The Bison Blog

Innovation Highlighted in Bison Gear Video

Manufacturer's "Innovate or Evaporate" message to be keynote presentation at 2009 National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers Conference.

 

Innovation and education are key elements in today's advanced manufacturing environment, where companies like Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. function as an extension of their customers' engineering and product development departments. A new online video highlights how the gearmotor manufacturer's innovation is driven by science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education skills, yielding new products and processes to keep globally competitive.   "We define innovation as what happens at the intersection of invention and commercialization," said Bison Gear chairman, Ron Bullock. "We have a Bison innovation process that seeks the voice of the customer and delivers products that add value." Bullock will deliver a keynote address, "Innovate or Evaporate: the Skill Set Imperative for Success in Advanced Manufacturing" at the 2009 National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers Conference to be held September 30-October 1 in the Chicago area at the Oak Brook Hills Marriott Resort and at the state-of-the-art Technical Education Center at College of DuPage.   Jim Parejko, Bison Gear vice president, engineering and continuous improvement, adds, "We're combining the power of innovation with continuous improvement and those two are natural companions."   The three minute video, titled "How Innovation Helps Bison Gear Grow", can be viewed at BisonGear.com.

About the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers (NCATC) Advanced Technology Centers (ATCs) are located throughout the U.S. and are normally associated with community colleges and universities. All ATCs share a commitment to serving the training needs of business, industry and individuals with state-of-the-art technical education programs meeting the ever-changing needs of today's workforce. ATCs also play a proactive role in economic development. Founded in 1988, NCATC has over 170 member institutions and represents a network of higher education resources that advocates and promotes the use of technology applications that enhance economic and workforce development programs and services. www.ncatc.org

BisonCares Thanks Jeff Bullock Memorial Golf Tournament Participants

The 4th Annual Jeff Bullock Memorial Golf Tournament at Mill Creek Country Club in Geneva was a big success thanks to the many participants, sponsors,supporters and volunteers who helped BisonCares, the charitable arm of Bison Gear & Engineering Corp., raise money to help support local charities and to honor the memory of Jeff Bullock. Sincere thanks from the Bullock family and the entire Bison Gear team!

10 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Custom Gearmotors

White paper details key considerations in making standard vs. custom decision with emphasis on maximizing overall lifetime value for electromechanical machinery and equipment designs. 

 

With heightened focus on budgets and time to market, engineers continue to face a quandary when designing new electromechanical machines and equipment: whether to design "around" a standard off-the-shelf gearmotor or to specify a custom gearmotor meeting their exact requirements. In response to growing concerns on this issue, Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. has analyzed its customer interactions and relationships and produced a new white paper covering the "10 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Custom Gearmotors".

 

"We've taken a non-Bison-specific approach in this white paper so that design engineers as well as OEM purchasing authorities will find it helpful, no matter what size or type of gearmotor they may use or who their supplier may be," said John Morehead, Bison Gear vice president, strategic planning and marketing. "The most important finding, drawing on nearly 50 years experience, is the necessity to involve one's gearmotor supplier's application engineers as early as possible in the design process. Inevitably, that ensures the best overall machine performance, durability and cost position."

 

Some of the other key issues covered in the white paper include the value of proprietary gearmotor specifications, reasonable lead time expectations for custom engineered prototypes, benefits of an expanding product portfolio, production scalability and value-added opportunities.

 

The new four-page white paper can be downloaded at BisonGear.com. 

Lean 2.0 Journey Highlighted in Bison Gear Video

Manufacturing scalability while maintaining customer satisfaction goals featured in new online video.

 

Rapid growth raises the specter of manufacturing scalability which, if not properly addressed, can quickly negate top line successes. A new online video highlights this challenge and how Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. responded to it to ensure that desired customer satisfaction metrics were achieved.

 

In the video, the gearmotor manufacturer's executive vice president, George Thomas, comments on Bison's "Lean 2.0" journey, which includes integration of demand planning and master scheduling to achieve level loading of the Illinois manufacturer's increased production capacity.   "At Bison, PRIDE means People Relentless in Delivering Excellence. To ensure customers receive that excellence, Bison developed a three-element PRIDE rating to measure customer satisfaction," said Thomas. "We're focused not only on overall on-time delivery percentage, but also the customer-centric metrics of change order acceptance rate and product approval rating in the field."

 

The three minute video, titled "Changes in Manufacturing Raise the Bar", can be viewed at BisonGear.com.

Bison Gear Receives "Healthiest Company in America" Award

Illinois manufacturer recognized for its commitment to employee health and well-being and its innovative health and wellness initiatives yielding measurable employee health improvement.

 

"Everyone talks about health care today, but more than a dozen years ago Bison Gear began creating a corporate culture that encourages individuals to take responsibility for their own health and to take an active role in their preventative care," said Bison Gear CEO, Martin Swarbrick. In recognition of the significant improvement achieved in overall employee health metrics, Bison Gear has received the "Healthiest Company in America" award from Interactive Health Solutions (IHS).

 

The award is based on clinical evaluations of employee participants across an index that tests for indicators of heart disease, diabetes, smoking and other measures of health status that are in part controllable by an individual. When Bison constructed its headquarters and manufacturing facility in St. Charles, Illinois in 1997, the gearmotor manufacturer budgeted for a completely equipped employee fitness center. More recently, it has invested in an onsite clinician ready medical resource center. In addition, a cross-functional team of Bison "Health Ambassadors" has been formed to develop and communicate health awareness and improvement programs throughout the company.

 

Working with IHS, Bison hosts an annual Wellness Fair for employees and their family members that includes free diagnostic testing and counseling. "Years ago, we were fortunate to win the business of an up and coming exercise equipment company," said Ron Bullock, chairman and owner of Bison Gear. "That customer relationship, which still endures, has contributed to the health of our business. More importanly, though, it made us more aware of the benefits of proactive health management and that has been an even greater contribution to every Bison associate."

 

Bison Gear's IEC Gearbox Blowout

75 models of European standard right angle, hollow shaft gearboxes to 2487 in-lbs (281 N-m), priced from under US$50.

 

Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. is offering closeout pricing on 75 models of hollow shaft right angle gearboxes that are designed to mate to IEC standard electric motors in frame sizes from 50 to 100. Utilizing hardened steel worms and forged bronze gears with reductions from 7:1 to 444:1, the lifetime lubricated gearboxes are rated for input powers from 1/20 to 4 1/3 hp (.04 to 3.2 kW), with continuous torque ratings up to 2487 in-lbs (281 N-m).

"These high quality, European-manufactured gearboxes are available in eight different sizes and Bison has 'blowout' priced them, starting from less than US$50," said John Morehead, Bison Gear vice president, strategic planning and marketing. "We have over 1200 units in stock and the specifications are in the 'closeout' section of BisonGear.com. If you pair them with one of the IEC motors also in our closeouts, you get an unbeatable gearmotor value -- however, this is on a first-come, while they last basis."

The Bison IEC electric motors closeout offering includes over 35 models of AC motors from 1/8 to 1 1/2 hp (.09 to 1.1 kW) in single and three phase configurations for 115, 230 and 460 volt inputs. Both the closeout IEC gearboxes and closeout IEC electric motors are supported by Bison Gear's In-Stock, Instant-Ship (ISIS) program that offers same day shipment for orders received before noon (CST).