W.S. Darley & Co. celebrates its 100th Anniversary this year. That’s quite a milestone considering the company is the largest privately-owned fire industry business in the world. And it is the second oldest continuously operated family-owned apparatus manufacturer next to Sutphen, founded in 1890.
Chairman Bill Darley has directed the company for the last 56 years and has set an unparalleled example of customer service and product line innovation that has resulted in growth well beyond what he could have imagined in the 1950s.
Darley builds fire apparatus and fire pumps of all types and sizes, but anyone involved in the fire service knows the venerable Darley fire equipment catalog has been the core of its success.
There was a time when nearly every fire department in the country had a Darley catalog in the station house. Today, www.edarley.com is where we go to place direct orders for everything from a hose thread adapter to a full set of turnout gear.
The print version of the Darley catalog was more than a Sears Roebuck order book for the fire service. It was an encyclopedia of fire equipment, a reference tool for volunteer and career departments. And it’s still available.
At one time you could buy a pumper from the catalog for less than $1,000. Today the company delivers more than 200 custom fire trucks a year.
Bill Darley was quick to see opportunities in under-served worldwide markets. While Darley midship fire pumps ranked third in U.S. sales, behind Hale and Waterous, they soon became the leader in the export and specialty pump areas.
Today Darley is the largest pump supplier to China and other emerging nations as well as the top-selling pump manufacturer for marine, industrial and naval firefighting around the world.
Always headquartered in the Chicago area, last month Darley moved into new worldwide offices in Itasca, Ill., not far from its location in Melrose Park. Day-to-day management is overseen today by Bill’s sons Paul and Peter who hold the titles of president and chief operating officer, respectively.
Hebe’s marketing
Jim Hebe, former president of both American LaFrance and Seagrave, now owns International truck dealerships in British Columbia, Canada. He is also the western Canada dealer for Crimson Fire Apparatus.
Hebe’s view of the turmoil and shakeups affecting both E-ONE and American LaFrance is that the fire apparatus marketing model is outdated. Selling labor-intensive, highly customized apparatus, each built as one-off units totally unlike the next one on the production line, is both expensive and inefficient.
We’d agree with that. But Hebe’s solution of marketing custom fire apparatus the way Toyota sells cars — from an outdoor lot where the customer can pick the color he wants, but little else — isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Wilson Jones, president of Pierce, has just taken about as large a step in that direction as the market can bear with Pierce’s low-priced, division in Bradenton, Fla., which manufacturers the Contender line. He will build a lineup of pre-built apparatus to sell over the Internet to departments with urgent needs.
All the major manufacturers have had a program truck that could be delivered on short order, usually within three months. These are no-frills, few-option pieces usually on commercial chassis, although both Pierce and Ferrara have offered them with generic-style custom chassis.
“The stock truck program is part of Pierce’s commitment to providing fire departments with the necessary tools and equipment needed to protect their communities,” Jones said while announcing the plan.
By the way, look for several new Pierce model innovations at the FDIC trade Show in April, based on the Pierce Ultimate Configuration (PUC) custom model introduced last year.
New models and changes
Speaking of new models, check the E-ONE booth for a new custom pumper model and several new safety features.
E-ONE insiders are looking forward to concluding a sale of the company now under negotiation. If that doesn’t happen within 90 days, the word is that former E-ONE executives are waiting in the wings with a proposal of their own.
That would be an interesting development indeed. E-ONE president Peter Guile, who has turned a lot of numbers right side up since being put into the job last summer, would stay in control if the initial deal goes through.
At American LaFrance, the company is still wrestling to come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The court has allowed $42 million of post-bankruptcy filing investment, and employees are being called back to work. However, the long-term future is still in doubt and subject to contentious negotiations between non-affiliated creditors, the company and the judge.
A stumbling block here is that major creditors owed $250,000 or more are significant component suppliers to ALF. These include Hale, Class 1, UPF, Allison Transmission and diesel engine makers. It’s hard to build a pumper when you can’t buy a pump.
Bill Hinz has been “promoted” to chairman of ALF from the president and CEO position to which he was appointed just last October.
The new president and CEO is A. Matthew Karmel, named on March 17, and the news release announcing his appointment called it the first step in transitioning the company to a permanent leadership team.
Karmel, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Princeton, most recently was president of Asia-Pacific, MAG Industrial Automation Systems.
Hinz, whom we’ve previously characterized as a dynamic and highly motivated executive who took on the ALF turnaround as a personal challenge, apparently will be less involved in the future. He is quoted in the news release as saying, “By having Matthew in place there will be a seamless transition of leadership. I will remain actively engaged with American LaFrance focusing on the strategic elements of the business while Matthew will immediately engage the tactical.”
In a separate statement release the same day, Hinz said, “The gradual ramp up of our direct labor force signals clearly we are successfully working through supplier parts challenges. We still face obstacles as it relates to the supplier base, but we are now able to make timely payments with our improved accounts payable system to keep component parts flowing.”
It was unclear whether that meant that a component parts flow had already started and “timely payments” would ensure that the flow continues, or that if or when “obstacles…and supplier parts challenges” are solved, then the parts flow would continue.
ALF would not comment further.