Bobby Mace, Author at Transmission Digest - Page 10 of 10
The Importance of Doing What’s Right

G&M Farnsworth Transmissions, Amarillo, Texas

Consolidated Vehicle Converters: Heavyweight Contenders

Consolidated Vehicle Converters, Inc. (CVC) founder Julie Maynard-Turner says she didn’t set out to create the large-scale torque converter remanufacturing operation that the company has become. She remembers her start-up in April of 1996 with herself & one employee. Soon afterwards, her sister Marcia Maynard-Prugh joined the effort, to be followed later by her brother-in-law Tim Prugh. After a brief absence from the industry her father, John Maynard, a pioneer in the converter rebuilding industry, also came on board. “At age 84 he still comes into the plant every day and is a vital part of our management team and we’ve all adopted his work ethics,” she recalls.

RPM Transmissions: Pure Power

Explains RPM founder Rodney Massengale, “We’ve been in this facility for about 5 years. The building originally housed a theater for live performances. It had a wooden stage and theater seats. We worked on renovations, like putting in overhead doors and all, for about six months and then moved in. It seemed like a lot of space at the time, but we’re out of room again. Beyond what’s here we have storage facilities – all of them full – including a building outside that was originally supposed to be single-purposed for a chassis dyno. Now we use if for storage too.”

Jasper Engines and Transmissions: Adapting And Evolving

“We are constantly adapting or adopting procedures that will improve our productivity, hold the line on cost, and by application of those procedures we increase the overall value to the customer.”

Family Business

It wasn’t always the case but considering the past 15 years, in today’s aftermarket, the story of a family-owned, single location transmission specialty parts distributor stands out amid a consolidated industry. Transmission Digest recently made its first visit to the people of Mid States Transmission Parts in Davenport, Iowa. By way of geography, Davenport joins Bettendorf and, reaching across the Mississippi River border between Illinois and Iowa, Moline and Rock Island to form the Quad Cities. The John Deere Corporation is headquartered in Moline and the area. Deere’s sponsorship results in the area hosting the annual PGA Tour stop aptly named the John Deere Classic.

Staff, Reputation Move into Next Half-Century

Lansing (Michigan) Transmission, founded in 1963, has built a reputation as the best and most reliable transmission shop in town.

Transmatic – Rolling Along Smoothly

Faced with a serious rent spike where Transmatic Transmission Specialist resided since 1978, Vito Palminteri seized the opportunity earlier this year to upgrade his lifts as he moved to a newer, more affordable facility.

ETE Reman – Expanding

Three years ago, ETE REMAN purchased a former Walmart in Milwaukee, Wis., to address the growing demand for remanufactured transmissions. Adding 160,000 square feet has allowed ETE to grow its employee base to 450 people.
“As our production grew over the years, new departments were created to efficiently support demand. Using Lean, Six Sigma, and 5S philosophies, we did our best to create an efficient process. But moving parts from each department through the entire build procedure became difficult with the existing floor plan and lack of space,” says Lawrence Loshak, Vice President of Manufacturing.