Whitney and Son Celebrates Half-Century in Business Dan Whitney (R) and Nason Whitney (L) in 1972.
Taking Aggregates on the Road When Whitney and Son first entered the aggregate market, nearly all aggregate production was carried out at permanent facilities such as quarries and sand and gravel pits located in nearly every county of every New England state. These facilities, when built or expanded upon, require experts with a background in engineering and facility design who can recommend the proper equipment and sequence of equipment for the aggregate producer to be able to make the product that the local market demands. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the demand for portable crushing and screening equipment exploded in the New England market, initially with wheeled machines and later on with portable tracked machines. As easily developable real estate became in short supply, housing and commercial real estate developers were being forced to build in very hard rock or hilly conditions. Often, those
Jason Whitney joined his family’s business in 2002.
1964 The company is founded as Whitney Associates by Nason Whitney.
When Dan Whitney joined his father’s business in 1972, he didn’t just add the “son” to “Whitney and Son,” he added the vision needed to move the company into the aggregate market. At that time, Whitney Associates, the company founded by Dan’s father Nason in 1964, focused on providing wire cloth and perforated plate to both aggregate and industrial markets. Recognizing the aggregate industry was in need of a first class equipment distributor, Dan sought out the best equipment lines in the industry securing the likes of Deister Machine, Nordberg (now Metso Minerals), Superior Industries and Tecnetics to name a few.
1972 Dan Whitney, son of Nason Whitney, joins the firm. 2
1976 Whitney and Son takes on its first new equipment line for the aggregate industry. It is named the Deister distributor for all of New England.
conditions required that massive amounts of rock be broken up using blasting and hydraulic hammers and hauled away — only for the contractor to have to pay to have processed stone hauled back onto the site later on in the project development. It didn’t take long for site contractors and aggregate equipment manufacturers to realize the value and the savings of having the rock that was being blasted and excavated crushed and screened at the job site using portable processing equipment. Not only could the contractor stop paying to have processed aggregate hauled onto the site, but he also could eliminate the expense of having shot rock and excavated material hauled out of the site. In fact, in most major commercial projects the contractor could make a significant profit by selling excess aggregate to area contractors and municipalities, all of which also decreased truck and heavy equipment fuel consumption. Metso was the pioneer manufacturer in this portable tracked crusher and screener market and within a short period of time, Whitney and Son was able to develop a dominant market share in this area. aggregate equipment. The investment was made in all of the tooling and fabrication equipment necessary to be able to custom manufacture and inventory wire cloth for all machines and applications. The inventory includes 42 different spec’d sizes of screen material, which can be cut to size and equipped with appropriate edge to meet anyone’s special requirements, with same day turnaround. Whitney and Son also is equipped to produce rolled screens for trommel screen plants and has in inventory the bolt kits and wear rubber needed for wire cloth replacement, along with the clamping rails to hold the screens in place.
Spending Money to Make Money Throughout its history, Whitney and Son invested millions of dollars in inventory, which is housed in its 13,000-sq.-ft. warehouse. Whether it is manganese, belting, hydraulic and electric components, bearings, bushings, idlers, blow bars or any type of part for nearly any type of crusher ever sold in the United States, it is likely that Whitney has it in inventory, and if it does not, it has the connections with suppliers that can get it delivered by the next day. In 1999, the company made a major investment in constructing a 16,000-sq.-ft. wire cloth manufacturing facility. All crushing and screening spreads use various amounts of screen cloth to size and separate different particle sizes of crushed materials. With the northeastern United States representing one of the largest crushing markets in the world, Dan Whitney was able to identify a huge market for the manufacturing of replacement wire cloth for all makes and models of 1982 Whitney and Son is named the Nordberg distributor (now known as Metso) for the New England market.
Growing With the Times As the market has grown, Whitney and Son’s sales and support capabilities also have grown. “The portable crushing market’s emergence in the 1980s really transformed our business,” Jason Whitney said. “Early on, it was with portable wheeled machines and with the introduction of the
1988 The company opens up a 13,000-sq.-ft. warehouse and wire cloth facility in Fitchburg, Mass. 3
Metso congratulates Whitney & Son on its 50th anniversary
Celebrating a half century of service and support Metso is proud to join in saluting Whitney & Son, Inc. on its 50 th anniversary, and as a valued member of Metso’s distribution network. The experts at Whitney & Son are ready to assist with innovative Metso crushing and screening solutions to improve your efficiency and minimize downtime. www.metso.com
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CONVEYING EQUIPMENT
W WASHING ASHING EQUIPMENT
CONVEY CONVEYOR OR COMPONENTS
HAPPY HAPP Y 50TH ANNIVERS ANNIVERSARY ARY
WHITNEY & SON 1-800-321-1558
www www.superior-ind.com .superior-ind.com
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Whitney and Son maintains a wide selection of belt idlers in stock. Whitney and Son stocks a vast supply of spare parts.
tracked portable crushers, ing extra for our brands, and business exploded. In 1982, by providing expertise and we sold our first tracked unit, a service over the course of 50 Nordberg [later purchased and years, we have demonstrated renamed Metso Minerals]. that in the long term, we are That first Nordberg machine, always the better investment,” as well as every portable Jason said. tracked crusher that we have In the early 1990s, Dan sold since is still in operation Whitney helped to develop the today. That is a huge testimony Surestrike hammer to address to the durability and engineerthe granite-type boulders ing of the Metso product and to found in the New England area our service staff’s ability to that could not be broken by traproperly support our cusditional hammers. With a hightomers and the Metso product. er capability (50,000 ft. lbs.) “Those early machines were Whitney and Son’s custom fabrication shop can make any size than conventional excavator only capable of producing one screen for any make or model screening plant. In most cases, hydraulic mounted hammers, product, a basic six-inch they are already assembled and ready to ship. the Surestrike is sold to quarminus. We are very proud to be ries for breaking up shot rock. able to say that as our customers’ needs expanded, Metso was able The Surestrike hammers are based on the drop ball technology, to continually improve and expand the capabilities of their but with more precision and accuracy. machines. Today, the Metso tracked crushers are able to make Today, Whitney and Son operates in a 35,000-sq.-ft. facility, several products at once and produce just about any size material has more than 20 employees, and services the New England that the customer is looking to make. states and eastern New York State. The company has fully “It’s well known that New England is one of the largest equipped service trucks complete with air, welders and overhead portable crusher markets in the world and because of that over cranes. the years any manufacturer that you can name, along with many It has sold and continues to support more than 150 Metso HP names that have since been forgotten, have brought their prod- series cone crushers. In addition, more than 32 Nordberg portable uct to market in New England. It is a tremendous testimony to crushing and screening plants have been placed in the market, our employees and to our suppliers that in spite of a tremendous more than 120 Metso C-Series jaw crushers and nearly as many amount of market pressure, we have the largest market share in Lokotrack crushers. These numbers do not include various all of New England and we are particularly proud that we hold Simons, Omnicone, Grydisc, and VB Jaw Plants that have been that market share with a premium product. We are never the put into the New England market or the 300-plus Deister screens winners in a price war. We have to demonstrate the value of pay- that are in use at quarries throughout New England. 1990 Whitney and Son officially starts its service department. Prior to 1990, Whitney’s sales representatives also were certified repairmen. 6
1992 The company acquires an adjacent building, which is converted to the company’s current home offices.
Whitney and Son maintains an extensive archives so that it can address every service and maintenance issue the Screening media for every imaginable application is ready to be company has encountered over their history. shipped to a job site.
states. Together, its service and Keeping Customers sales support group offers comHappy bined experience of more than Whitney’s commitment 130 years. to customer support and sat“We have trained our service isfaction, along with repredepartment to be able to service, senting the premier aggrerepair and rebuild any make or gate equipment manufacturmodel machine on our market,” ers in the industry, has put it said Jason. “Quite often, we end in a position where it now up servicing machines that were serves some of the largest sold by dealers that are long since aggregate producers in New out of business.” England, including names Whitney and Son prides itself such as Aggregate on selling solutions to problems. Industries, Continental “It seems like every one of our Paving, Tilcon, SM Lorusso, Whitney’s commitment to customer support and satis- customers has a unique set of cirPJ Keating, JS Lane, Cardi Corp., Pike Industries, Shaw faction has put it in a position where it now serves some cumstances that they are trying to address,” said Jason. “The charBrothers, Brox Industries, of the largest aggregate producers in New England. acteristic of aggregate changes Lynch, Benevento Stone and from town to town, and how to address the most efficient way to Gagliarducci Construction, just to name a few. “It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride in the aggregates process a specific rock formation is always a moving target. Even market over the last 10 years,” Jason said. “It has become very if you are in recycling, the concrete or asphalt that you receive difficult for our customers to find the proper level of staffing. The from job to job has differing characteristics. Some rock is dirtier trend has been to keep your plant operating with as few employ- than others; some harder than others; some breaks into angular ees as possible because the demand for aggregate has fluctuated particles and some breaks into round particles. The advantage to wildly. We are able to help our customers reach these goals by our 50 years of experience is that we have seen it all. Not only providing maintenance programs. Instead of having to staff serv- have we seen it all, we have worked with an aggregate producer ice, repair, and maintenance technicians, we are able to provide a to figure out the best method of processing that material. That’s fee-based program where our employees provide the scheduled why we pride ourselves on selling solutions to problems.” A key to the troubleshooting process is the detailed records of maintenance to our customers’ equipment.” Whitney and Son offers a staff of in-house fully trained cus- all of the projects and troubleshooting challenges that Whitney tomer service representatives to field phone calls and to trou- and Son has been engaged in for most of the company’s 50 year bleshoot all types of customer problems. Outside service repre- history. When it comes to identifying a production issue or sentatives are strategically located throughout the northeastern locating a particular part, Whitney likely has seen this problem 1996 Whitney and Son enters the rental market with the rental of a Lokotrack CT80 (now a Metso product).
1999 Major expansion completed with a new 16,000-sq.-ft. wire cloth manufacturing facility. 7
2002 Jason Whitney joins the family business.
Whitney and Son has the tooling and expertise to routinely tear down and rebuild (or to simply service and maintain) your Whitney and Son has invested in service vehicles equipped Metso equipment. with the requisite equipment to provide repairs in the field.
or challenge and documented it and is anticipate every repair need. able to research the problem, work Furthermore, making sure that technithrough the solution, and provide the cians are located where the customer necessary solution be it a replacement can be given exceptional response part or a machine modification. time. Looking forward to the future, the In the earthmoving arena, manufaccompany is continually making turers have started to offer service adjustments to better serve current and plans to contractors to help the contracfuture markets. tor better budget and plan for service • Focus on improving overall effiissues expenditures. Whitney and Son ciencies of existing customers’ aggreis currently implementing service gate plants through retrofits; plans for its aggregate products. • Continuously exploring the mar- This jaw will be completely refurbished in the ketplace looking for new equipment Whitney and Son shop. An Educated Customer Base suppliers to assure that Whitney’s cusWhitney and Son also holds educatomers always have access to state-of-the-art equipment; and tional sessions at both the Fitchburg campus and customer sites • Constantly expanding its commitment to service, making that focus on the proper operation, maintenance and repair of its sure that all technicians have the most up-to-date factory training products. During the course of these training sessions, operators, available and are provided with service trucks that are equipped to owners and maintenance staff of contractors and aggregate 2004 Whitney and Son receives Metso’s Presidential Award for the distributor with the highest sales volume in the United States. 10
2014 Whitney and Son is the largest crushing and screening equipment dealer in New England, representing the finest manufacturers in the world.
Virtually every common brand of crusher has ended up in Whitney's shop for their experts to rebuild or maintain.
producers who own these machines learn all functions of them from top to bottom, including setup, operation, repairs, cause and effect. According to Charlie Jones, general manager of Whitney and Son, “Our goal is to give our customers the opportunity to be well equipped to deal with any situation that may develop in the field on their own whenever possible. The school teaches detailed information about the maintenance and upkeep of the crushers, along with the intricacies of the lubrication and hydraulic systems. We spend a lot of time talking about cause and effect so that the operators understand the limitations of these machines and proper operating procedures, and what will happen if those boundaries are pushed. “We are very proud of our service people,” Jones added. “We feel strongly that we have the best trained technicians available and one of the things that we stress to our technicians is that we don’t like secrets. To whatever extent possible we want our end users to understand the machines that we sell just as well as our technicians. Our customers have made a major investment in this equipment. Downtime is incredibly expensive, so whenever possible we want our customer to be able to handle any situation that arises, and these schools are the perfect opportunity to achieve our goals.”
A rebuilt Nordberg HP400 cone crusher.
Another Generation Jason Whitney was raised observing the way his grandfather and his father conducted Whitney and Son. Coming up through the ranks, he spent his high school summers working in the shop producing wire cloth, steel fabrications, and working on crushers. Jason permanently joined the family business in 2002; his first mission at Whitney and Son was to develop a new computer system and institute administrative controls. After accomplishing that mission, he moved on to providing sales, service and rentals to western Massachusetts and Rhode Island while maintaining the responsibility of managing Whitney and Son. Jason became Whitney and Son’s third president in 2010. CEG
2015 Whitney and Son represents: Deister Machine Company, Metso Minerals, Superior Industries, Breaker Technology (BTI), Treyco Manufacturing, Greystone, Tecweigh, Unified Screening & Crushing, Surestrike, Loup Electronics, Industrial Magnets, Valley Rubber, NESCO, Etheridge Automation, Scitronics, Aggregates Equipment, Mulhern Belting, Flexco and Arch Environmental.
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Whitney and Son’s Seminars Aim for Well Informed Customers
At the training classes, customers are shown what signs of wear they should look for so that maintenance can be done before major failures occur.
Whitney and Son offers seminars on how to improve product quality.
Each year, Whitney and Son holds training schools so that its customers can learn the details of how to maintain and repair their equipment and be as self-sufficient as they choose to be.
Customers are shown how to tear down a cone crusher. 12
DEISTER PROUDLY SALUTES
Whitney & Son, Inc. For its 50 years of Industry Service
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