SPEAKER_02 0:00

I'm Dan Van Orton, founder of Idea Run, and we're proud to be the official sponsors of the American Build Power podcast. Enjoy the episode, guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Hey, what's going on, guys? This is Jared and welcome back to another episode of America Builds Better. We are right in the heart of our Builder Show series. If you guys are interested in coming and hanging out with us in York, Pennsylvania, we will be there June the 10th and the 11th at the post-frame rural plane builder show sponsored by Frame Building News and the team at Shieldwall Media. In the meantime, if you are interested in getting any assistance from ShieldWall, they are the leading publishers in the metal and construction industries for trade publications. So if you would like any of the trade magazines that you see here: Plane Builder, Rural Builder, Rollforming Magazine, Frame Building News, Metal Roofing, Roofing Elements, Garage, Shed, Carport Builder, Metal Builder, feel free to scan the QR code there. Check out ShieldWallMedia.com. As always, thank you to the team at ShieldWall for helping us out on America Builds Better and helping us build America better through publishing. The team over at Define SEO is helping you guys with SEO and website development. If you are in need of any assistance on your website, your marketing, anything at all, the team over at Define is happy to help you and we appreciate their assistance on the podcast as well. They are helping America build better through business development. I can tell you, I am really, really excited about what we've got today. We have got a special guest here. You know, I've been hyping up the trade show series uh we've been doing here. Uh looking forward to spending some time in York with some friends and different uh, you know, different suppliers and friends in the industry, right? This is a very special friend to us. Um, we've got Wayne Troyer from Accuform here today. And Accuform is one of the leading companies um really in the industry for any kind of uh coil up enders, hemmers, panel liners. I'm just gonna read them panel lines, uh perforators, shears, slit line, slitters, trim roll formers, uh, uncoilers, and wrappers. They do all the the uh they do all the equipment that's gonna help you build better buildings. So that's what we want to talk about today. So I'm gonna lead in this week. We're gonna bring Wayne in here in just a second, but I just want to tell you guys up front, we're right in the heart of the busy season. Get out in your communities and do something for somebody else that'll make you feel better. But in the meantime, get to selling the products that you sell, get to building the things that you build, and stay motivated because this time of the year is when we really need to be working hard so we can feed our families and take care of our friends. Wayne, I'm gonna bring you in now, brother. Wayne, how are you, man? It's good to have you on the podcast. Good to have you. So I gave you a little bit of a lead in there, but I definitely would like you to introduce yourself to the audience. Um, I was giving you a little bit of a a little bit of a uh introduction there, but I think you can probably do a better service for yourself.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Yeah, we we build all kinds of role forming equipment. We even do a lot of custom. And like Jared said, uh, if you have anything in the need in that line, feel free to contact us and at least get a quote on what you're looking for.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah, we definitely want to give you guys the platform here because Accuform is a big partner of the of the trade show coming up in York, and you guys are going to be there on site. Um, we be demonstrating anything or doing we have equipment there. I'm really not sure, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

We do not have any equipment there. We'll have a viewer running with pictures and we'll have brochures and so forth there.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

I would encourage everyone to check out accuforme equipment.com. They've got all the information on all the different products that they offer. And like Wayne said, they do custom applications as well. So if you are in the role forming, if you're in need of role forming equipment, accuform is really a company that we stand behind that is truly helping America build better through process and building component procurement. If you are looking for something like that, I would really encourage you to reach out to Wayne and his team at Accuform. You know, I really want to know a little bit more, Wayne, about Accuform. Can you tell me anything about how the business was started? Um, kind of the legacy, and you know, how you guys are moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Yes. Uh so the business was actually started in McBain, Michigan. The people that started it wanted to go in another direction. Uh our company was actually started in 1984 doing aftermarket parts for heavy equipment. And then in 2010, we purchased Accuform from the guys in Michigan. Okay. And since then, it's been longer for myself and everybody involved. You know, the role going from the other part of the company to the role forming part of it, it's been an experience. Uh, I feel we've come a long way from where we started to where we are now. Uh there's a lot of things going on. Like, for instance, Levi Miller was the owner, he purchased the company, and he's handed it over to his son Lee at this point. Uh it's from, you know, everything we do uh has hinged off the decisions we did from the start. From like for our dies, our roll tooling, for instance. We made the decision in the beginning to go with a D2 tool seal, a through hardened die that is like a 58 Rockwell hardeness to get longer wear life on our roll farmers. The other thing that is the company is based off it's Christian Bay's, our service, our quality. Uh everything is done in-house except for gearboxes, chains, rockets, small stuff like that. Uh gives us a mostly American-made machine, uh, which we strive for to get the quality out there and the service that the customer can have a machine that lasts for a long time.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

One of the things, one of the things that I was really fascinated to read on the website was that you guys are still using the first machine that you guys put into service after all these years. And I think that that speaks to the quality, right? I mean, there's so much, there's so much proliferation in the industry right now from outside players. And when you say mostly US made, I mean you guys are in Millersburg, Ohio. So you guys have a manufacturing facility in Millersburg. Um, you guys test the equipment, which I think is a very, very, you know, tell me a little bit about that. So when you build one of these role forming machines, you actually set it up and run. You know, do you run sheeting through it when you do that initial test process? When you say you you run the equipment, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 8:38

So when we set up the equipment, yes, we run it in our shop, we set it up with whatever they want, the power they want. We do have some coil supplies in-house that we get, and we will set it up with our equipment. If it is anything different than what we have in our facility, we ask the customer to bring in material, and we will run anywhere from five to ten pizzas to a couple thousand feet if that's what needs to be done for the customer. Uh when the machine leaves our facility, it is set up to whatever the customer wants to run.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Okay. And this is, you know, obviously for those in the industry who are somewhat new to this, you know, tell us a little bit more about role forming and like the way that that you see role forming, Wayne. Just give me your over-the-top. Because if I'm a contractor and I'm sitting and I'm listening or watching, you know, what's the major benefit to having a role forming machine of your own?

SPEAKER_00 9:46

So the first thing that comes to mind is the availability to run whatever length and style you want. Also uh the ability to form the same profile again and again. Not, you know, there is a thing out like a folder or a break. If you run it on a roll former versus that, your part will be always the same part over and over again. That's the nice part about having a rollformer. Your time that it takes to produce a part goes, you know, from I can't give you a time, exact time, but it goes way down. Do you run it through a roll former versus folding it? You always, and you can run any length you want. I mean, is it you know a five-foot piece or a 20-foot piece? Sure.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Yeah, I think that that's a huge advantage that you have, and and you know, the opportunity you guys do refurbishing on equipment too, as well, right? If someone has a roll former, you guys will do refurbishing services and things like that as well. We do. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Uh, and I don't know if you read the article in there from uh Ashes, uh not sure what it's called now. Up from the Ashes, yeah. Up from the Ashes, yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Yeah, yeah. For those of you who haven't seen it, um, it's actually featured in Rollforming Magazine. And again, if you guys are not getting Rollforming Magazine, um, contact the team at Shield Wall. Those are free and they're always a good read. But what Wayne is referring to is there was an article um in a roll forming magazine, and you can actually see it on their website. We'll link it here um so that you guys can see it, and we'll have it linked in the episode description as well below. But you know, basically they've taken a fire, a a highly devastated piece of equipment here and really brought it back to life and brought it you know back to full operation. And the title of the article is up from the ashes, and I'll tell you, it it looks like it was pretty well devastated. Did you get to see that one, Wayne, in person?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Um I didn't get to see, I got to see the equipment in person, yes. I wasn't out at the facility in person, but I got to see, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

I mean, it looks like it looks like it was pretty well destroyed from what I can see here, and it looks like it was resurrected.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Yeah, it was. I mean, we could save the mainframe, the dice being hardened, and the shafts we could save, but pretty well, everything else was replaced, but it was still a good benefit for them with the fire and everything, you know, at least salvaging that much.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Okay. So when you guys, do you guys do you guys have? I'm just looking at it and I just kind of want to run down it, you know, ag panel, ag panel perforators, um, coil up enders, combo panels, corners. Is there anything you guys don't do? And I say that facetiously, but I mean you guys do an awful lot of equipment out of your plant in Millersburg.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

There is a few things. We have gotten into some heavier materials, but there is quite a bit of like heavier gauge material that we don't get into. Okay. Uh the other thing that we don't get into is like high-speed machines. Okay. Okay. Uh, but as far as matching a profile, we do have an engineer that is semi-retired from the auto industry. Okay. So he is very good at what he does. And with doing role formers for the for the auto industry, this seems to be a very easy project for him to do.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Okay. And again, you know, I want to stress, you know, checking out accuform equipment.com, check out the website, check out all the different product offerings. It's a very easy website to navigate. But again, like Wayne was describing, custom applications as well. So if you're looking for something very unique, if you have a unique, you know, need for a role forming equipment, certainly reach out to the team at Accuform and they can get you the help that you need or at least point you in the right direction. Um, you know, I think that that's a big part of how we, you know, help each other in this industry is we we you know, we guide people to the the resolution that they need, right? And you know, the constant feedback that I've gotten has been, you know, accuform is is where it's at in regards to getting role forming equipment. And you know, my backgrounds in tubular steel metal buildings, um, pole barns, things like that. And you know, for all of my friends that are doing metal buildings, um, I don't know that there's gonna be a better team to work with than the team at Accuform when it comes to the quality and the precision that that you're gonna get with a piece of accuform equipment. Um, I assume, and this is, you know, I'm I'm I'm asking it again kind of facetiously, but you know, 29 gauge, 26 gauge, you know, standard coil, all of that stuff is pretty much just gonna run right through the machine and be set up exactly how they want it, whether it's G-Rib or you know, whatever kind of you know, roll forming they want done, you guys can set that up for them. Correct. Okay. Yeah, I think that that's the you know, a lot of times when you buy equipment, you don't get that kind of I'm imagining sort of a white glove type of handoff, right? Where the customer is going to contact ACU for maybe walk me through that. Don't let me make an assumption for you. If I'm if I'm a customer and I'm in need of a role forming, you know, in need of role forming equipment, and I contact you, what exactly does that process look like? What could they expect?

SPEAKER_00 16:09

So when they contact us, normally what I'll do is to start off with we're looking for let's say a corner rich cat. We will send them profiles they can look at. I always try to get them to understand from area to area, profiles are different. I mean, we've got right now, I believe we've got 41 different styles of corners that we have made for customers. Okay, simply because it goes from area to area, it's different. I always tell them find out what the contractors in your area are looking for. And then when they figured it out, we sent them the print, they signed the print, make sure it is what they want. Once the machine is built, they have the opportunity to come into our facility and look, watch the machine run. Now I got ahead of myself there a little bit. Once we are at that point, we ask for a 30% down payment. Okay. Once we have the 30% down, they get put into the order of customers that we have. And if we can build machines sooner, like smaller machines, like Preferator or Slitter, some of that stuff, we can work in between bigger machines. Okay. And the nice thing is, is they can our facility is open. They can come look at machines even before they place an order. If they want to check out what our machines look like, what they got. We're we welcome people to come in and look at what we have. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

That's great. I just can't stress enough. You know, I'm from Ohio myself, and having a business like Accuform sort of in my backyard in Millersburg is an impressive thing. And, you know, you all are helping America build better, build better buildings, but also employing, right? And in this day and age, you know, the people that you feed at your table is really kind of how you measure your successes, right? So that was what I was looking at on the website was you know, gold key of excellence award winner. You know, you're an award-winning business, you guys have beautiful equipment. I mean, that that's another thing that I really wanted to stress on, you know, some people get really into what their equipment looks like. And I can tell you, I don't think you're going to be disappointed in the quality of what these, I mean, these are just beautiful pieces of machinery. What does it take? If if somebody came to you and said, Wayne, I need a roll former, I know all the expectations. What's the turnaround time? Like, what does that look like? I assume that these, I assume that these aren't just sitting somewhere ready to be delivered tomorrow. This is a process, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Correct. And I would love to tell people I can have it material uh machines in six to eight months. Right now we're actually 14 to 16 months out on equipment. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

And that's pretty standard for anybody who's listening to this. It's pretty standard to be waiting, you know, a year plus on a piece of machinery that's custom made for your business. These are not off-the-shelf components, these are, you know, personally manufactured to your specifications, and you're going to get the kind of treatment that you expect to have when you're purchasing a piece of equipment that's probably, I mean, let's just say several hundred thousand dollars. Is that a fair assessment? We don't have to get into specifics. Everybody's a little bit different, but I mean, these pieces of equipment are several hundred thousand dollars. These are an investment in your business to grow and make your business better. Is that a fair way of saying it?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yes. I mean, there's a lot of the bigger machines. We do smaller machines that are like in the $30,000 to $80,000 range. Sure. But yeah, you're you get up into $100,000, $200,000 range. Uh but the other fact about that is is if you buy a machine from Accuform, we have 90% of our parts are in stock on the shelf if you need a replacement part. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

So when someone needs a repair, if someone's in need of servicing, you said that you do um refurbish equipment. I assume you refurbish non-accuform equipment. Is that a fair statement? Or is it only refurbishing of acuform equipment? Right now, with the workload we have, it is only accuracy. And that makes sense. That makes sense because you guys have serviced, you know, several hundred businesses at this point. You've pushed out over a thousand different pieces of equipment over your guys's, you know, 17 years, 16 years as a company doing role forming equipment. So what's the give me the it just it doesn't have to be specific, just shooting from the hip. What do you anticipate would be a maintenance schedule? Do you guys have like a set maintenance schedule for anybody who already has a piece of accuform equipment? If they're already using it and enjoying it, what should they be doing to take better care of their not just their accuform roll former, but any roll former for that matter?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

The number one thing that comes in mind is keeping their dies clean. I mean, if your dies are clean, that you can get a good part is always the first thing that comes to mind. Uh for our machines, it's basically keeping the oil checked in the gearbox and keeping the dice clean. Now we do have maintenance schedules for people that they have, and we actually also do maintenance for people. If they ask us to. Awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

And that's just giving that customer that extra bit of attention, right? Keeping them sort of in the um the infrastructure of Accuform, right? Like once you buy a piece of equipment from Accuform, you're expecting a higher um, a higher turnaround of quality for yourself. That's the way I would describe it. You know, if you're looking for a piece of equipment, whether it be big or small, contacting Acuform is a good way to get your foot in the door with somebody who's going to take good care of you on the backside. I think that that's the, you know, the overarching that I got as I, you know, and to give everyone a little bit of a backstory in Wayne, too, you know, as I was thinking about doing this series, we did a series for the NFBA um late last year and into the first part of this year, going into their trade show series in Oklahoma City. And I really went to people in the industry that I trust and asked, like, whose story can I go get that can tell me a story in 20 to 25 minutes about their business or offer me a high quality product or service? And I can tell you, I got accuracy a lot. I was able to talk to many satisfied customers who were like, listen, role forming is a huge part of my business, and a big part of how I've been able to grow my business is by working with Accuform. And I can tell you, I mean, that that speaks volumes to me as someone who is not a role former. I've never once operated a piece of equipment like this or anything. It speaks volumes to me that people have gone out of their way to speak up and say, hey, share the story of Accuform because they've impacted my business. They've helped me build a better business for myself because I'm now working with Accuform. And I feel like that is a it almost feels like a partnership, right? Like when Accuform supplies a piece of equipment to a business, you become a partner of theirs and their success. Your equipment will help their business grow. Is that how you see it, Wayne?

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Yes. And and if you look at it in our website, but that's part of our, you know, our mission is to make machines that are mutually profitable for us and the customer. It's not about us, it's about the customer.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Yeah. I I think if you haven't checked it out already by the time that we're off this call, I want to call it out again. Accuformequipment.com. It's very straightforward. Listen, if you just want some information, accuformequipment.com can provide you with that information. It's obviously going to contact you, uh, give you some contact information to contact the team at Accuform. Um, Wayne handles a lot of the of the sales, right? I mean, you're the I think your title is sales manager, if I remember correctly, right? Correct. So, I mean, Wayne's gonna be the guy. So if you need some assistance, you're really gonna probably be working with Wayne. And that's why I wanted to, you know, so badly to get him on here, because again, he and I will be at the post-frame role and plain builder show, sponsored by Frame Building News in York, Pennsylvania, June 10th and the 11th. And we want to give another shout out and thank you to the team at Shieldwall Media. They put on everything at the trade show. Um, you know, I'm sure we're gonna be there for a couple of days. If you're in need of anything role forming related, accuform is gonna, you know, that needs to be your first stop. When you get to that expo floor, track down Wayne, he'll be there. You know, I'll be up front, I'll be greeting you at the door if you need a point in the right direction. I'll be able to point you in the right direction of where Accuform is at. Um, but I can tell you, Wayne, it's been a real blessing and honor to have you, you know, spend 25 minutes with us. Um, I always ask on the way out, um, is there anything specifically that you want to share to the industry? These are, you know, this this episode is targeted at people that are coming to the show, that are excited to be there, that are taking time out of their busy schedule in a busy time of the year, and sometimes coming with their families and making it, you know, a few-day adventure. Um, but is there anything that you'd like to share, any call to action for anybody who might come see at the at the trade show booth?

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Uh, the only thing that I could add is Shield Wall does a great job in making the shows family friendly. Yeah. You can be there. It's not about just being this, you know, the business owner. You can bring your wife, bring your kids. It's very friendly for everybody to be there, and they always have a great show, great food. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Yeah, it's it's a really good time, and we're gonna have that big time, June 10th and the 11th. Um, there's gonna be all kinds of breakout sessions. If there's something that you're interested in, there's probably gonna be something that you can pick up there. I can tell you if you're in the market, um, I have exhibitor tickets, so anybody that's listening to this, if you're in need of a ticket, um, feel free to email me at Jared at AmericaBuilds Better.com and I would be happy to get you in to spend some time and get to meet people like Wayne and businesses like Accuform because again, what America Builds Better is all about is about sharing information and creating community through business in a way that doesn't I don't want to come on here and pitch individual pieces of equipment for Wayne, right? I just want to share the stories and the feedback that I've gotten from folks like you that are listening or watching right along and share that feedback out in a in a wider net so that we can all help each other grow our businesses in a way that it is very forward and very community-based. So I will tell you this, Wayne. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day. Um, I know we had a little bit of a time getting you on here, and uh, we're both busy and we both need to get back to what it is that we do. And I can tell you, there is not going to be a better role forming piece of equipment out there than the team at Accuform and the equipment coming from Accuform. Millersburg, Ohio. I can tell you this. If you're interested, call Wayne and the team. It's area code 330-674-4003. It's accuforme equipment.com. Wayne, I really appreciate you being on the podcast and giving us some time this afternoon. Anything? Any last words? We're finishing up. I'm good. Thank you. Yep, absolutely, man. Hang on with me. We'll make sure all your videos are good. I'm gonna finish out this week for America Builds Better. I can tell you this much the team at Shieldwall Media is happy to help you. They are the leading publisher for the metal and construction industries. If you would like trade publications sent to your home or your business, contact shieldwallmedia.com and click the link at the top. All the magazines are free. They'll send them right to your home or to your business. And I can tell you, I enjoy having them in the shop and at the house. Um, there's really fun information in them, you know, community information, trade information. If you'd like to be an advertiser, contact the team at Shieldwall Media. Um, if you feel like your business would be benefited from, you know, having your publication or having your information in the publication, let the team know as well. And the team at Defined SEO are doing great things with industry rankings and Google and Meta and all the different search engines. Um, of course, I help out at Defined as well, so I'll give a little nod to them on the way out. Results-driven SEO, website services for the building industry, helping America build better through business development. I can tell you this much, guys. I had a great time talking to Wayne today, and I am going to have a great time in York, Pennsylvania, June 10th and the 11th for the post-frame role and plain builder show brought to you by Frame Building News. In the meantime, get out in your communities and do something good for somebody else. It will make you feel better. I know it always makes me feel better. We'll be back at you next week with another episode from our Builder Show series, and we will be looking forward to that. Have a blessed week. Thank you for checking out America Builds Better. If that episode fired you up, make sure you hit subscribe, be more video, and share this with someone who's running.

SPEAKER_02 30:44

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