Go Fast Manufacturing, under new ownership since early 2015, has been focusing on building the company’s reputation, by prioritizing customer support and product reliability.
Dan Berken, president, who became involved with the company in late 2014 before finalizing the purchase, said those are very important aspects of the business under his leadership. “We’re here to provide customer service for any of our customers’ needs,” he said. “We’re also keeping parts on hand for the existing equipment lines.”
The company’s dedusters, for example, feature steel brushes that wear down over time, and the band saws have guide blocks that must be replaced periodically. Go Fast keeps these and other replacement parts well stocked and ready to ship out the same day to customers in the sawmill, pallet and container industries all over the country.
In addition to having parts ready at a moment’s notice, Go Fast also works closely with its customers to develop solutions to challenging problems. This year it built a new 103 Deduster to help a new customer in Ohio which was having a problem with dust freezing to boards, but needed a deduster that could handle longer lengths.
“In Ohio here, we deal with a few months of frozen wood and sawdust so we have a big sticking issue so I wanted to work with a company that had steel-brush construction on their deduster,” said TJ Harvey, operations manager at Hope Timber Pallet and Recycling Inc. in Newark, Ohio. “I found these guys in Wisconsin where it’s even colder than here,” he said.
Most companies do not build dedusters with steel brushes, he explained; they have to be added on as an additional component. Also, Harvey said he wanted a deduster with a side-sweeping design, which wouldn’t kick dust back on the boards as they went through, like his old machine.
At that time, he was having speed problems with his old deduster and also issues with it not fully removing dust. “I was also constantly having to remove the deduster from the ends of the resaw because it couldn’t handle the lengths,” said Harvey.
Even worse, he was beginning to get complaints from customers who were unhappy about dust on their products after the wood thawed.
After contacting Go Fast, Harvey found the supplier’s turnaround time to be remarkable. Go Fast customized a machine for him that would handle 96" boards and had it in his plant ready to install in about three weeks. “They were great to work with, and they custom-built me a machine,” Harvey said. “I run it every day. It’s a total tank of a machine and it’s done a great job. I’m very happy with it.”
“It’s important to have a good deduster because if the deduster is not working, it puts a screeching halt to your line,” said Kevin Wieser, Go Fast’s design and development manager. That’s because it’s usually toward the end of the resaw line, right before the stacker.
The company’s standard model was about 79" long, before designing the longer machine for Hope Timber. “We extended the frame, hopper and belt lengths, and the infeed fences to make them a longer model.”
“It was great working with them,” Wieser said of Hope Timber, explaining that Go Fast is now finding there is also a demand elsewhere for the longer deduster model. “We’re selling quite a few of them.”
Berken believes having a good handle on customer needs and product performance is key to Go Fast’s future success. He should know since he has a background in the sawmill business, and runs several Go Fast lines himself at his own cut-stock plant. This lets him see the equipment in action on a regular basis, and also helps the company to come up with innovative ideas.
For more information, call 800/854-7439 or visit www.gofastmfg.com
