Partnership Profile: Unified Industries

Unified Industries of Howell, Michigan, has been producing high-quality bridge overhead cranes and monorail trolley systems for over 35 years.  Unified is one of R.J. Cyr Co.’s valued working partners – and an industry leader.

Domestically, Unified makes more than 80 percent of its sales to the auto industry.  Unified products are so highly regarded that Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors specify them in their standards books.  “We wrote Ford’s safety standards for bridge overhead cranes,” Bill Cuellar, Distributor Sales Manager for Unified told us.

“Unified was founded by John Miller,” Cuellar continued.  “About ten years ago, he sold the company to Dearborn Fabricating and retired.  Dearborn, in turn, is owned by Tompkins Industries of England, a huge conglomerate.  We have about a dozen people in the office here and 35 to 40 in the plant.  Howell is our only location.”

Cuellar explained that a bridge overhead crane is a long beam, supported on both ends, that can move loads in four directions.  Unified manufactures overhead cranes with capacities up to 8,000 lbs., though most are in the 500- to 4,000-lb. range.

“A typical bridge overhead crane has a hardened steel track welded to a mild steel T-shape,” said Cuellar.  “The forged steel wheel can be contoured or flat.“

Aluminum bridge overhead cranes with non-ferrous wheels become more popular every year,” he continued.  “Aluminum costs more, but its strength is equal to steel.  It’s also lighter, easier to work with and more ergonomic.”

Aluminum’s ergonomics are what recommend it to users.  “You need just one to two percent of the force to move a load on an aluminum bridge crane,” said Cuellar, “but anywhere from five to eight percent with steel.  If you put both kinds of bridge cranes into a plant, I can guarantee you that everyone will soon be using the aluminum.  It’s just so much easier.”

A monorail trolley moves loads in one plane only – north and south or east and west.  Unified makes trolleys from an aluminum-magnesium alloy that’s lighter and stronger than its steel counterpart and very user-friendly.

The trend today is toward closed-beam monorail trolleys, in which the extruded aluminum supporting beam is an enclosure.

“Some people think that a closed beam trolley will open up if it’s overloaded,” said Cuellar, “but it’s designed to pull together.  That ensures safety.”

Here again, ergonomics is the top priority.  “Our lightweight aluminum closed-beam trolleys are articulated, with polyurethane wheels to provide the optimum in smooth, easy operation,” said Cuellar.  “Because the trolleys are so easy to pull, they minimize worker fatigue.“

"Unified has a market edge because it’s much more thorough and service- oriented than the competition,” Cuellar reported.  “We send our products out assembled and very carefully labeled to make things easy for the installer.  If there’s a problem, we respond quickly and stay with the job until everyone is satisfied. 

R.J. Cyr Co. is an authorized Canadian dealer for Unified Industries and has distributed the product for 19 years.

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R.J. CYR CO., INC.
Windsor, Ontario Canada
www.rjcyr.com

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