Growth Report 2017: G.W. Becker Gets Big Lift

Editor’s Note: The following story is from Growth Report 2017, published by The Business Journal.

By Brent Rozar, Business Development Manager, G.W. Becker

HERMITAGE, Pa. — G.W. Becker Inc., Hermitage, Pa., a full-service, single source provider of overhead crane products and solutions for customers across North America, greets this year with a sense of optimism. One notable project last year was for a manufacturer of precast concrete products. This customer purchased a 60-ton outdoor crane that it wanted repurposed for indoor use in their plant. The project included engineering and fabrication of new girder sections, gantry leg modifications, installation and commissioning, and upgrading the runway electrification system.

Another custom-design project was for a 10-ton crane for a ductile iron foundry. This severe service, magnet duty, overhead crane was designed for loading heavy scrap for a melt shop.

Also last year, we designed, manufactured and installed a two-ton stacker crane with a power rotating mast and forks for storage of forging dies in a pallet rack system. The company took used girders from the customer’s existing crane, provided new rotating axle trucks, re-spanned the bridge, and designed and built a new rotating trolley mast.

The oil and gas market continued to be strong for G.W. Becker in 2016, despite the downturn in that market. The company completed several overhead cranes for a gas transmission pipeline project that required maintenance cranes for three compressor stations along a 255-mile route. This project required specialized hazardous duty overhead cranes with spark resistant mechanical features engineered and manufactured for this type of work.

Sales of our pre-engineered and packaged line of crane components also increased in 2016. A significant project completed at the end of the year was for a 20-ton overhead crane that was sold to a regional crane builder on the East Coast.

Becker’s service and inspections division experienced a strong year in 2016 as well. One project involved major repairs to a 160-ton overhead crane.

Another big order last year was an inspection contract for a large steel company, and last year alone, the company inspected a total of 2,620 units. The company employs 12 field technicians for onsite troubleshooting, repair and inspection of our customer’s overhead cranes.

To accommodate growth, the company recently acquired a new building in Hermitage.

This expansion allows us to relocate our service department, add extra warehouse storage capacity to support our growing internet sales business, and much provide needed office space. The expansion also allows us to improve production flow in our existing facility and frees up more space for larger projects.

Our commitment to our employees is to continue to invest in education with 1,725 hours spent in training for 2016; almost double the hours in 2015.

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