Meade's Magnet Mission

A passion for electromagnets and customer service has made this Midwestern firm one of the leaders in the competitive field of magnet manufacturing and repair.

By Eileen Zagone
 
Eileen Zagone is an associate editor of  Scrap.

Loren Hecker likes to travel with a toaster. It’s not that he has a particular affinity for warm, crisp bread slices, mind you. It’s because a toaster can be likened to an electromagnet. And the manufacturing and repair of electro-lifting magnets is what Meade Industrial Services Inc. (Hammond, Ind.)—the firm Hecker directs as president—is all about.

When the toaster’s lever is pressed down to begin toasting, he demonstrates, it begins its duty cycle, with its duty being to heat the metal coils inside and toast the bread. When the lever pops up, the duty cycle is complete. But if you keep pressing the lever down, pretty soon you’ll have not only a burnt piece of bread, but also a broken toaster.

So how is this like an electromagnet? Hecker is happy to explain. Like a toaster, a magnet is a piece of electrical equipment with a specific duty cycle. And as with a toaster, a magnet contains wound coils and insulation (in the toaster’s case, the piece of bread) that heat up during the duty cycle. If a magnet operator runs a magnet over its prescribed duty cycle—keeps pressing down the lever, in toaster lingo—pretty soon the excessive heat will cause the magnet’s coils and insulation to expire. “Heat is the magnet’s Achilles’ heel,” he says.

This colorful demonstration is one of the most successful tools Hecker has found to show magnet owners and operators what happens when they abuse their electrical equipment. In fact, demonstrating the proper and improper use of electromagnets has become an integral part of Meade’s corporate mission, along with its commitment to top-notch service, stringent quality and workmanship standards, and timely completion of repairs.

And the company—which already considers itself the third- and possibly the second-largest magnet firm in the country—is setting its sights on becoming an even more complete magnet manufacturing and repair shop.

An Attractive Specialty

After talking with Hecker and learning about Meade’s operations in Hammond and Boardman, Ohio, it becomes obvious that Meade succeeds in being both a specialist and a generalist in the electromagnet niche.

On the specialist point, Len Lawrence, manager of the Boardman plant, puns, “Our exclusive interest is magnets, and we stick to what we do best.”

And this specialized knowledge gives Meade the expertise to cover a broad, generalist scope of magnet markets. The firm not only manufactures but also repairs both cast and fabricated magnets, which in turn can be tailored to just about any customer specification for a variety of lifting applications in a multitude of industries. 

In addition to the round magnets at work in a typical scrap processing plant, for instance, Meade makes and rebuilds lifting magnets for steel mills, the railroad industry, and slag recycling operations, all of which makes for some unusual magnet shapes and configurations, including rectangular, square, and oval magnets in every size imaginable.

On a given day in the firm’s shop, an employee may be putting the finishing signature coat of bright yellow paint on a new magnet bound for a steel mill, while 50 feet away another technician may be examining the internal organs of a scrap processor’s magnet to determine whether its conductor can be straightened and reused.

While Meade has undoubtedly developed itself into a magnet maestro, its origins are far afield from the electromagnet niche and from material handling equipment in general.

The company was founded in Chicago in 1908 as Dempsey & Meade Electrical Contractors. At that time, the city was becoming outfitted for electricity, and the firm saw an opportunity to bring this techological breakthrough to city residents and businesses by converting gas lighting to electric lighting. 

After World War II, the company furthered its expansion by wiring the many electricity-hungry steel mills that were being built around Lake Michigan. It opened an office in Hammond, Ind., to be close to these customers, and in 1954, the company also added a division that focused on electric motor repair.

Again seeing an opportunity for expansion, the company opened an electromagnet repair division in 1959 and, in 1976, expanded the business still further, opening a plant in Boardman, Ohio, to serve the steel industry in that region.

In 1986, the firm’s magnet-related operations adopted the name Meade Industrial Services and became an independent sister company from the founding entity, which still operates as Meade Electric Co. Inc. (Westmont, Ill.), along with an array of other companies that grew out of the original Chicago interest.

Today, aside from the motor repair and machine shop at the Hammond facility, Meade is geared exclusively toward magnets and their accoutrements. Everywhere you look around the Boardman plant, for instance, it’s magnets, magnets, magnets. Gleaming rolls of new aluminum and copper conducting coil in a breadth of sizes neatly line the shelves, a collection of elephantine magnet chains hang on the opposite wall, and ailing magnets are stacked in another area waiting their turn for treatment.

Drawn Toward Service

Aside from magnet expertise, Meade’s other specialty is service, maintain Hecker and Lawrence, and it is in this area, they feel, that their firm distinguishes itself from the competition—which is notoriously tough, particularly in the Midwest. 

According to Lawrence, for example, there are “about four large magnet repair shops within 60 miles of Boardman.” Plus, about 60 percent of the lifting magnets in operation in the country are within a 12-hour drive of Boardman and, thus, several of its magnet repair competitors.

Given this fierce competition and the fact that Meade’s new magnets aren’t much different technically than those produced by its competitors, service becomes the deciding factor in determining which companies win and keep customers. “What really makes us different from others is that we take our service further than just repairing magnets,” Lawrence asserts.

Meade’s service is put to the test every time an existing or potential customer calls with a magnet problem. On such calls, the company first tries to troubleshoot over the phone and determine if repair is necessary or even possible, Lawrence says. 

If need be, a Meade sales representative may stop by the facility and examine the magnet firsthand. If repair looks like an option, the magnet is then sent to the firm’s Hammond or Boardman plant for further inspection and repair.

Since most of the delicate components of electromagnets are hidden from view, a magnet must be opened and its innards examined before Meade can determine the extent of the damage. Meade opens each magnet via machining, which creates a smoother opening, rather than torch cutting. This facilitates reassembly and eliminates the chance for internal parts to be damaged by the heat of a torch, the company says.

After the magnet is opened, the coils and insulation (which are typically victims of the burnt-toast syndrome) are removed and examined. If the coil can be used again, it is unwound by special equipment that cleans the coil, then rewound using equipment that ensures consistent tension. If the coil conductor is damaged beyond repair, Meade scraps the copper or aluminum and replaces it with brand new coil and insulation.

Before being sealed, the magnet is “baked out” to remove moisture from its interior. Then the magnet is tested, painted, and returned to the customer, usually within a month—a turnaround time that is one of the fastest in the industry, says Lawrence.

Despite Meade’s stringent quality standards, every effort is made to keep the cost of repairs to less than 75 percent of the cost of a new magnet. This is a relative bargain considering that a repaired magnet reportedly has quality specifications that nearly match those of a new magnet and that magnet repair costs have not risen significantly in a decade.

As another part of its commitment to service and quality, the company may make other recommendations to customers before returning their magnets to use, including suggesting new lifting ears or chains, or the application of harder, wear-resistant steel to the bumpers of the magnet, which are particularly vulnerable to damage. 

The company prides itself on never shortcutting any of the steps to magnet repair, says Lawrence, who explains that Meade’s recommendations have, in more than a few instances, saved customers from OSHA-related fines, not to mention additional repairs down the road. 

Enhancing Magnet Literacy

Since electro-lifting magnets look like big pieces of tough steel, they are prone to being abused, says Lawrence, who describes seeing some magnets come in for repair that have clearly been used as wrecking balls.

To help its own customers—as well as owners of other company’s magnets—understand how to keep new or repaired magnets working right, Meade offers seminars and training programs, with Hecker serving as the firm’s most active traveling professor. “When operators understand what is inside that big piece of steel,” he says, “they can understand how important it is to operate it properly.”

The first step in educating operators on the proper use of magnets is to emphasize that magnets are complex pieces of electrical equipment. The toaster is analogous, but here are a few more specifics: Lifting magnets are either cast or fabricated. Cast magnets are made from one casting that comprises its top, sides, and center pole, while fabricated magnets are assembled from separate pieces of rolled steel welded together. Thick bottom plates are welded onto both types of magnets and serve to protect the inner components from physical damage, disperse heat, and keep out moisture.

These hidden inner components, which consist of tightly wound thin copper or aluminum conducting coil lined with thin heat-resistant insulation, are the heart and soul of every lifting magnet. With improper use, the coils can bend and the insulation can tear and burn out, resulting in a magnet that works well below its potential, if at all.

Scrap processors are particularly likely to develop magnet problems, according to Lawrence, who explains that many in the industry are so busy that they overlook routine magnet maintenance and training. Add to this the facts that many scrap processing facilities have extended their working hours in the past few years and have dramatically increased the tonnage of steel they handle, and you’ve got a recipe for burnt toast.

Now, it may seem antithetical for a company whose magnet repair business makes up about 75 percent of its overall business to be offering life-extending advice to magnet operators. After all, wouldn’t it be logical that the more magnets are misused, the more will be sent to the company for repair or replacement with a new, more 
expensive magnet?

That kind of attitude will put a company out of business, asserts Hecker, who believes that Meade’s policy of trying to show customers how to reduce their costs will, in the long run, expand its customer base and result in lifelong partnerships. As Lawrence adds, “Our company must make money, but if we can give a little bit more back to our customers, they’re going to respect us, and we’ll get repeat customers and new business just by word of mouth.”

Handling Success

Evidently, word-of-mouth referrals must be working for Meade because, according to Lawrence, the company’s growth in the past few years has been phenomenal. (Business is so good, in fact, that the firm had to hire a cleaning crew to maintain its offices, he says, joking, “We used to have time to empty our own trash cans.”)

So just how much growth are they talking about? Without revealing sales figures, Hecker states that Meade’s new magnet sales rose 100 percent in 1995, and sales in 1996 have thus far been even higher. With regard to magnet repair, the focus has been on making the process more efficient and getting the Meade name circulated.

The company can credit part of its sales growth to its expansion into the international magnet market. Already, Meade magnets are hard at work in such diverse locations as South America, Mexico, Aruba, Australia, Trinidad, England, and, most recently, Korea, where it shipped its largest magnet to date, an 80-by-140-inch behemoth. 
“Our name is becoming worldwide, and we want to be able to service anyone in the world out of our two facilities,” says Lawrence.

All of this growth will likely lead Meade to expand its engineering and sales staff, primarily to keep up with ever-growing demand and changes in magnet design, Lawrence offers. While little has changed over the years regarding the inner workings of magnets, what has changed is magnet shape and magnet engineering, Hecker notes. 
As a result, Meade is currently taking a close look at its entire line of magnets to “make sure everything is the way we want it,” says Lawrence. 

With the help of a sophisticated computer design program, the company’s engineers can investigate what will happen when different coils, different types of steel, and different thicknesses of steel are used in a magnet. With this software, they can determine where the hottest areas are likely to be inside a magnet and where case thickness (and therefore weight) can be reduced. They can also manipulate flux patterns and density to achieve a magnet line that is engineered to be as powerful and efficient as possible.

Meade’s laundry list of future changes and projects also includes venturing into new magnet-related products, including a battery backup system, electrodrum magnets, and conveyor belt magnets.

What won’t change in the future, assert Hecker and Lawrence, is the company’s commitment to its customers and its ongoing dedication to providing quality workmanship, timely service, and, of course, advice on how to prevent magnet burnout. •