Blastrac® NA Factory Commitments

Blastrac Global announced this month an expansion and investment in their Oklahoma City manufacturing facility. "As part of the expansion in our plant, we have added two CNC machining centers, a roll press, cranes, and high definition CNC plasma equipment. By moving key, high quality components in house, we've increased control of the supply chain and costs" stated Mark Haworth, Vice President and General Manager. "Our investment results in the capability to produce a greater volume of high-quality, value added products for the Western Hemisphere that are currently made in our Holland facility. This effort will shorten lead times and decrease carrying costs associated with shipping products from overseas. On the other side, the European market will have greater access to lower cost parts and equipment by January 1st, 2009."

Over the past year, Blastrac's renewed commitment to engineering has resulted in the addition of two engineers with broad experience in mechanical equipment design. Investment in upgraded design software and advanced training on design criterion for our equipment has assured a closer working relationship between engineering and production teams, for continued improvement in manufacturing and overall product quality. With ongoing implementation of an ISO Quality System and pre-launch training for new products, Blastrac's continuous improvement efforts means a commitment to our customers.

With continued demand for Blastrac's complete line of products globally, the Oklahoma City expansion will help move top products to the lowest manufacturing point, as the world economy changes. Both Blastrac operations, North America and Holland, will continue to develop new products for their respective markets.

As part of Blastrac, NA's restructuring, Jonn Rippman, currently the National Training Manager, will add a new Inside Sales and Technical Support group. "As costs associated with acquiring and supporting customers have sharply risen, our base business needs a higher level of support. Jonn's 23 years with Blastrac and vast product knowledge will allow us to provide a greater degree of customer service for the 6000 owners of Blastrac equipment," stated Stephen Klugherz, Global Vice President. "Our goal is to provide the one-phone-number source that will handle various customer inquiries and offer the best solutions," said Klugherz.

"The new inside support team will focus on taking care of the customer," Jonn Rippman stated. "From parts identification and order entry, to helping solve the toughest of application or troubleshooting problems, we will provide the correct answers in a timely fashion," Rippman further emphasized. Blastrac recognizes the universal truth in business, "If you don't take care of the customer, someone else will."

Blastrac is steadfast in its manufacturing proficiencies and further development of technologies to remain unsurpassed in the world of surface preparation equipment, expertise, parts and service.