Belting the competition
By Industrial Distribution Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 9/1/1999
When James Jones discovered that belting installation and repair crews were driving four-plus hours to service end users near his base in Macon, Ga., he knew something wasn't right.Jones, president of Griffco Supply, a seals, gasket and hose distributorship, had heard complaints from paper mills, quarry operators and other customers that there was no local supplier they could depend on to service conveyor belts. In one instance, a plant suffered $400,000 in shutdown losses after repeated failures of a primary conveyor line, which took more than two days to repair each time.
In March of 1998, Jones did something about it -- and eventually won over that customer. He and a partner, Roger Gregory, launched a company called Ga. Belt and handpicked experienced belting employees to form several crews. The two are co-owners, with Gregory serving as president and Jones as vice president.
The firm is growing quickly with its focus on providing turnkey services, which means doing anything the customer needs on site, rather than just supplying belts.
The two principals have invested more than a half million dollars in the operation, buying a slitter for belts up to 72 inches wide and a 15-ton crane that enables crews to perform services such as re-lagging or adjusting conveyor frames on site. Crews also inspect and install belt scrapers, line belts, patch holes and do monthly surveys.
"We've grown a lot more than I probably ever dreamed we would," says Jones. "It's because of our service and workers. They're all experienced, the least experience is eight years."
Customers such as Gary Bryant, Georgia operations manager for Southern Aggregate, a division of road aggregate producer CSR, say it's obvious why Ga. Belt's reputation is spreading.
"We've had excellent service," says Bryant. "We run 24 hours a day, we had some nighttime breakdowns and they've jumped in and got us running in an efficient manner."
In addition to providing emergency service, Bryant says Ga. Belt crews excel in belt maintenance for his granite crushing operation, which processes about four million tons a year.
Darryl Niblett, a quarry manager in Macon, Ga., says his company has saved money using the distributor's crew and equipment, rather than hiring a crane and an operator himself to make repairs. "They've got the certified crew and the machinery and I don't have to touch anything," says Niblett.
To build the operation, Jones and Gregory recruited talent from other distributorships by offering high salaries, and through July had assembled a team of a dozen employees with plans to add more this year. They also provide substantial health benefits, new service trucks, uniforms and more -- and in return demand overnight and weekend availability. The firm does not skimp on materials, either, Gregory says, and buys more expensive splicing material that holds up better with extreme heat changes, for example.
"I've bought them the best equipment available, period," says Gregory. "In this business it's people and service, and that's it."
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