Application Story

Benson Engineering Application Story for Iowa Techniques, Inc.

Challenge:

Iowa Techniques, Inc., designer and manufacturer of unique products for the laundry and dry cleaning, is known as the unique products people in the garment care industry for over 25 years. One of the main products for Ia Tech is the Garment Storage Conveyor. Typically, garment storage conveyors are used to store clothing in dry cleaners awaiting pick up by their customers. Ia Tech, like most other manufactures, was using a C face worm style gearbox and motor combination with 50R chain driving a large 96 tooth sprocket. To meet ETL approval, Ia Tech fabricated shields surrounding the drive assembly and chain/sprocket. The additional shielding limited access to the drive assembly during maintenance procedures. The set up also required Ia Tech to inventory 13 components in the assembly. Due to load requirements on the storage conveyors, Ia Tech was forced to use a 3/4HP motor to produce the torque necessary to pull the load.

Solution:

Benson Engineering brought in Brother Gearmotors and introduced their fractional hypoid, hollow shaft Gearmotor to Ia Tech. The simplified application reduced Ia Tech’s inventory cost by 12 components, sped up production and eliminated the shielding requirements. The 240:1 gear ratio allowed Ia Tech to replace the 3/4HP motor with a 1/2HP motor further reducing manufacturing cost. The engineering to incorporate the Brother Gearmotor required modest modifications, but the net effect was substantial.

Results:

“Benson Engineering looked at our components, asked probing questions and offered a solution that instantly saved us production and inventory costs. They understood our reluctance to change technologies when what we had worked, but they provided a solution that was better, faster, safer, and less expensive than what we were using.” Matt Kool, President of Iowa Techniques, Inc. “Benson and Brother allowed us to hold pricing when others were raising prices, giving us a competitive edge. I don’t know who else can say that today. We stock 2 gearmotors, where we used to stock 4 motors, our inventory values have diminished due to the reduction of additional components, and production is streamlined, and easy to manage. The introduction of Brother Gearmotors further solidified our reputation as the Unique Products People in our industry, and separates us from any and all competition.”