[Letter from Clay H. Hollister to Harris L. Kempner, April 25, 1955] Page: 3 of 4
This letter is part of the collection entitled: Harris and Eliza Kempner and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rosenberg Library.
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Morgan Engineering Co. knew lots
of the cranes it had sold over the
years were obsolete or needed new
parts. To prove it-and make a sale-
the big problem was ...
How to Get
A couple of years ago, Morgan En-
gineering Co., of Alliance, Ohio, saw
that sales of parts and service orders
would be the company's bread and but-
ter-for the immediate future, at least.
New equipment business would be the
ice cream.
Morgan Engineering's predicament
wasn't one of a kind. While big indus-
try was rushing to build new plants
after World War II, builders of heavy
equipment had a field day. But as ex-
pansion programs neared completion,
equipment manufacturers began to rea-
lize that they would soon be facing a
replacement market only. And since
some heavy equipment may last 25 to
40 years, the prospect wasn't rosy.
" Remedy-To stimulate this replace-
ment business, Morgan-an 87-year-old
company that makes overhead cranes
and other equipment mostly for the
coal and steel industries-came up with
an idea that the company hopes willI
nside the Customer's Plant
keep its plant going strong for a long
time.
Morgan's technique is to send tech-
nical experts into plants where its equip-
ment has been used over a period of
years to survey that equipment (pic-
tures).
Morgan officials, headed by William
Morgan, figured the survey would (1)
hurry up parts orders from the customer;
(2) give Morgan salesmen the oppor-
tunity of a lifetime to promote a new
crane to replace a worn-out or obsolete
job; and (3) give its sales department
sound information on which to base its
forecasts.
" Cranes Only-Morgan decided to
limit its survey to overhead cranes. It
knew that out of the approximate 6,900
overhead cranes it has sold-Morgan is
the first in the field both historically
and in sales for this type of plant equip-
ment-many had been in service 35 to
40 years. The company figured thatbecause the cranes are high overhead,
they don't get the preventive main-
tenance that "ground" machines get.
Morgan also knew that many customers
rely entirely on their own facilities to
produce needed parts.
The company guessed that possibly
100 of its customers could be induced
to permit a team of experts to go into
the plants to check the Morgan cranes.
- Ticklish-Morgan officials realized
that their approach to a customer was
the key to the program. The ticklish
part was to convince the plant's main-
tenance boss that the team would be
looking at Morgan equipment only
with an eye for normal wear and ob-
solescence, and that abuse of equip-
ment would not be peached on.
" The Job-The team inspects about
four cranes per day. Every bolt is exam-
ined, every part of the trolley and
bridge is cased.
During the examination, the teamchecks an inspection sheet. At the end
of the day, the team gives a duplicate
of the findings to the plant mainte-
riance man.
At this point, the boss looks it
over and notes the items he will have
attended to by his own force. The Mor-
gan engineer omits the items the com-
pany will take care of on his final re-
port on that crane.
When the team has inspected all
Morgan cranes in the plant, it returns
home and prepares a detailed report on
each crane. A copy goes to the plant
maintenance boss who worked with the
team, and to key plant personnel. Then
comes the report to the customer on
the condition of his equipment.
This report may recommend any-
thing from minor repairs to replace-
ment of the crane.
To date, Morgan has surveyed 220
cranes, and already has received some
substantial orders.THREE-MAN TEAM (in hard hats) has first
to convince customer's maintenance man thatit isn't there to spy on operators. Then it sets
about inspecting cranes.INSPECTION SHEET lists team's findings. But report isn't submitted to Morgan's
office until company's crew indicates how much of repair work it can handle itself.BUSINESS WEEK " Mar. 26, 1955
BUSINESS WEEK " Mar. 26, 1955
49
48
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Hollister, Clay H. [Letter from Clay H. Hollister to Harris L. Kempner, April 25, 1955], letter, April 25, 1955; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1413676/m1/3/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rosenberg Library.