Retail Success Story

WHSmith Contributing to Profit
WHSmith is the UK's number one family retailer selling a range of products that extends across education, entertainment and information. Each year,WHSmith High Street stores sell enough pens to circle the earth; enough books to fill a library shelf from London to Edinburgh; and some 122 million magazines and newspapers each year which stacked one on top of another would be 69 times taller than Mount Everest.
But competition is fierce, with profits born from thin margins earned by providing customers with the products they want. Understanding what customers want and what is making money are the keys to success. To better ensure that its front line people in the stores and those that manage them have the information needed to maximise revenue earning potential, the company turned to MicroStrategy.The results have been dramatic. Not only has the companys MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform delivered substantial benefit to WHSmiths bottom line, but return on investment has also been achieved within just 10 months.Arguably even more significant in the longer term is the effect the solution is having on the culture in its stores. Steve Walker, a WHSmith store manager 22 years with the company explains: "We can focus on contribution to profit, not just on sales. Its a huge change. I am more informed about my business and I can run it more efficiently.This new insight has allowed me and my colleagues to challenge ourselves more than we have ever done before. In the past, we talked about sales. Now we talk about contribution to profit. Before, I couldnt really compare our performance with other stores now we benchmark ourselves every week and even learn from each other.

Challenge:

WHSmith recognised that the key to maximising its revenue earnings potential was to have a greater understanding not only of what its customers wanted, but also by identifying what sales were making the most significant contribution to profit.

Solution:

MicroStrategy provided WHSmith with a 'proof of concept' five day intensive examination of the MicroStrategy 7i platform, offering an enterprise-class analytical server allowing all users the capability to process a variety of reports and analysis. In addition MicroStrategy were able to offer a Web based scaleable solution that placed no demands on users other than to access the system via their Web browser. MicroStrategy were clearly further down the Web route than their competitors.

Benefits:

Within just 10 months the MicroStrategy Business intelligence platform has provided a substantial return on its original investment. In addition the solution has not only contributed significantly to WHSmith's bottom line but also is having an extremely postive effect on the culture within its stores.
Turning Data into Actionable Information
For many years, data from store EPOS (electronic point of sale) terminals has been fed over dial-up and leased lines into the companys corporate Teradata data warehouse.A bespoke data analysis tool ensures that headquarters staff have access to the information they need to understand the big picture. However, what was missing was the ability to feed back the data to the stores in a way that enabled information for better day-to-day management.
w w w. m i c ro st ra t e g y. co m
"The richness of information that exists within an organisation like ours is massive," says Mark Leckie, Business Systems Manager for WHSmith. "We have over 550 stores on the high street and the larger branches each sell over 70,000 product lines. The challenge is to make that information available to people in such a way that they can act on it. Before we developed our MicroStrategy platform, store managers could really only follow their gut instincts in terms of what were their best selling lines and even then, only for their own store. Now they can download reports including one telling them what the best selling 20 lines are, not only in their store, but also for those in the same area or region. This might identify, for example, that five items appear on everyone elses top sellers but not theirs. That is when it really starts to hit home when you realise that the item left forgotten in the corner of your store is the line others have been making a lot of money from."

recalls Trevor Dukes, Project Manager within Business Systems, "they did not appear to be an industrial-strength platform capable of working across the entire organisation.We also consulted the industry analyst company Gartner, which endorsed MicroStrategy and confirmed that it had the product set to meet our requirements."

Proof of concept

In fact, MicroStrategy gave great importance to the product fit and offered WHSmith proof of concept a five-day, intensive examination of the main elements of the MicroStrategy 7i platform.The retailer wanted to explore how the platform could integrate with its data warehouse and how easy it would be to develop sales-based reports. The key components of WHSmiths MicroStrategy platform were: MicroStrategy Intelligent Server, an enterprise-class analytical server optimised for enterprise querying, reporting and OLAP analysis and able to process report requests from all users through Windows and Web interfaces. MicroStrategy Web, providing users with a highly interactive environment and low maintenance interface for reporting and analysis. MicroStrategy Desktop, the business intelligence software component providing integrated query and reporting, powerful analytics and decision support workflow on the personal computing desktop. MicroStrategy Architect, a rapid development tool that maps the physical structure of the database into a logical business model and holds those maps in a centralised metadata repository. Looking back on the proof of concept phase, Dukes recalls: "We were also very pleased to confirm the inherent scalability of the solution as this was a key driver for us." Another critical area was MicroStrategy Web, MicroStrategys HTML-only Web solution that with its zero footprint on the desktop places no demands on users other than to access the system via their Web browser. Support for open standards like XML and Java would also pave the way for the rapid development of new reporting tools and information delivery of tools.
Opening the Information Treasure chest
WHSmith has sophisticated end users of business data, and in addition to its Teradata warehouse, the company makes use of a variety of analysis tools.The access of area and store managers to this potential treasure trove of information was limited, however, to a series of pre-formatted reports that contained basic profit and loss type information.Also, because historical data was difficult to access, there was no readily available comparison with previous years performance. Just over two years ago, with the creation of WHSmiths intranet came the opportunity to address the issue.The company recognised immediately that it wanted a Web-based information solution, as it was not felt feasible to move large amounts of data across the wide area network serving stores.The solution would also have to be easy-to-use and offer users a range of up-to-date weekly reports. A tender process which considered business intelligence solutions from the worlds major vendors saw MicroStrategy emerge as the frontrunner, even ahead of other well-known systems already in use at WHSmith. "While other systems such as Cognos and Business Objects were being used as departmental analytical tools,"

"MicroStrategy was clearly further down the Web route than their competitors," recalls Leckie, "but another thing we looked for was a cultural fit. MicroStrategy, like us, are oriented towards getting the most out of information in a way that makes a difference to users." Dukes expands: "For us it was a case of making sure that we could work with them. They were prepared to work with us. They werent going to dictate what we should be doing. The key issue was could they join the team? It actually worked out really well, they were very supportive and had very good quality people." The proof of concept confirmed MicroStrategys selection, contracts were signed and a threemonth pilot scheduled to start just seven weeks later in ten stores.While four WHSmith people were trained to be certified in the use of the MicroStrategy toolset, three MicroStrategy consultants joined Dukes team and began developing the data strategy and reports. Critically, a group of area and store managers were also closely involved in developing the reports, including area manager Ian Rowley.
provide information that would enable managers and their teams to take action. Timely, comparative information about other stores performance at a line level would enable people to help identify how best to maximise contribution while delivering customer satisfaction. While reporting requirements were being finalised, WHSmith and MicroStrategy built the software platform and integrated it with the data warehouse. It says much for the skill and commitment of the team that, after just seven weeks the pilot went live in ten stores.
MicroStrategy Consultants Adding Value
Rowley remembers being impressed by the consultants contribution. "MicroStrategy helped us to understand the type of information we needed, from what perspective we needed to examine it, and therefore how they could make the platform work for us. They took ideas and incorporated our feedback into the software. Sometimes they forced us out of our comfort zone, making us question what we had done as well as making us look at maintenance, administration and usage in a completely new way." From that focus, three key report objectives emerged: educate managers at the contribution to profit level. Historically reports only really highlighted sales volumes far more important to a stores commercial well-being would be to focus on the profit margin of each line and its contribution. provide the ability to understand what line is making a contribution. Rather than see the store as a site where various products were sold, people should instead view the store as a single entity and be able to understand and influence the role and impact of each line on the overall performance of the store.

The Critical Importance of User Feedback
"We felt it was very important to understand how stores would react to the new system before we deployed it across the organisation," explains Dukes. "It was all very well for us in the centre developing a range of reports, but how would they be used in a store environment? And what were the training requirements?" User feedback from the stores was very positive, and included refinements that would further improve readability.The most important aspect flagged was the need for a lock row header facility so column headings remained visible as users scrolled through data. "It might have seemed a minor issue but from a stores perspective it was very important," recalls Dukes. "We fed the problem back to MicroStrategy. They were very responsive and rewrote the code to provide that functionality. Even better, the change has now become part of the core product so I have maintained a standard platform as we move forward." The pilot also proved that the reports were helping stores ensure that top contributing lines were always in stock. It also highlighted the need to provide a deeper level of information that enabled people to understand sales activity within a product area such as stationery.
Dukes explains: "By using information in a live environment we started to look at how it would help people do things differently. For example, if you know what your top contributing lines are, it might make sense to prioritise the replenishment of ranges which contribute relatively more to revenues.And if you go down a level, you can begin to understand that some lines that might be taken a little for granted lever arch files, for example are actually among the top contributors and need to be replenished early and throughout the day."
"Im a great believer in not training too far away from actual deployment," says Dukes. "It was also critical that people didnt lose sight of the need to continue to serve the customer.We didnt want people running reports when they should be serving customers, so the reports needed to be embedded into their working day, not grafted on to it."
People Embracing Web-Intelligence
The extent to which that goal has been achieved can be measured by the degree to which the platform has entered the lexicon of WHSmith day-to-day business language.WHSmiths MicroStrategy platform, officially known as Web Intelligence, is now universally known as Web-I. When people talk about Web-I they are not just describing the application. It carries with it a far deeper meaning, of a new business-led debate, a new focus on contribution to profit, the ability to more proactively manage the store environment and of the stores increasing influence on the centre. Store manager, Steve Walker, provides an insight: "The impact of Web-I has been substantial. It gives me the information on a weekly basis that I need to benchmark myself against similar sized business in my area, investigating performance to a line level. It helps me understand how much contribution I am generating from a given amount of space and compare it to others."

Business-led Training

Importantly, the pilot made clear the type of training people required.A core team of people from stores and regional commercial managers were brought together to design the training. It would have to be hands on, and concentrate almost as much on how to drive a PC as the application.And while the training went through the reports, the most important thing was to explore the concepts behind them such as contribution and how the information could be used to support the business. To quickly roll-out training to some 550 stores and make it credible,WHSmith people undertook the training in a cascade programme. Initial one-day training sessions were held for around 20 people who included area managers and nominees from their stores two sessions in the North and two in the South. Over the following three weeks these teams trained all the store personnel in their areas, with the system going live throughout WHSmiths 550 stores nationwide and on schedule.
And if any anomalies are found,Walker says he may now phone his colleague in another store to investigate what the differences might be. "Is he doing anything in his store that I am not doing? Or it could be that he has a regular bulk order, or is the problem that we are not replenishing stock in my store fast enough which might be flagging a personnel training need? This is information that enables me to take action, to better drive our overall performance," explains Walker. The impact of being able to recognise and make use of the various business levers can be soon grasped, says Walker. For example, most of the profit from the wide range of computer printer cartridges on sale, may be generated by sales of just six items. "Web-I allows me to identify these critical areas of my business.And for the first time I can see my stores performance compared to others and I can challenge other store managers on their performance." "This is a significant culture shift. Information from Web-I now forms the basis for most of the discussions at area monthly meetings. For example, the first thing we look at is receipts against targets and we can look at reasons for variations together. It also enables me to have similar conversations with my own people which can help me understand why, for
instance, the lady who looks after greetings cards in my store is selling so many cards and making so much money."
Unlocking the Power of People
From his area management perspective, Ian Rowley too recognises the impact. "It has shown the business that when you unlock the power of the store manager and their teams they can really influence sales and their interaction with customers.We can identify local tastes more easily, and meet them.We can also look more critically at promotions planned from the centre.Web-I gives store managers the ammunition they need to question planned promotions armed with real facts and ensure that everything passes the so what financial test," observes Rowley. The increased influence stores can exert on the centre was brought into sharp relief in Rowleys own area when he recognised that shredding machines were doing very well in several of his stores. Now virtually all the stores in the South West carry paper shredders and the office equipment range is being built up, even to the extent of introducing WHSmith-branded shredders.

"Web-I is giving me and my store managers a real handle on what the drivers of our businesses are. Its enabling us to challenge the business by reflecting what our customers want through a new understanding of figures and information.And yes, there is power in peer group pressure, but even more important is the fact that the stores are now talking the same language as the centre, that we are all more clearly focused on the same things, guided by the same information," Walker explains.

An Exceptional Future

Mark Leckie elaborates: "One of the reasons we partnered with MicroStrategy was because their the most advanced when it comes to true exception reporting. There is little point in having lots of data if you have to trawl through it to find anything interesting it is far more powerful if the system actually presents the valuable data to you. True exception reporting is one of our next key focus areas." Its a very real scenario as Rowley echoes: "Im actually in the leadership business and I get best results by encouraging people to do more of the right things. This sort of exception report would, for example, enable me to make an unplanned detour to a store and congratulate someone for doing something that has made a difference. That is incredibly powerful." "When we began this project, we knew that we had chosen the right business intelligence platform for our needs.Working with MicroStrategy has been a great experience allround," says Leckie. "We were thrilled by the fact that, from end-to-end, the deployment of this venture took less than six months and MicroStrategy provided us with some customised features to enable us to get optimum use out of the platform without affecting other WHSmith production systems."
Spotting Problems Quickly
Another group of people benefiting is WHSmiths Loss Prevention Group. Brett Betton, one of 12 Loss Prevention Specialists whose job is to help stores protect their profits by minimising unnecessary losses, explains: "Web-I enables me to better target resources and to be more proactive by seeing patterns building up faster.Very often the problem is an in-store process error which, thanks to the weekly reports using up-to-date information, we can now get on top of typically three months faster than we could before." He is particularly pleased that reports are continually being developed, and is looking forward to a new series of exception reports.

Copyright 2003 MicroStrategy, Inc.All Rights Reserved.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Historical Perspecrive:

AGRICULTURAL ROOTS

Grinders, Chippers, Shredders
BioCycle looks back at the development of size reduction systems that have helped to grow the organics diversion industry.
Rhodes Yepsen and Nora Goldstein
IZE reduction equipment is used on the front line of the organics recychng industry, processing wood, yard trimmings, agricultural waste, C&D debris and more into feedstocks for composting, mulch, biomass fuel, etc. Modern grinders, shredders and chippers are powerful and efficient, evolving from much smaller machines manufactured for various industries. The first tub grinders and stump grinders came out of the agricultural sector, whereas other companies approached the industry from the forestry or land clearing businesses, starting with delimber-debarkers and then W.H.O. invented the tub expanding into whole tree grinder in 1945 to process hay and alfalfa into feed more processing. Several common threads efficiently. emerged as interviews were conducted for this article: Many manufacturing companies that started in the 1940s and 1950s are led by family members of the founders; grinding and shredding concepts that went into original designs are still in use today, albeit with heavier duty components and bigger engines; and servicing customer requests led to many company entries into the organics recycling market. This historical perspective on the size reduction industry starts in the agricultural arena, then moves through forestry and land clearing. Company histories in each section are presented in chronological order.
W.H.O. Small grinders were often used in the 1940s for processing hay and alfalfa into feed. "My grandfather, Walter Henry Oberwortmann, invented the tub grinder back in 1945," says Jon Littler, grandson of W.H. Oberwortmann and President of W.H.O. Manufacturing. "He was gi'inding hay and alfalfa into feed meal using a small grinder, sacking it in 100-pound bags and shipping it to cities like St. Louis on the train." A desire to streamline this process led to the invention of the tub grinder with a rotating tub that feeds the hammermill. According to Littler, "Walt was looking for a more efficient way of grinding feed. Loading the small grinders with pitch forks was a slow process and a lot of work, so he invented the tub grinder as a way of speeding this process up." The first W.H.O. grinder was a model P12, and had between 150 and 175 HP. W.H.O. held a patent on the tub grinder from 1952 until 1969, leasing the right to manufacture to other companies. A customer request led to manufacturing a line of industrial wood waste grinders. "In 1980, a customer who processed walnuts asked for a grinder that could handle the walnut limbs." says Littler. "The style of the grinder was fine, hut it needed heavier steel and cylinders, since wood is harder on the equipment. It took about four years to perfect the modifications for the wood grinder." Vermeer: Vermeer Manufacturing Company also has its origins in 1940s agriculture, looking at ways to make operations more efficient. Gary Vermeer entered the manufacturing world in 1948, inventing a wagon hoist. "The wagon hoist had a cahle to lift the wagon, using gravity to unload the contents," says Jerry Roorda, Environmental Product Specialist for Vermeer. "Prior to that, material had to be scooped out by hand." Vermeer then developed a stump grinder, to remove stumps from farm fields. This process was labor intensive, and became more of an issue with the spread of Dutch Elm disease across the U.S., leaving large numbers of problematic stumps. "Gary Vermeer worked with local farmers to develop a PTO

JANUARY 2009

BIOCYCLE
[power take-offi stump grinder," says Roorda. "Initially this was a thrashing rotor mounted on the back of a tractor. However, innovation really came by accident the tractor was driven forward and backward to get the stump out, but during a test a farmer accidentally hit the brakes, causing the stump grinder to go sideways. It cut ahout five times faster, leading to a major innovation in the way the commercial stump grinder was developed." Vermeer is still family owned Gary's son Gary Vermeer and daughter Mary Andringa are co-CEOs. The third generation works for the company a.s well. Vermeer entered into the wood waste recycling industry in the 1980s, introducing a tub grinder. "Gary Vermeer was concerned with the safety of tub grinders, and the liability of thrown objects," recalls Roorda. "He decided that if the company couldn't design a safer tuh grinder, it wouldn't develop one at all. This was the birth of the two-piece thrown object restraint system, and later the rotor guard." DoppstadtUS: Werner Doppstadt, an agricultural company, was founded taken to a trade show for demonstration purposes, and somebody purchased it, leading them into manufacturing more grinders," adds Donnelly. After the high-speed grinder, Doppstadt introduced a trommel screen, followed by a slow-speed high-torque L:riIider in 1996. "There were other slow >\)vo grinders on the market in other industries, but ours was the first for the green waste and composting industry," observes Donnelly. "With fuel prices already high in tho mid 1990s, there was demand in Europe for the slow-speed grinder, which is more efficient and has less wear. It has a true direct drive, not a hydraulic drive, meaning there is a more efficient transfer of power, and thus higher fuel efficiency It also makes a coarse product, ideal for promoting aerohic conditions in the composting process." One challenge with a conventional direct drive is that it cannot reverse, meaning that if a contaminant becomes caught, it jams the machine. "Joseph Doppstadt adapted a breakaway, pressurized comb for single shaft," he says. "This allows material to
One of Vermeer's early equipmenf inventions wos a tractor mounted stump grinder to cleor farm fields.
in Germany in 1965. "Prior to that, the Doppstadts were agricultural contractors, taking equipment to local farms for soil processing etc.," explains Shane Donnelly, Sales Manger for DoppstadtUS. "Existing equipment was not up to their standai-ds, so they decided to design and huild a grinder for their own use." The first grinder was a 250-HP high-speed flail hammermill, tolerant of tramp metal "This initial Doppstadt grinder was

Sizes from 16 to 34 cu. yds.

Iljrj'/U-

" Food waste is very dense, so pre-processing it before it goes into the windrow is crucial. We were looking for Q machine that would enable us to size-reduce the corrugated cardboard and paper and blend it with the food scraps. After watching the ROTO-MIX horizontal mixer reduce the particle size as quickly us it does, 1 was impressed. Adciitionul advantages to the horizontal unit is that it can be loaded quickly and mixed faster than a vertical mixer"
Caria Cusfognero, President Ag Reqicle, Pittsburgh, PA
Offering the Best for the Compost Industry
f ilispostil units, Irailers from 362 to 572 cu. ft. ond trucks from 532 to 802 cu. ft.
Visit us at wvvw.rotomix.com
and watch the siaggtrt'd rotor in action. Dodge City, KS 67801 620-225-1142 Garlund Smith, Sales Cell 620-408-8330

JANUARY

Doppstadt introduced a highspeed grinder for the agricultural industry in 1965, which it continues to offer today (left).
pass through under normal conditions, but at a certain pressure, when contamination enters the grinder, the comb breaks away, allowing the problematic material to drop out; the grinder resumes operation once the material has been removed." DuraTech: Joe Anderson, a farmer and rancher in Woodworth, North Dakota, started J&J Manufacturing in 1966 to build tub grinders. He found that other grinders on the market were too large and expensive for the average farmer, so he sought to build one that would be a better fit for the agricultural industry. Later named Haybuster Manufacturing Company, the first model offered was a PTO tub grinder for processing hay, which ran off an 80or 100-HP tractor. The company was subsequently renamed DuraTech Industries International, Inc. Ownership remains in the Anderson family. "In the late 1970s and early 1980s, people were using hay machines for grinding other things, so we built several mills for grinding newspaper," says Al Goehring, DuraTech's Marketing Manager. "This was the start in the recycling market for Haybuster. There was a need for heavier, more durable grinders to handle green waste, etc., and throughout the 1980s, we increasingly focused on the development of an industrial line of products as the need for recycling and composting emerged." Everything on the original equipment had to be adapted in order to process wood, green waste and C&D. "Basically, we had to make everything heavier, and with more horsepower," explains Goehring. "Innovations for the grinder continue to come from the agricultural side though, such as putting on electronic governors, etc." CW Mill: In 1967, Clyde Wenger started CW Mill, a factory for making alfalfa pellets, using a homemade grinder. He started manufacturing grinders for sale in 1976. "These were stationary electric grinders for alfalfa

18 BIOCYCLE

pellet mills," says Tim Wenger, Clyde's son and President of CW Mill Equipment Co., Inc. "In 1978, we intro** ' duced a large portable diesel unit, and then a smaller tractor PTO model to compete with others on the market." Its move into heavier-duty grinders happened in the late 1980s, when CW Mill sold a grinder to Land Reclamation in Portland, Maine. "We
DuraTech manufactured its first tub grinder in 1966, sized to be more affordable for the averoge farmer.
had built them a stationary double hammermill tub to grind rolls of damaged paper from a nearby plant, and they asked us to design a heavy duty wood grinder so they could process a wider range of materials," recalls Wenger. "We basically doubled the size of everything on the hay grinder, which was already pretty thick. A vendor's salesman said that it was a monster machine, and since wood grinders were often called hogs, the name HogZilla was born." CW Mill continued to make larger HogZilla wood grinders, and then a customer complaint about the dry clutch not lasting long enough led the company to look for alternatives. "The rock crushing industry was using torque converters instead of clutches, which were tougher and gave better production and fuel economy," notes Wenger. "We redesigned our
grinder around the torque converter in 1993, introducing the TC series. Our business took off, because the organics recycling industry was willing to pay more for a tougher grinder, unlike the agricultural industry." Rotochopper: In 1982, Vince Hundt started Poplar Coulee Ridge (PCR) Inc. to import and market forestry equipment from Finland, including skidding winches and wood chippers, sized to handle wood lots on Midwestern farms. In the 1980s, recycling mandates were being passed, which led the company into manufacturing a machine that could process old newspapers. "I put together a John Deere hay baler, the wood chipper from Europe, and a sheet metal cyclone for a machine that could make farm-sized bales of chopped newspaper," says Vince Hundt of Rotochopper, Inc. "The PCR Newspaper Bedding System was an instant success, and led to a partnership with Fred Peltz to make bigger recycling equipment, sold under the name Rotochopper." Up until that time, Peltz had been manufacturing equipment for the turkey production industry. The first Rotochopper Newspaper Bedding System was introduced in 1990, and had a 30-HP electric motor on a newly designed paper chopper. In 1992, Rotochopper designed a machine specifically to grind wood pallets into boiler fuel, making a uniform particle size in one pass. This machine used a wide horizontal rotor that could take a whole pallet at one time. It also employed a closed grinding chamber design. "Then, in 1994, we introduced the MP-156, a 180-HP horizontal grinder that weighed 18,000 pounds," explains Hundt. "This was a huge leap forward for tbe industry, achieving particle size requirements that a tub

CW Mill 5tarted with stationary electric grinders in 1976 and added a PTO model in 1979.
grinder couldn't manage, and in a machine that addressed the safety concerns customers had with tub grinders." hi 1997 Rotochopper put an AutoBelt Drive (ABDI on its MC-166 grinder, a clutchless power transfer system. "Most large grinders at the time had friction clutches, just like a Model T," says Hundt. Rofochopper designed a grinder "The ABD replaced this specificolly for grinding pallets into clutch, which was prone boiler fuel in 1992. to failure, and one of the biggest maintenance problems in grinders. There are no complex parts it's all out in the open and very operator friendly. This is one of the most important features of the Rotochoppor grinder." Komptech USA: In 1987, Josef Heissenberger and Rudolf Pretzler started Heissenberger & Pretzler GmbH, an engineering firm in Austria for agricultural machinery. "In 1990, we designed a windrow turner for the treatment of waste streams in the agricultural industry," says Todd Dunderdale, Director of Sales for Komptech USA. "In 1992, we began manufacturing the windrow turners in house, to ensure a higher degree of quality control, and marketed them as the Komptech Topturn." Komptech's entry into the grinder industry came through its involvement in organics recycling and composting. "Our Crambo filled
tor grinding green w a t e and wood

COMPOSTING FLEXIBILITY

, , , ,. , Komptech s Crombo wos designed
3 void in the market, because i t was de^Sned specifically to

j /l i J.

grmd green waste and wood for large-scale commercial composting facilities," explains Dunderdale. "This makes our equipment different from machines that were developed from other industries tofitthe organics recycling market, Although there were other low-speed, hightorque grinders on the market in Europe, they were based on processing MSW and were more volume reducers. The Crambo, on the other hand, has a dual shaft designed to aggressively grab wood, and easily changeable screens to make a uniform product." One of the main influences for innovations with Komptech has been the rules and regulations in Europe, e.g., noise requirements and landfill bans, along with high fuel prices. "This has led our equipment to be compact and efficient, using torque instead of massive amounts of horsepower." he adds. "We also designed our machines to be modular, so that owners can easily change the chassis of any machine. For instance, a Crambo mounted on a trailer chassis can be unbolted and reattached to a chassis with tracks, making it a very versatile machine."
otiorge-sclb composting facilities.

M90ELSOOC

Use our attachments and self-propelled ' transportable units for your composting, dewatering or bioremediation projects.

BROWN BEAR CORPORATION

PO Box 29 Coining, Iowa Phone (641)322-4220 Fax (641)322-3527 www.brownbearcorp.com
bark," notes Lon Morey, Norval's son and President of Morbark, Inc. "I also saw demand for recycling wood debris into other markets such as compost and mulch to be just as valuable for the waste management solutions provided." Morbark expanded into the hand-fed chipper market using the same technology, but on a smaller scale. "The introduction of the hydraulic feed wheel with the safety control bar on hand-fed chippers revolutionized that industry," explains Foote. "It made feeding a chipper much safer than ever before." In the late 1980s, land clearing customers asked Morbark to develop a machine to process stumps. "The disposal costs at local landfills were escalating and some landfills even refused to accept stumps," Foote recalls. In 1990, Morbark introduced the Waste Recycler, a 650-HP portable machine capable of processing stumps through an 8-foot diameter grinding disc. "This was our introduction into the emerging green waste recycling and mulch market that we understand today," he adds. "Morbark's strength has always been that its roots were in forestry and sawmill businesses as opposed to agricultural applications. We Morbark introduced an industrial tub understand the demands of processing grinder in the early 1990s, adding to its wood on equipment longevity." line of forestry equipment. West Salem: Founded in 1947, West prototype debarker. After numerous Salem Machinery Co. traces its roots challenges, the Morbark Portable De- back to Carl Gerlinger, Sr., who emibarker Company was founded. "That grated to Oregon at the tum of the 20^^ post peeler was built primarily for century. He was a machinist by trade ranchers and farmers using cedar who was very familiar with steam powposts," says John Foote, Morbark's Vice er. "He did a lot of work for the railPresident of Sales, After the post peel- roads and some of the logging operaer, Morbark started building other tions that used steam power," says sawmill equipment such as chippers Mark Lyman, current President of West Salem and Gerlinger's great and screens. During the 1970s, continues Foote, grandson. "There was an industrial acMichigan was faced with the Dutch Elm cident when Carl was in his mid-20s, disease. "Huge Elm trees were dying and he lost an arm so he was no longer and municipalities had no way to dis- able to work as a machinist. He started pose of these trees other than burning a small business in Dallas, Oregon, and them. In 1971, Morbark was the first eventually started a number of compacompany to develop tbe portable whole nies throughout the state, all related to tree chipper. This was really our intro- the metal trades and generally associduction into recycling and waste man- ated with manufacturing. West Salem agement because it was our first size re- was one of his business offspring." In the early 1960s, the company beduction piece of equipment. Since we utilized our sawmill chipper on these gan building waste wood chippers for portable whole tree chippers, pulp mills the sawmill industry in the Pacific soon discovered that in-woods chipping Northwest. From there, and through the could produce a product for their pulp- 1960s and 1970s, West Salem grew and ing and wood energy applications." This did quite well servicing sawmills. "Our led Norval Morey to become a strong ad- line included chippers, vibrating conveyors, chip screen, disc screens and vocate for wood energy. "My father showed me over 30 years bark hogs," says Lyman. "But when the ago that wood energy was the right 1980s hit, it became a brutal time for the thing to do for our country and for Mor- sawmill industry. Interest rates jumped

FORESTRY ROOTS

Morbark: After serving in World War II, Norval K. Morey returned to Michigan where he and his brother started a business harvesting and selling cedar timber. A chance meeting with Robert Baker ahout a decade later laid the groundwork for what today is Morbark, Inc. Baker had a scale model ofa machine designed to peel bark from pulpwood logs, a task traditionally done by hand, but didn't have the capital to manufacture the machine. Through the winter of 1957-58, Baker and the Moreys worked to develop a full-scale
Ron Lyman, West Salem's CEO (right), and the 4040B vertical-feed grinder that wa5 manufactured for NEED Recycling in 1990.
up to 16 to 17 percent to crush inflation, and there was a crash in the housing industry. New machinery sales to sawmills went to zero." Lyman joined the company in 1983. His goal was to diversify West Salem's products and markets, which is a continuing theme today, he notes. "Our first diversification was throughout the wood products industry. We sold equipment to particle board plants, medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plants, the paper mill industry and to biomass power plants. As we moved into new markets, we identified new applications, e.g., we expanded into our shredder and hammermill lines for the fine grind, especially for the particle board and MDF industry." Another development for West Salem has been to supply more than just a grinder, he adds. "We are a systems provider at this point, using more of a turnkey type approach. We can supply a complete machinery package tbat delivers a specifically sized product in an efficient manner." Having been in the industry for so many decades, the company is tapping into tbe resurgence in biomass power. "We can service the biggest plants in the world, with grinders up to 1,500 HP," says Ljmian. Bandit: Bandit Industries, Inc, started in 1983 witb the introduction of the Model 100 Brush Bandit chipper, "Mike Morey, Sr. introduced the original 12-inch capacity hand fed chipper," recalls Jerry Morey, Bandit's President, who joined the company in 1987. "It was targeted mainly for the tree care industry, including utility companies, parks and recreation departments and tree service firms. Prior to introducing the Model 100, chippers for that application were simple drum cbippers. Bandit incorporated a feed system that would collapse and crush the limbs, eliminating t,he need to trim everything prior to chipping."

JANTIAHY 2009

In 1989-1990, Bandit developed whole tree chippers designed for processing land clearing waste and larger diameter materials at landfills. "We introduced the first whole tree chipper that was self-propelled," says Morey. "'The chipper could be taken to the trees, versus having to forward that material to a central spot when clearing." The machine became popular for clearing rights of ways, such as for gas and oil pipelines. "Back then, most operators just blew the chips back onto the ground," he adds. "In this day and age, the whole system is changing as people want to collect what they clear for biomass fuel."
MANUFACTURINQ PORTABLE SHAKER SCREENS, TROMMEL SCREENS & STAR SCREENS
SCREEN USA, INC 770-433-2440
Bandit founder Mike Morey, Sr. (left) introduced the Model 100 Brush Bandit chipper in 1983 for the tree care industry.

177Z CORN RDAD

SMYRNA, GA

WWW.SCREENUSA.NET

AAARK YOUR CALENDAR T O D A Y I
Announcing The 9th Annual BioCycle Conference On:
In the mid-1990s. Bandit introduced the Beast Recycler, one of the first horizontal grinders on the market. "Our pross is uniquely different," according to Morey. "We use a cutter mill that is very versatile and easy to change to a different style of cutting, e.g., chip, split, grind or just hog up. A set of teeth can be changed in 30 minutes." Three years ago. Bandit expanded its line of horizontal whole tree chippers to service the biomass energy industry. Fuel source processors or the biomass facilities can modify the chipper to meet the needs of their particular system, e.g., chunkier material versus a chip versus ground wood. "We have a number of teeth available that gets them the fuel product they want," says Morey. "We are selling a lot of chippers to Europe and into Canada."

UND CLEARING

REnEwablE Energy Fram arqanics Recycling
October 19,20,21,2009 Minneapolis, Minnesota Ramada Mall of America
BIGGRS CDDIEESTIDI BIDFUELS CDMPOST
on xhibits www.b1ocycle.net

EiluPRDDUCT!

Peterson: In the 1950s Wilbur Peterson & Sons was a heavy construction company, clearing land and building

BroCYCLE

610-967-4135

JANUARY 2009 21

TOOLS o r

THE TRADE

Peterson's first horizontal grinder was introduced in 1990 to safely process bark into hog fuel.
roads up and down the West Coast. A major market was land clearing for flood control dams along the south Willamette River area in Oregon. "For instance, one project was clearing 100 miles or so for a right of way, cutting down lodge pole pines in eastern Oregon," says Dave Benton, Marketing Manager for Peterson Pacific Corp. "The trees were too small for sawlogs, so they purchased a chipper and sold the wood to hog fuel markets. Peterson realized that ifthe bark could be taken off before chipping in the field, it could be sold as clean pulp wood, at a higher value." The initial expansion into manufacturing was to develop equipment to suit Peterson's land clearing and construction needs. The first machine was a chain flail delimber-debarker that could sit behind the chipper. It used short lengths of chain on a shaft that acted like a wire brush, beating the bark off. "The delimber-debarker took small diameter 'waste' trees and made them into a high value product, increasing the amount of useable fiber per acre," explains Benton. "Other companies heard about the device and wanted them, which led Neil Peterson, Wilbur's son, to start the manufacturing business in tbe mid 1980s." Peterson's first commercial delimber-debarker was sold in 1987. The machine opened up a new market niche for the company. "In thefield,the delimber-debarker produced a lot of bark," says Benton. "Operators were putting the bark into tub grinders and selling it as hog fuel, but tub grinders can be very dangerous, throwing material when iey get close to empty." There was a need for a grinder that could produce tbe same material more safely. Around 1990, a customer gave Neil Peterson a sketch of grinder on a scrap of paper, which became the basis for the horizontal grinder.

22 BIOCYCLE

A major innovation for Peterson's horizontal grinder was the development of an upturn rotor in the mid 1990s. "We redesigned the grinder chamber itself, changing the direction of the rotor, as well as switching to an open-hopper, with a drive chain pulling continuously," explains Benton. "The standard horiS zontal grinder has a downward ' ' ' swinging rotor, which moves against , -^ a fixed anvil. Our redesign has the.'' rotor impact wood on the upstroke, breaking it up before it hits the anvil. This redesign increased the efficiency and reduced the number offines,making our horizontal grinders competitive with the tub grinder on a horsepower to production basis." Diamond Z: Marty Zehr and his father founded Diamond Z Manufacturing in 1989, after 20 years of using bay grinders to make cattle feed. "The
troduced a fixed hammer for increased productivity, and used hydraulics instead of chains." CBI: Anders Ragnarsson came to the U.S. from Sweden in 1983 and started a land clearing business. Although clearing land was the company's primary service, Ragnarsson recognized that wood waste produced could be converted into a useable product, such as biomass fuel. The existing equipment didn't seem rugged and efficient enough for the job. so in 1988 he and his wife Amber Bell founded Continental Biomass Industries, Inc. (CBI). Over the next two years, the company worked to engineer a durable grinder that would turn wood waste into a biofuel, resulting in the 1990 release of the Grizzly Mill. "This was a stationary grinder that operated at a lower rpm than a traditional hammermill hog, using a patented offset-helix, high-inertia, solid-steel rotor that was easy to maintain, had low power consumption and was tolerant to rock and steel contamination," explains Aaron Benway, CBI's Northeast Regional Sales Manager. Still a standard CBI product today, the first Grizzly Mills were located at sawmills, pulp mills and stand-alone energy plants. They were used to grind wood waste into boiler fuel for cogeneration (to produce heat and electricity). In 1991, the Grizzly Mill became the basis for CBI's first mobile grinder, the RoadMill. In 1995, CBI developed a new style of horizontal-feed wood Diamond Z's industrial tub grinder grinders, called Magnum Force. "Albecame successful after Hurricane though a lot had to be invented for the Andrew in 1992. move into horizontal grinders, there was Zehrs were always modifying and fix- some carry over too," explains Benway. ing the grinders, so they made their "One of the major innovations in our earown," says Pat Crawford, Vice Presi- ly grinders was the clamshell opening, dent of Products at Diamond Z. "People which provides easy access to the rotor saw it and were impressed, and asked and screen for quick maintenance and them to make a grinder for the wood repairs. This feature remains unique to grinding industry. In 1989 they made CBI, and was transferable to our horithe Diamond Z Model 1463, a 90,000- zontal grinders." pound tub grinder for stumps with 750 HP. This was the largest on the market." The company went national in 1990, and became a success in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew, getting involved with disaster debris cleanup. Modifications made to the tub grinder to service the wood grinding industry included replaceable hammer tips. "Hammermills were all swing hammers at that point, antl they would break down and need be fixed at the end of a full day," says Crawford. "They were tired of working all day, welding all night, so they CBI introduced its Magnum Force bolted on replaceable tips. Then they in- horizontal grinder in 1995.