Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 5, 1990 TAG: 9007050052
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Zimmerer, assistant chief executive officer for the Cleveland Fire Department, said he "checked out four other manufacturers" before deciding that "Grumman builds the best aerials."
Aerial trucks the company makes in Roanoke have the horizontal reach that Cleveland firemen need to battle fires in town houses set back from the street, he said.
The endorsement couldn't come at a better time for Bill Bruns, president of the Roanoke subsidiary of the Bethpage, N.Y., aerospace company.
Recent sales of fire trucks have been flat. While other manufacturers have given up the business entirely, Grumman has looked for ways to streamline its operations.
The latest move was June's closing of Grumman's 30-year-old plant in Vinton. Assembly operations were transferred to a former warehouse near Grumman's main plant at Statesman Industrial Park in Northeast Roanoke.
"The advantage is that we now have only one of everything. We had two stockrooms," said Bruns.
The 85 workers shifted from Vinton to Roanoke are part of the company's work force of 260. That number didn't change with the move, Bruns said. But the company's total employment is 20 jobs below a year ago and down about 45 from two years ago. The reductions have come mainly by attrition, he said.
The fire engine industry has more capacity than is needed, Bruns said. The number of companies, more than 100 as recently as three years ago, is shrinking.
Of the fewer than 60 U.S. fire engine manufacturers now operating, Grumman ranks in the top five, probably third in sales, he said.
Of the total 4,000 to 4,500 trucks produced annually, Roanoke's Grumman operation puts out 250 fire trucks a year, roughly one per workday.
Grumman's pumpers and aerial ladder units go to fire departments across the U.S. and in other countries. Currently it has a backlog of orders 50 percent higher than a year ago, Bruns said. He won't say how many engines are ordered but the company has work scheduled through next April.
The company had staggered furloughs for 225 factory workers last year to reduce an inventory of unsold engines. Although the fire engine market has remained slow, "our piece has picked up because several manufacturers have gone out of business, Bruns said.
The market for aerial ladder engines "has been a little sluggish," he said. City budgets have been a little tight and some localities are holding back orders until new national safety guidelines are effective next March.
"The marketplace wants to wait and buy compliance vehicles," Bruns said.
Key to the business is holding down costs, being competitive on prices and customizing the trucks to meet customer needs, Bruns said.
The merging of local operations is an attempt "to consolidate and keep the overhead down," he said.
Bringing together the Vinton and Roanoke operations provides "a better cost base for the amount of business we do and to provide increased capacity when sales pick up," Bruns said.
Grumman's renovated warehouse is about the same size, 44,000 square feet, as the Vinton plant. The Vinton building has been placed on the market for about $700,000. One prospective buyer has looked it over.
The plant was built in 1961 by Howe Fire Apparatus.
The business dates back to a company started in 1916 and was named Oren Fire Apparatus in 1934. Oren sold the operation to Howe in 1961 and Howe sold to Grumman in 1976.
Grumman has added features to its fire engines in an effort to claim more of the market. A tilt-cab chassis, making engine work easier, has increased sales, according to Bruns.
Also, a 121-foot aerial model has the tallest steel ladder and the highest "waterway," a pipe carrying water, for fire-fighting in the country, he said.
As a safety feature, the Panther engine provides seating for firemen in the cab. "Getting the guys off the back step so they're not falling out," Bruns said.
Zimmerer called Grumman "a very innovative company . . . Everyone else tries to copy them."
He and Dan Novak, equipment superintendent for the Cleveland Fire Department, said Grumman has been responsive to their needs.
In the custom fire engine business, Bruns said, "no two are alike. Every fire department wants its own. Most bodies are fairly standard but we can put on a lot of options."
A $450,000 aerial ladder truck has a heated mirror to prevent frosting and impaired vision for the driver in extremely cold weather.
An aerial model at the top of the line requires about 4,000 hours of labor, Bruns said. Pumpers - with models named Firecat, Tigercat, Attackcat, Minicat and Skiddycat - are priced from $100,000 to $300,000, depending on size.
After Cleveland's order is filled, Bruns said the plant will begin work on engines for fire departments in Guam, Saudi Arabia, Colombia .
And Bruns is hoping to be the successful bidder for five pumpers, two aerials and a hazardous materials truck, all for Roanoke.
by CNB