MATERIAL HANDLING MARKETING CASE STUDY

Realization

Founded in 1964, Ermanco, Inc., developed and patented breakthrough line-shaft-driven live roller conveyor technology that continues to serve as a model of quiet, accurate, low maintenance material handling. Although the company had developed a broad line of material handling technologies, Ermanco continued to be thought of as a “line-shaft” company whose technologies only fit a narrow set of material handling applications.

Repositioning

In 1995, when Francis Marketing first began working with the company, Ermanco’s sales were approximately $12 million. Francis Marketing worked with the executives of Ermanco to hone its positioning and marketing efforts, focusing on sortation and accumulation, two of the most difficult aspects of material handling. As part of the repositioning, the company also began to develop and market new, cost-effective sortation and accumulation technologies to support the repositioning, ultimately migrating from a line-shaft conveyor company to sortation and accumulation experts using a wide range of material handling modes.

Results

Annual sales of Ermanco continued to grow in the late 1990’s to $31 million in 1999 when the company was ultimately sold.