Business View Magazine | August 2019

78 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 Groenweghe says. “Right now, it’s cold. Water treatment is one of our biggest, by far, now. That could be ozone generators that disinfect water, or Zero Liquid Discharge systems that go into the power industry. (Zero Liquid Discharge is an advanced treatment process in which almost all wastewater from various industrial processes is treated and reused, therefore leaving behind zero effluent or liquid discharge.)” Senior Project Manager, Josh Thatch, adds that having a diverse supplier network is also a key to staying competitive. “Over the years, we have dealt mostly with local distributors for material supply. But eight years ago, the metal industry had a little bit of a slow time,” he explains. “During that period, the local suppliers and distributors didn’t stock nearly as much material because of the volatility of the industry. So, we took some time to research and develop some relationships directly with mills that supply the different alloys that we use. We’ve dealt directly with Allegheny Ludlum, Outokumpu, ArcelorMittal - those are the main ones. We’ve also worked with some international suppliers in Korea and Japan. We’ve been as diversified as possible to help us be as competitive as we can in the industry.” Groenweghe believes that the Harris companies have several competitive advantages across all the sectors they serve. “Our competitive edge is that we can build very large equipment,” he notes. “Many manufacturers can’t. We have, in one bay, a hundred-ton lifting capacity and we also have four jets that can augment that lift capacity by quite a bit more. We do almost everything in house – all the tube sheet drilling, machining, forming, burning. We can turn up to a 16.5 foot diameter and drill up to 13’8” under gantry. And the reason that’s important is because we’re keeping everything under one roof so we have control over it. That allows us not to be held hostage by our suppliers or vendors like a lot of other companies are because they haven’t invested in the equipment.” Going forward, Groenweghe says that keeping the Harris Manufacturing facility busy is a major priority. “We want to expand that facility P.O. BOX 948 BLACKWELL, OK 74631 800-421-9830 SALES@LABOILER.COM WWW.LABOILER.COM ...... TANK HEADS • MANHOLES HANDHOLES • HINGED CLOSURES WELD CAPS • FLANGED & FLUED HEADS CARBON & STAINLESS ......