Elevator and escalator repair is no cake walk. Just ask Jack Higgs, president of Quality Elevator in Bladensburg, Md. As the head of one of the largest independent elevator companies in the Washington metropolitan area, Higgs has his hands full when it comes to keeping these vertical people-movers in good working order.

Working with a customer portfolio made up of local and national property management firms, government agencies and local and national general contractors, Higgs relies on The Electric Motor Repair Co. to repair their motors and generators, and to provide products such as bearings and electrical equipment.

"There's not a week that goes by that I don't write a check to EMR," says Higgs, who has been working with EMR's industrial division since the 1970s. Most impressive about the firm, he says, is the fact that the repairs get completed quickly and the parts delivered expediently. Prices are fair, he adds, and the two companies never quibble over "who's to blame" when a part or piece of equipment gives out.

"We had something go wrong on an elevator recently, and it really was a grey area as to whose fault it was," says Higgs, whose team works under constant pressure to meet installation deadlines and repair demands. "Rather than wasting time trying to pin the blame, EMR stepped right in and took care of it."

Open since 1927, EMR's industrial division operates from its 12,000-square-foot Baltimore location, which is part of a larger, 27,000-square-foot building that also houses the commercial division. In total, the company's divisions comprise six locations and 170 employees that brought in $18 million in sales in 2003 (15 percent of which came from the industrial division).

EMR's history dates back 77 years, when Joshua Bichell, John Wheeler and Milton Van Dyke came together to acquire an existing motor repair firm. All engineers, the trio changed the company's name and re-launched a "motor shop" that would grow to multiple locations and come to include a commercial division, which opened in 1945 to service household appliances.

The industrial division, which rewinds electric motors and motor drives, also has an outside troubleshooting department that provides on-site repair services. According to company president Roger Kauffman, the company also offers value-added services, such as machining, aligning and balancing. In addition to repairing motors and drives for customers such as Quality Elevator, EMR's industrial division distributes motors, drives and soft starts.

"It behooves us to have replacement motors on hand, since some that come in just aren't worth repairing," says Kauffman. "Direct sales to customers not only expedites the solution, but also bolsters our sales."

In addition to Kauffman, other EMR employees include Ron Williams, operations manager for the industrial division; John Meadowcroft, comptroller, Bruce Peeling, general manager for the service division, and Janet Pope, human resources manager. The firm's industrial division serves mainly the Maryland-D.C. corridor and Virginia, although Kauffman says the company has worked with customers in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Albany, N.Y. and the Carolinas.

"It all depends on the size of the motor, and what the customer needs," says Kauffman, who singles out the division's primary customers as the elevator, steel and printing industries, general manufacturing, HVAC contractors and municipalities.

EMR has experienced several turning points during its long history, the first of which was in 1971, when Hurricane Agnes flooded many businesses in the area, thus creating a demand for the repair and replacement of motors up to 1,000 horsepower. "Before that, our largest was 250HP," recalls Kauffman. "Because so many motors went under-water, we were inundated with motors that pushed us past our comfort zone and forced us into repairing larger H.P. units."

Hurricane Agnes, who left in her wake a glut of broken motors and much demand for replacements, prompted EMR to include more value-added services in its lineup. "There was so much work that we couldn't get good turnaround time from the outside machine shops we were using, and the quality was out of our hands," says Kauffman. "We brought it in-house, and today provide a full menu of services—including fan balancing and motor refitting—to our industrial customers."

Setting EMR's industrial division apart from its competitors, says Kauffman, is its focus on diversification of services, its ability to handle all phases of direct current motor repair work and its 24/7 work ethic. "We've really built our reputation on quality, customer service and availability," Kauffman explains. "We've gotten business because the customer wasn't able to get a hold of his regular repair shop on a holiday."

In the 1990s, EMR moved into the information age by purchasing a computer system from Aperum. "We wanted a package that would not only collect the information but also give us reports that could guide our decision-making process," says Kauffman. "For the first time we could actually break the business down, look at the various operations and really see what was and what wasn't profitable."

Kauffman says the company upgrades its system every few years, and that the latest version will make it possible for its outside service technicians to use handheld wireless communication devices to transmit information back to EMR's headquarters. "They will be able to receive jobs, transmit information about parts used, time spent and other important measures," says Kauffman. "We expect it to increase their productivity by as much as 15 percent."

Bill Potts, operations manager at Philadelphia-based Bartlett Bearings, says his firm has been selling premium quality bearings to EMR for more than 30 years. Bartlett's Baltimore plant supplies the company with the products, which include the latest enhancements and products available from the bearing industry, says Potts, who calls the relationship between the two companies very "win-win" for both.

"EMR's professionalism reflects that quality of repair provided to their customers," says Potts. "Because of that, we look forward to working with them for many decades into the future."

The sales of few—if any—industrial distributors came through the last few years unscathed by the manufacturing recession, outsourcing trend and overall economic downturn. According to Kauffman, EMR's industrial division "fared pretty well," but mainly because it was downsized in 1980 and "never really returned to the levels" that it was at in the 1970s.

"We recognized that you can't run fat and happy, and that you have to run lean and mean," says Kauffman, who points to adjustments such as combining the division's general manager and shop foreman positions into one operations manager. Things are looking up this year, he adds, with overall company sales already up 21 percent over 2003, and the industrial division up 42 percent. He expects sales to reach $20 million, with 15 percent coming from the industrial division.

Kauffman is bullish on the rest of the year, and says the company has started making modest investments in capital equipment and technology, including a $45,000 report-writing system, and is looking to open a new branch in the near future. "I always maintain a positive attitude regarding our company and what we can do," says Kauffman. "We're very flexible and diversified, so I'm sure we'll hang in there and remain a viable part of whatever is happening."