Samantha Taylor: Welcome to the Amigo CartCast, the podcast where we roll through the ins and outs of material handling with amigo cards. I’m your host, Samantha Taylor, here with my co-host Scott Chappell, and we’re on a mission to find a better way for material handling.

Scott Chappell: Thank you, Samantha. Each episode we’ll explore the innovative features, success stories and the endless possibilities that Amigo material handling carts bring to the table. Let’s roll into a world of efficiency, innovation and endless possibilities. This is the Amigo CartCast.

Samantha Taylor: Welcome to this episode of the Amigo CartCast. We’re going to reverse it again and start with how we typically end our episodes by sharing a story of how we’ve been able to help improve lives and efficiency through mobility. Today we are going to talk about Cotterman Company, who is a ladder manufacturer in Michigan.

Scott Chappell: It’s important to say where in Michigan, they’re in the Thumb.

Samantha Taylor: In the Thumb.

Scott Chappell: They’re in the Thumb, almost on Lake Huron.

Samantha Taylor: And what I think is relatable to this is everybody at some point in their life has probably used a ladder, seen a ladder, heard of a ladder. So while we’re talking about these stories today, just picture a ladder.

Scott Chappell: This is kind of like an uplifting episode.

Samantha Taylor: You’ve got jokes! I like it. Okay. So at this facility, it’s close to 300,000 square feet walking from one end of Cotterman Company’s main manufacturing to the next.

Scott Chappell: That’s a lot of walking.

Samantha Taylor: A lot of walking. It’s about a quarter of a mile in length.

Scott Chappell: How many miles do people walk a day there?

Samantha Taylor: Well, if you’d like to read more, we have a case study which dives into all the details of this customer.

Scott Chappell: That’s a deep dive!

Samantha Taylor: A deep dive. And what it says is that it’s almost five miles in an eight hour shift. I’m tired just reading this.

Scott Chappell: That’s a long way.

Samantha Taylor: One way to get your steps in.

Scott Chappell: So?

Samantha Taylor: So, Scott, I would love for you to share how Cotterman is using our products and how we’ve been able to help improve efficiency in their facility.

Scott Chappell: So we showed up and did a demonstration with Cotterman Company. And at the time, once again, we didn’t really know what the application was. We knew of a gentleman there that is in continuous improvement. So it was basically, “Hey, we’ve got some products we’d like you to see. We think you might be able to use them.” So once we showed up and we unloaded their products and did the demo on our infamous Amigo Road Show, we quickly realized that they wanted to use the first product they bought for their shipping and receiving person.

And I actually pulled up the van into that area and UPS just dropped it off — their packages — and it was on a pallet. And this gentleman basically used a fork truck to unload this pallet. Upon being there and doing the demonstration with our Dex Pro+, they soon realized that that model was a lot easier to use than the fork truck.

So it was upon showing up that we noticed they were moving their shipping and receiving boxes on a pallet with a fork truck. So once we showed our Dex Pro+ and how it operated in their mind, it became a simple solution. It took the gentleman that was on the fork truck up and down at every stop. Now he just stands on and off, which is very, very simple.

If you’ve seen our products, you’re basically on you’re off within a matter of seconds. It also allowed them to take a larger product that was in more congested areas and make it a safer situation there as well. As well as because our Dex Pro+ is pretty maneuverable, we were able to maneuver in and out of tighter spaces.

So on the first application, the first product they purchased that was to help move products that are coming in, basically shipping and receiving products throughout their facility.

Samantha Taylor: I love that you share that story in detail because we’ve done previous episodes about rightsizing your fleet and how our Amigo products make sense to help improve efficiencies. And I think that’s the perfect example you need fork trucks. Absolutely. But maybe for those smaller items or in tighter, more narrow areas, it makes sense to have something a little bit smaller where that’s where the Amigo product is fits in perfectly.

Scott Chappell: No, and 100%, Samantha. And honestly, it wasn’t like when we went there, that’s what we planned on doing. A lot of these demonstrations we do on the Amigo Roadshow once you get there is once you see what they’re looking to do.

Samantha Taylor: Which I feel like is a perfect segue way because you just said their first product, that’s what they used it for. So I’m assuming there’s a sequel and they purchased again!

Scott Chappell: So there is a sequel and we really… we’re really excited when we have repeat customers and we have a lot of repeat customers because think about it this way they’ve never seen it. They don’t know they need it. Then they find out, then they do look at it. They find out they need it and then they buy more.

So in the second situation with them, it was not a shipping receiving application, it was a maintenance application. So not only did they see how the Dex Pro+ worked for the shipping and receiving boxes and that throughout their facility, same 3000 square foot facility, they then wondered how could they help their maintenance folks get more efficient, become more efficient.

And in this particular case they wanted to use it for maintenance folks. So once again, they bought our Dex Pro+ that has a detachable trailer. And now in that same 300,000 square feet, that maintenance person can put boxes, they can put motors, they can put things they’re repairing, they can put tools, everything on there. They may have purchased a shelf on this second one because what a shelf does is you put it in the right height and then all of a sudden it becomes a workstation.

So now you’re not bending over, you’re not having to take it back to the shop, you’re fixing it on site. But the second machine now has become a maintenance solution for them. And now it allows those maintenance folks to get around that 300,000 square foot more efficient and also repair things on it as well. So with me explaining what they did with the first and second one, Samantha, I’m sure there’s something in our case study that they reference.

Samantha Taylor: There is absolutely, and what they say is “with the Amigo Dex Pro+, Cotterman Company implemented a solution that not only helped to reduce operational costs but provided a significant functional advantage. The company’s delivery person can now more easily execute his daily requirements using the Dex Pro+ versus a forklift and is a more satisfied employee as a result.”

Scott Chappell: I think between our description of going there and doing the demonstration and then the information off our case studies, which you can find in our website, I just think it’s a proper… it’s a testimonial for us, what we’ve been saying on all these episodes, and Cotterman Company says this is that it improves employee satisfaction, it improved safety, it increased efficiency.

I mean, not that we’re here to tell you– we do tell you all these things and all of our podcasts.

Samantha Taylor: Don’t take it from us.

Scott Chappell: But yeah, don’t take it from us because that’s exactly what they said. And the beautiful thing about this is we had no idea how they were going to use this before we demoed. So we went in basically blind at that point.

Samantha Taylor: Thank you, Scott, for sharing that information and taking a look at how we’ve been able to provide efficiency and from a customer’s perspective of what we’re able to do. For anyone who wants to read the full case study and information or look at other applications we have listed on our website at myamigo.com/industrial. Until next time, keep it rolling.

And that wraps up another episode of the Amigo CartCast We hope you enjoy this exploration into finding a better way for material handling with Amigo carts. Be sure to subscribe as well as go to myamigo.com/podcast to see pictures and videos mentioned in today’s episode.

Scott Chappell: Thank you for tuning in. And until next time, keep rolling with Amigo.

Samantha Taylor: Until next time.

Scott Chappell: Keep it rolling.

Samantha Taylor: Keep it rolling.