Steven Larson said his Arvada-based manufacturing business came close to shutting down the assembly line cranking out firehose nozzles and valves during the recession.
In a reversal of fortunes, the president and owner of S&H Products said his company now can’t fill orders fast enough.
The turnaround came when S&H recently began contracting with an agency within the Department of Defense after years of working with the General Services Administration.
“It seems to have prompted a pretty dramatic increase in orders, and they’re trying to get inventories built to higher levels and we’re of course attempting to respond to that,” Larson said. “We’re in a mode of needing to ramp up our capacity quite quickly.”
While a good problem to have, the company has some roadblocks, including no funds on hand for new equipment, training new employees and how exactly to increase overall production.
The dilemma facing S&H is one of hundreds any manufacturing company can face, said Allison Trembly, marketing director for the Arvada Economic Development Association. The company has been selected along with five other local manufacturers to take part in a pilot program sponsored by the association.
Arvada will be the first city in Colorado to help pay for local companies to , a statewide manufacturing assistance center sponsored by the Department of Commerce.
Program consultants evaluate and train manufacturers to help solve problems like bottlenecks, excess inventory, expansion or simply remaining competitive.
“We believe that manufacturers who participate can expect to see an increase in sales, creation and/or retention of jobs, cost savings in labor and materials, and an increase in employee skills,” said Paul Heller, president of the Arvada Economic Development Association.
In most situations, the cost is split evenly among the federal government, the state and the participating company. Colorado offers no subsidies for the program, meaning many small manufacturing companies can’t afford the bill.
Roughly $19,000 is being pitched in by the Arvada group to help cover expenses, with the six companies picking up between 10 to 30 percent of the remaining cost.
“Nobody’s thought really to do a program like this where they’re actually dedicating city funds,” said Aleta Sherman, regional director of Manufacturer’s Edge. ” , and Arvada has always been one of the more innovative and proactive cities we’ve worked with in helping that sector grow.”
Robert Brandstetter, operations manager at Wadsworth Control Systems, has worked with Manufacture’s Edge five times — three with his current employer and twice with another.
He said they’ve helped reduce inventory levels and turnaround, generating more cash flow and in a more recent case, taught the company how to better estimate product manufacturing costs.
“Our company is about 22 people,” he said, “and these grants help smaller businesses get the same resources and knowledge as the bigger manufacturers.”
