Small Manufacturer Builds Large, Custom Equipment

2-D drawings are a thing of the past for Sparta Innovations’ customers. The company’s new app allows customers to view and interact with 3-D equipment renderings.

Ancient Greek history tells of a handful of warriors from the city of Sparta who used their superb skills, discipline, and ingenuity to defeat armies outnumbering them many times over. Since 2008 a much different Sparta has been using innovations and a systematic, disciplined approach to win construction and demolition (C&D) recycling equipment contracts when pitted against competitors with more employees and more industry experience.

About the same time that the historical fantasy film "300" depicting the victory of the small league of Spartans in the battle of Thermopylae captured box office success, Bruno Lagacé was changing the name of his Notre-Dame, New Brunswick, company to Sparta™ Innovations and leading the charge to brand his equipment.

Lagacé explained the connection: "We are a small company competing with larger players, but with our rigorous professional approach, we are winning the battles."

Changing Ranks

When Lagacé and a partner took ownership of the company on Jan. 1, 2007, the facility was operating under the name Allain Equipment Manufacturing Ltd. It was known for its production of fire trucks, floating docks, and wood furnaces and was respected as a job shop providing fabrication and welding services for maritime region farmers. The purchase was made with the understanding that the fabrication capabilities and company infrastructure would provide the foundation for producing a different line of equipment.

Within two years, the company completed its segue from the Allain product mix to the Sparta equipment produced today. The sign at the end of the drive leading up to several structures displays the helmeted Sparta Innovations logo, but one building is still identified as the Allain Equipment Building as dedication to the previous owner, Jean-Marie Allain. In 2009 Lagacé became sole owner. "My partner wanted to do something else and I wanted to take Sparta to a different level. We are building momentum. We have a way of approaching sales and marketing that is different."

Sparta's custom C&D recycling systems can include a broad mix and any number of diverse components including apron feeders; finger screens, trommels, and star screens; sorting stations; density separators; magnets; eddy currents; grinders; crushers; and balers. The length of a typical line falls a little shy of 300 feet. Debris bypassing landfills via Sparta equipment comprises aggregates, bricks, rocks, concrete, wood, metal, gypsum, and plastics, and sizes are from large, bulky pieces to small metal material removed by magnets.

But the product line doesn't stop there. Sparta engineering and manufacturing produces equipment that handles and processes mulch, peat moss, wood products, and compost for the organic industry. The company designed, fabricated, and equipped a series of portable security units used to screen attendees who entered the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics at remote sites. Common traits of Sparta projects are customization and, often, tight delivery schedules.

Market Intelligence

Lagacé approaches marketing from an informed perspective. He knows the demographics and preferences of his customers, who are located throughout the U.S. and Canada. His services and brand promotions are tailored accordingly. Every customer is potentially big and nonrecurrent, and that profile defines Sparta's business model.

"If we get a sale, it's usually $200,000 to $1 million plus. It's all or zero. Once the sale is made, they have the equipment for 10 to 15 years. Our business is not to have return customers," Lagacé said.

Sparta is heavy on engineering talent. Out of a staff of 50, eight are engineers in positions from sales to design to customer service to president.

Sparta Innovations handles delivery and on-site assembly of its own systems and frequently fits them with existing production lines. Photo courtesy of Sparta Innovations.

"We know that many of our customers don't have all the skills or the time to stop what they are doing to implement or fabricate a recycling system, so we take the entire project off the customer's desks and put it on ours. We manage the project by dealing with their architects, civil engineers, every entity involved. The customer has an open channel to us, receives project reports and Gantt charts, and they know what we are doing for them day by day.

"We also mix a little business expertise into our relationship and help them create a business plan to go with the equipment... even without a commitment from them."

Champions and Technology

Lagacé's rigorous dedication to strategic customer relationship management (CRM) started with making sure he had the right direct-sales people in place. They understand the technical aspects of the complex systems designed at Sparta.

"We wanted a champion sales system, not one champion who does a lot of sales and then leaves. Our salespeople have been groomed and integrated into the value of the company. They have the right values, attitudes, and skills.

"We recently did a team-building exercise and spent time talking about how we could be better. What I realized from that exercise is that every single person was stronger at what they were doing than I was at what they were doing. All the way down to the youngest guys welding downstairs, they are dedicated to success.

"When I bought the company, a lot of people didn't feel comfortable and left because we weren't building fire trucks anymore. Today we have a talented, strong-valued team, and we are mindful to take the right actions and put the right things in place to keep our integrity through the peaks and valleys of manufacturing."

Lagacé also relies heavily on new technology for his marketing and customer communications. The company has developed an app using augmented reality (AR) technology that allows customers to see and interact with a 3-D model of their equipment during its design using an iPad®, iPhone®, or other Apple® equipment.

"Most of our customers are not engineers, so it is not easy for them to picture a system when looking at 2-D drawings. So we no longer do 2-D drawings for our customers. We create 3-D renderings. The customer can virtually move around the structure and see where the loader comes in, if there is enough space built into the picking station, or if the system allows enough room for the number of people who will be sorting, and help us create the best system for them.

"We put a flat layout on the table as a marker then use a camera to zoom in, move around, and even take pictures as we explain the system. Using our app, they don't have to work hard to see what a system that has 35 conveyors, a grinder, screeners, and picking stations will look like on their own floor."

Once a system has been purchased, the same technology provides 3-D tools for maintenance, displaying step-by-step, color-coded directions, including what tools are needed to work on a system component. "Say a customer has a finger screen and he has to tighten a belt. The device knows where and how big the finger screen is, so the app knows what motor to display and what sequence of maintenance steps to show."

A welder works on a protective cage that will be part of a catwalk structure on a C&D recycling system.

Building Systems

The majority of parts going into Sparta equipment are fabricated in the main building. Three suppliers in the maritime region deliver 3⁄16- to ½-in. steel at the far end of the building. An ESAB high-definition plasma table, positioned across from receiving, is the workhorse that cuts parts that "percolate towards the bays," flowing through cutting, bending, punching, milling and welding processes. Welders and assemblers in six bays assemble the equipment. Controls, electrical components, rubber oscillatory dampers, and large quantities of machined parts are outsourced on a just-in-time basis.

Eliminating small jobs that would interrupt a fabricating process and honing in on the Sparta offerings keep the production flow smooth. But as in most shops, there is a bottleneck. At Sparta it is in shotblasting and painting.

"We'd like to improve our finishing process flow. Right now those proc-esses are in a separate building on the other side of the yard. We would like a change to enable us to apply more paint a day. My employees have taken the initiative to explore this issue, and we know our options," said Lagacé.

Lagacé views his company as having a small amount of capacity compared to the C&D industry's growing need for recycling equipment. He expects to capture a larger percentage of the market as landfills reach the end of their lives, more legislation affects C&D debris disposal, and financial incentives for recyclers increase. Then there is what appears to be a slow but steady upward trend in the construction industry.

Like the ancient Spartans, the small company of Sparta has developed tactics to gain ground and position itself for future success. Said Lagacé, "We're lean and mean. The size of our company and the right strategies have allowed us to navigate through the recession. Our people, efficiencies, and technology give us an edge."

www.spartaway.com

Photos, unless otherwise noted, by Marty Melanson, InColor Photographics.

Leather arm guards, spears, and swords from the movie “300” adorn the customized motorcycle that greets visitors when they enter the Sparta Innovations lobby.