A Century of Progress

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2 A Century of Progress Erie Strayer Celebrates 100+ Years in Business Concrete for the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge, the highest and longest arched concrete bridge in the Western Hemisphere, was produced with Erie concrete batching equipment. By Sheryl S. Jackson, Associate Editor Teamwork and family values are the keys to a successful 100 years in business for Erie Strayer, a Pennsylvania manufacturing company that has grown and changed throughout its history to meet the needs of customers in the construction industry. Robert F. Strayer is President and Chief Executive Officer of this family business founded in 1912 by his grandfather, G. H. Strayer. I learned at an early age that success comes from hard work and discipline, says Strayer. My family taught me to surround myself with people who shared those same values. Our company has survived the ups and downs of the economy because of the stability of our family ownership and the support of our many employees who work as a team. At its origin in 1912, the company, then named Erie Steel Construction Company, was a steel and erection firm working on commercial, industrial and public buildings throughout the Erie, Pa. area. Its nine-man crew operated out of 6 CONCRETE PAVEMENT PROGRESS 1st Quarter

3 a single-story brick building. Following G.H. Strayer s startup of the company, his son Hamilton W. Strayer became president. Robert Strayer followed H.W. as president in His son Kyle joined the company in 2010 becoming the fourth generation Strayer to work in the business. During World War II, the company s expertise with specialty steel fabrication resulted in orders for more than 100 overhead electric traveling cranes and thousands of clamshell and dragline buckets for the Army and Navy. Defenserelated work continued after the war with the building of radar towers used throughout the United States. As the business grew, Erie Steel began to design and produce concrete batching equipment, clamshell digging buckets, and storage bins for the construction industry. In 1950, specialty steel fabrication was phased out, and the newly named Erie Strayer Company focused on the manufacture of concrete batching equipment and material handling buckets. The manufacturing facility is now over 200,000 sq. ft. and is situated on 21 acres in Erie, Pa. A focus on new technology Innovation has been an integral part of Erie Strayer s history, with customers inspiring many new products. We want our products to meet the needs of our Four generations of the Strayer family have led the business over the past 100 years. Erie Strayer founder G.H. Strayer s portrait hangs on the wall of the conference room. His descendants, from left, include: Kyle Strayer, the fourth generation of Strayers to work at the company; Kyle s father, Robert F. Strayer; and Robert s father, Hamilton W. Strayer. An Erie aggremeter plant installed at a contractor s jobsite in the 1940s. customers, says Strayer. Heavy mainline paving usually requires equipment that has to be mobile in design. For customers to move batch plants several times a year from job site to job site, Erie Strayer developed a complete line of highly mobile and self-erecting paving plants that can be easily moved along with the paving train. Strayer says these plant models have been very popular, especially in remote areas where crane access is limited. Erie Strayer introduced its first automated batching system in the 1970s. Automating systems improves consistency and accuracy and produces a better concrete mix, explains Strayer. The company has continued to improve connectivity and functionality with many of today s systems operating on a cloud platform, which enables passwordprotected access from any computer in any location. (continued on page 8) 1st Quarter 2013 CONCRETE PAVEMENT PROGRESS 7

4 Three Erie concrete batch plants purchased and erected for use with the Dubai International Airport Runway Expansion Project. enhancing the use of the most up-to-date technology, even within its own walls. Like all companies in the concrete pavement construction industry, we ve had to adjust and learn how to be more productive in slower economic times, states Kyle Strayer. Advancing technology has helped us achieve that. We benefit from a faster paced, more efficient workplace. For example, technical and engineering drawings once drafted with pen and paper are now produced with computer-aided design and drafting software, often in minutes. Mobile Combo 11 Central Mix Paving Plant (MC-11C) erected at a contractor s jobsite. Century of Progress (continued from page 7) Another example of innovation comes through the on-site experience of Erie Strayer s service department. By listening to customer, the company redesigned its concrete mixer equipment to create an automatic lubrication system and a central grease station that eliminated production downtime to perform easy-access routine maintenance. Erie Strayer s service manager emphasizes the advantages of these changes, We not only addressed downtime concerns of contractors, but also reduced lubrication maintenance time by 90 percent. The company is continually Mobile Gravity Central Mix Paving Plant (MG-12CP) erected at a contractor s jobsite in the Southeast. 8 CONCRETE PAVEMENT PROGRESS 1st Quarter

5 Concrete paving equipment departing Erie s factory en route to Doha, Qatar, just one of many international installations for the company. Support services evolved When Robert Strayer began working in company sales of concrete batch plants in the 1970s, it was a time of a distributordominated marketplace. For Strayer, this was particularly true for the international market. The multi-national experience and knowledge of transportation methods that distributors brought to American businesses helped Erie Strayer introduce products globally. Today s distributors remain valuable to the manufacturer through the product knowledge and personal influence they bring to their own territories and/or countries. Although Erie Strayer works closely with a network of distributors today, it has also enhanced its own marketing and customer support. We don t just sell equipment, explains Strayer. We manufacture, deliver, train customer employees, and support our equipment with parts and service. To reduce the cost of maintaining equipment, the company streamlined product offerings to allow standardization of parts. Although we offer a range of products to meet different needs, we have a number of standard parts that can be mixed and matched to produce a customized order, he says. Standard parts not only reduce the cost of maintenance or repair, but also decrease the time needed to obtain replacement parts. Erie Strayer products, service offerings and support have changed throughout the years based on customer needs, points out Strayer. We see our relationship with end-user producers as a partnership and are always looking for better ways to help our customers find a better way to do their jobs. Get Shaken To The Core! Better Consolidation Greater Amplitude Greater Velocity Greater Influence Best Monitoring System On The Market Concrete Drills Vibrators Monitoring Systems 1st Quarter 2013 CONCRETE PAVEMENT PROGRESS 9