Back to School

Expansion and development outline the core curriculum at Ferris Industries in Munnsville, N.Y., where the manufacturer is adding a 50,600 square-foot assembly area and storage warehouse to its homegrown schoolhouse headquarters.

The $4-million total investment comes after four years of strong growth for the company, which tripled their business in the last three years. An accompaniment to the square feet Ferris is carving in the small-town community – and the extra jobs the company has created while constructing the facility – is a $2-million commitment to manufacturing equipment.

Take a virtual tour with Lawn & Landscape and see how the 94-year-old power equipment manufacturer filled a local school’s classrooms with equipment.

THE FIRST DAYS. Founded in 1909, Ferris Industries began as the Uebler Milking Machine Co., building labor-saving equipment for dairy farmers. For 75 years, the company served the agricultural market, until the 1980s, when farm dollars were drying up and the company began searching for another niche. Outdoor power equipment was the answer, and Ferris built its first lawnmower in 1986 – a three-wheel rider.

By 1998, the company had garnered an innovation award at the International Lawn, Garden & Power Equipment EXPO in Louisville, Ky., when it introduced its trademark technology – independent suspension. Growth pushed the company to look for new real estate at the same time the school district was building a new facility for its students. Rather than demolishing the old building, which would have been costly for the rural New York town, Ferris moved its manufacturing operation and offices to the K-12 Stockbridge Valley School – a historical building still marked with separate entrances marked “girls” and “boys.”

Today, school rooms are filled with computers loaded with engineering software, the basketball hoops are stamped with Ferris logos and the original addition houses assembly lines – complete production lines for products.

The oldest part of the building was constructed in 1929 and holds the engineering department.

PIECES AND PARTS. The parts fill rate is 96 percent – an important factor for dealers who expect fast parts shipments to fulfill their landscape contractors’ needs.

Ferris still stocks parts for the very first mowers produced.

DECKS AND FRAMES. Efficiency is crucial at manufacturing plants, but when the plant is running ahead of schedule, sometimes parts stack up and must be stored.

Many of the employees who work at Ferris have moved up the ranks in their years with the company. In fact, when the company decided to move into the school facility in 1998, workers helped fix up the building during “construction days,” which developed a sense of ownership, pointed out president Phil Wenzel.

RED COATS – PAINTING. Paint endures a series tests – chemical, hardening and abrasion – to ensure sustainability. Powder-coat paint is sprayed on parts, which then are heated to 400 degrees F for 15 minutes until the red coat adheres. The paint process is 90 percent efficient, and all paint that does not adhere to parts is captured into a reclaim system and reused. Painted parts are stored in a 78-degree F, low-humidity environment.

DOWN THE LINE. Employees on the line assemble 50 to 100 mower decks each day.

Employees carefully splice electrical wires.

TEST, 1, 2, 3. All mowers are tested before they are shipped. Each safety check takes approximately 10 minutes.

The author is Editor of Commercial Dealer magazine and can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.