Superior Customer Service and Product Quality Makes Commitment to Top Brands, Including PMI Rope, SMC Hardware, and Cascade Litters, Key to Success
LaFAYETTE, GA - Life safety rope manufacturer and equipment distributor Pigeon Mountain Industries (PMI) has announced that they will continue to focus on customer needs and practical workplace solutions that bring the best available gear from top designers and dependable manufacturers, rather than treating life safety gear as a commodity.
“Branding is an incredibly important concept,” acknowledges PMI co-founder and President Steve Hudson, “but nothing should take a back seat to safety.”
Private labeling, or ‘branding’ equipment from a variety of sources seems to have become something of a trend among suppliers of high angle gear such as ropes, carabiners and pulleys. In an effort to build greater recognition of their own name, some equipment suppliers appear to be choosing to move away from brand-name products in favor of sourcing privately labeled products made by contract manufacturers. The problem with such a ‘commodity philosophy’ is that the consumer can never be quite sure of the source of the product from one shipment to another. At face value it may seem simple to contract a machine shop to make a given product, but the end result simply is not the same as having that same product designed and built by a manufacturer who has been making life safety products for over 20 years.
“Life safety products are not a commodity,” emphasizes PMI Vice-President/Technical Director Loui McCurley. “Performance, consistency, and quality do make a difference. At PMI, we manufacture a complete line of life safety ropes as well as sewn goods, and we are proud to put our name on them. We expect the same from the name-brands that we represent. The few products we’ve developed but don’t have in house manufacturing for are the exception rather than the rule. Our goal is always to defer the manufacturing – and the branding – of a product to the manufacturers who it best fits.”
PMI distributes several brands, including their own, to a worldwide dealer network. As a distributor, the company is committed to bridging the gap between high quality manufacturers and dealers with excellent technical support and top quality name-brand equipment.
“By consolidating several name brand solutions together as a distributor, we can offer dealers better pricing, simplified order placement, and a wide selection of product,” explains Greg Jones, Sales Director for PMI. “And, we can command the same commitment to quality and consistency from our suppliers that we have ourselves, and that our dealers and consumers demand.”
PMI’s long term relationship with technical hardware manufacturer SMC is an excellent example. By 1982 SMC was already an established mountaineering hardware manufacturer. At PMI’s request, they began to produce the first U.S.-made steel carabiners for the growing technical rescue market. SMC, now recognized by professionals as the leading U.S. brand of hardware for work at height, has since come to produce a wide selection of unparalleled carabiners, pulleys, and specialized equipment for work at height.
Now, some 25 years later, PMI is the single distributor for SMC’s complete line of quality technical rescue and high angle workplace hardware.
“These are the people who have set the standard in the industry and who continue to push the envelope,” says Hudson. “It is a real pleasure to bring that kind of quality in design and performance to the market.”
PMI was founded by cavers, rescuers, and climbers. “As gear users ourselves,” Hudson recalls, “we just wanted to provide better solutions for work at height at a fair and reasonable price. As a Distributor, we plan to keep our commitment to that purpose even as we grow. Thoroughly understanding and developing expertise in the markets we serve helps us to connect the needs of the customer with the capabilities of the manufacturer with technical excellence. Good, solid relationships with our customers and industry-partners are key.”
PMI has been at the forefront of high angle rescue and professional rope access for nearly thirty years, and is recognized as a driving force in the development and shaping of rope rescue, vertical rigging, caving, climbing, and safety at height in America and worldwide. Together with industry partners, PMI intends to continue that commitment well into the future with the finest in equipment technology for practical application from name brand manufacturers.
For additional information regarding PMI ropes and sewn goods, SMC hardware, Cascade litters, Pacific rescue helmets, and other name brand products visit www.pmirope.com or call toll-free 1-800-282-7673.
