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This article is sponsored by Ryson International, a U.S. manufacturer of vertical conveyors, such as spiral conveyors, slat conveyors, and bucket elevators.
In the manufacturing world, working with a supplier that’s more of a partner can benefit you in ways you may not even realize initially. For example, a partner can help you optimize your production line, even if it means you buy fewer products from them.
Ryson International, a Virginia-based manufacturer of vertical conveyor solutions, prides itself on being a partner to its customers, which means providing customer-centric service. Owen Branigan, account manager at Ryson International, manages the company’s bucket elevator product line, which helps facilities save floor space. This product has not seen major change over the years, but to this day it continues to solve pressing workflow problems, especially amidst the rise of automation across North American manufacturing.
“It’s a Z-shaped metal frame with buckets that run through the frame. They receive bulk product at the bottom and dump it at the top,” says Branigan. “It’s a simple yet robust piece of equipment that has reliably served customers across industries with little to no maintenance needs.”
He points out that customers with multiple hoppers downstream tend to think they need multiple bucket elevators, but in most cases, Ryson can help customers reconfigure their production line so that they only need one elevator.
Ryson International’s customers include 3M, Amazon, Coca-Cola, FedEx, Ford Motor Company, Merck, Starbucks, and Target. Thomas Insights sat down with Branigan to discuss how Ryson International became a leading U.S. manufacturer of vertical conveyors, how they partner with customers, the primary markets they serve, and more.
Owen Branigan (OB): Ryson International was founded in 1995 as a support system for our long-term partner and recent purchaser Royal Apollo Group, which is based in the Netherlands. At first, Ryson was responsible for receiving spiral conveyors from Holland and distributing them to the growing market in the United States. Over the years, Ryson’s U.S. business grew so rapidly to the point that it was no longer advantageous to ship equipment from Europe, so we began fabricating and servicing equipment stateside.
We are the leading U.S. manufacturer of vertical conveyors, specifically spiral conveyors designed to handle cases, totes, boxes, sacks, and more. We also provide bucket elevators, which move low-moisture, free-flowing products like powders and dog kibble. We are a relatively small company, but we serve customers throughout North, Central, and South America.
We manufacture and assemble everything here in Yorktown, Virginia, but we also make sure our customers are satisfied after installation. We do rebuilds for them. Some of our spiral conveyors are still running from the early 2000s, which is a testament to their low maintenance, reliability, and quality.
For one of our customers, our bucket elevator ran for eight years straight — all they did was lubricate the chain, and on the eighth year, they simply replaced the chain and it’s been running smoothly for the past five years. Even in situations where recommended maintenance schedules are ignored, our equipment keeps running.
OB: In 2012, we had a customer purchase five large bucket elevators that each measured 20 feet tall and 70 feet long. We installed them, and they’re working great to this day. In 2019, they reached out again, looking to increase their volume and throughput by purchasing another two bucket elevators. The cost had gone up for the product, so they ended up going to a lower-priced competitor for the same solution.
In 2022, the plant managers at this company actually called us back and said that we could expect another call from them in a year or two because their new bucket elevators were not performing well. Sure enough, they called us back in March of this year, saying they were ripping out those elevators and wanted to work with us again.
We’re now in the process of building a solution for them, taking measurements and triple-checking that everything will fit. This was a very expensive mistake for our client, but this experience demonstrates our product quality and how we prioritize taking care of our customers. We want them to have the right solution, so we can expedite when we need to. We always want our clients to think of Ryson as a trusted partner.
OB: Some people who are just starting to learn about bucket elevators are surprised that they don’t just take product in at one location and release it at another. Bucket elevators can actually be modulated to receive product from multiple locations on the floor, take it up as high as necessary, and distribute it at multiple stations. This is valuable to know because, oftentimes, it can remove the need for four, five, or six bucket elevators. If everything’s lined up properly with multiple dump stations, this eliminates the need for additional elevators, lowering costs and boosting efficiency.
Many times, people will request multiple bucket elevators because they have multiple hoppers downstream. But if we start asking more questions about their application, we can help them reconfigure their line so that they only need one elevator. The client is pleased with that because we just helped them reduce their spending while delivering an even better solution than they asked for.
OB: One type of customer is the end-user, who needs to move product vertically and doesn’t necessarily have the time or expertise to design a whole system for their facility. They usually need a solution quickly because their existing lines are down and they need to get production back up and running. Our other main type of customer is the system integrator, who purchases our equipment and helps other companies figure out the best way to integrate it into their facilities.
Because bucket elevators are ideal for bulk products that are free-flowing and low in moisture, we target companies that make pet food, coffee, grains, snacks, and powders, which encompass a wide range of industries. These products all have different needs based on their characteristics, so we consistently adjust and refine our solutions to meet our customers’ expectations.
OB: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, automation has been growing at an exponential rate. Before the pandemic, many companies thought they would be automating five years down the line, but now they realize they need to automate now. So the market for our conveyor equipment is growing continuously. In fact, we’re currently working on how to restructure our company to account for growth.
With pet food, people are spending more money on their pets these days than ever before. The sanitation requirements for pet food are the same if not higher than for human food. As a result, we’ve been continually improving our conveyor equipment so that we can get certified to meet these ever-increasing sanitation standards.
OB: The royal recognition is somewhat equivalent to being knighted back in medieval times. In practical terms, it’s an acknowledgment of the fact that Apollo is substantial and long-lasting enough that, in the case of an adverse economic event, the Dutch government would support Apollo if needed to sustain it because they see it as a highly valuable company.
Being owned by a company of that stature is not only an honor but also beneficial to Ryson from a business standpoint. Royal Apollo Group is a worldwide company with representation in nearly every continent, from Asia to Europe to the Americas. That global presence allows Ryson to serve emerging markets in these parts of the world, and this wouldn’t be possible without our partnership with Apollo.
Discover Ryson International’s automated vertical conveyor solutions.
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