canadian tundra and most places in between. “The solutions might look different, but we’re making sure that the right people are getting in and the wrong people aren’t, and that the right people can use that facility safely, quickly, and conveniently. At the end of the day, that’s our core mission.”

Through this specialization, Avant-Garde has developed a standard of quality and care that is unmatched in the global market and made possible by the team of professionals that’s been curated by the company.

“The secret in the sauce is the technicians themselves,” says Mager. “They are the tip of the spear, the guys that are out there touching the hardware every single day. Those guys are the best turnstile and entrance system technicians in the world. They allow us to deliver our customers a consistent experience every single time.”

While Avant-Garde specializes in entrance systems and related security services, behind the scenes it is so much more: it is a complex logistical operation that is incredibly effective at moving people and materials to and from projects worldwide.

As Mager says, “Moving our teams and resources around North America and the world to put the equipment and the people where they need to be when they need to be is quite an undertaking. We have to have tremendous project management and logistical apparatus in place to achieve that. What we do every week at Avant-Garde to make that happen is a marvel from a logistical perspective.”

From planes and trains to automobiles and ships, Avant-Garde’s dedication to providing its customers with flawless security includes taking an unconventional approach to recruiting. “When we recruit people, there are two things we do a little differently from most other companies: first, we look for people who are undervalued and underappreciated in their current roles and have not been allowed to show what they can really be,” says Mager.

The second, he explains, relates to recruiting based on personality attributes, value bases, attitude, and the ability to speak truth to power, all of which rank higher in importance to this select group than how a person’s résumé reads. This is how an exceptional team is curated.

Part of speaking truth to power is the open culture of communication integrated into Avant-Garde’s operations. Together with the conscious exclusion of a middle management level, Mager believes that the top and bottom of the organization are connected in a seamless way that promotes communication and collaboration.

Acknowledging that this approach is the inverse of that taken by most companies, particularly major corporations which function through a hierarchy, Avant-Garde does things differently for a good reason: it works.

Mager believes this has “allowed a high degree of communication that’s helped us be successful and has defined our culture. I encourage every single person who works at Avant-Garde to speak up, to challenge the status quo. I encourage them to think critically—not just follow a process blindly but question everything. That is our culture.”

This sentiment is shared by Director of Marketing, Kassi Karr, who notes, “When you work for a conglomerate, you’re just another person at a desk. You are replaceable and you are treated as such. Your opinion isn’t valued. Anything you say is just, ‘We’ll run it up the chain,’ whereas here, you have access to that chain and the people who do make the decisions.”

By securing its customers’ facilities as well as it does its own and reinforcing this commitment through its culture, Avant-Garde continues to operate in the best interests of the people who work, play, and reside within.

As Mager explains, “People have to feel safe. You can’t flourish if you don’t feel safe; that’s Humanity 101. So we’re turning screws every day and our job may not seem particularly exciting when you think about walking through entrance system technologies, but the truth is it’s very profound in the implications of what it does for people.”

Acknowledging that the world isn’t necessarily getting any safer, the goal for Mager and Avant-Garde is to maintain the company’s forward trajectory. “How do we make the places that we live in or the places where we learn or work safe and convenient? That’s what we’re trying to do every single day and we’re doing it with a relentless pursuit of out-of-the-box thinking and also getting it perfect.”

This out-of-the-box thinking has enabled the development of unique and exclusive product, like the new Pegasus series which is designed to secure sites during construction with portable, temporary support. “These turnstiles can be quickly and easily deployed by a general contractor to make a site safe and make it compliant for safety and all sorts of other regulatory requirements,” Mager explains.

With new safety concerns arising all the time, Avant-Garde is seeing growth in construction, data centers, and manufacturing, and as demand grows, the company continues to invest in its capabilities, its products, and its people to make facilities secure and the world safer—exactly what the market needed in 2015 and what it continues to need today.

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