Duane Carley, Chris Raemisch and Tim Polkinghorn
Forté Products, LLC, located in Argyle, WI, is the exclusive manufacturer of many integrated components and “eggcessories” for the Big Green Egg smoker and grill. After the abrupt closing of their long-time powder coating partner, Forte’ Products found themselves working with another powder coater that was having difficulty keeping up with their high volume of parts and strict quality standards. Although Forté hadn’t been a regular customer of All-Color’s for nearly ten years, Tim Polkinghorn and Duane Carley, co-owners of Forté Products, were aware of our continuous growth and recent expansion. So when they contacted us for help, they knew that even though transferring this work would be an “eggstreme” undertaking for both parties, it was entirely possible. The sheer volume of parts would require All-Color to figure out a way to squeeze an additional 30-35 hours of work a week into an already full and growing schedule.
Robbie Pasarilla powder coating Forté bands
In order to accommodate the increase in business, All-Color would need to start a second shift, something that was last in place before the Great Recession. After many discussions between various team members from both companies, All-Color began the process of implementing a second shift.
This new group of employees worked side-by-side with All-Color’s proven and experienced first shift to acquire the training and support needed to run second shift. All-Color also hired an engineering intern to design and make new racking for all the parts.
Bending bands for the Big Green Egg
This proved to be “eggstremely” beneficial in streamlining the production process and improving efficiency. Our next obstacle was to determine how to move the large volume of parts between the two companies. Neither company was well equipped to handle this with their current fleets. This would be resolved by Forté purchasing two trailers that would be swapped between the two locations a few times a week using a tractor and drivers provided by long-time partner Wisco Industries, Inc.
The first several months of this new endeavor have been very successful. “This is an excellent example of companies working together to obtain a common goal,” says Duane Carley of Forté Products. “We look forward to a long and prosperous partnership.
