supplier news - General Pipe Cleaners

OCTOBER 2004
VOL. 59. NO. 10
News of Plumbing • Heating • Cooling • Industrial Piping Distribution
General Wire Spring Co.
SUPPLIER NEWS
Dynamic family management
proves responsive to
industry’s needs
BY MARY JO MARTIN
Chief editor
T
he long and storied history of
General Wire Spring Company
includes a memorable first job, a
flood, numerous patents and three generations of family ownership. Today’s
General Wire Spring is run by a very
unique management philosophy and continues to build on its legacy with creative
new product introductions and a continued emphasis on relationships with
employees, reps and customers.
Abe Silverman founded the company in
1930 after spending several years working
for his uncle, Frank Magidson, who
owned Rapid Wire Spring in Pittsburgh.
Frank was a prodigious inventor who held
many patents, and designed machines to
make wire hangers, automatic shoeshine
machines and automatic rocking cradles,
among other items.
But an entrepreneurial spirit encouraged
Abe to go out on his own and, with a handful of employees, set up shop in the first
floor of a downtown Pittsburgh building.
THE WHOLESALER® — OCTOBER 2004•
Despite the onset of The Great Depression,
Abe felt that his ideas and products had real
value and would draw a broad customer
base. General’s first job was to produce
springs for the country’s original voting
machines. Despite the prestige of such a
contract, because of the grave situation of
the U.S. economy at the time, General was
never compensated for its work, according
to his grandson, Marty Silverman, a member of the sprawling third-generation of
family members to run the company.
General’s original springs were used in
many types of applications, such as oven
doors, elevators and highway construction
signs. The company soon evolved into
making drain cleaning cables (snakes) for
Pittsburgh-area plumbers. Abe and his
crew began designing and building
machinery to make the products in-house.
“Being a family business
allows us to be much more
flexible in dealing with market
changes. We truly know this
industry because we only offer
one type of product and aren’t
distracted by other lines.”
Abe Silverman founded General Wire
Spring in 1930, manufacturing springs
for a variety of uses.
In 1936 Abe purchased a new spring coiler,
but it turned out to be too big for the company’s location at that time, so they quickly
moved to another building in the uptown
area of Pittsburgh.
That twist of fate may have just saved
the company. Within a month after the
move, Pittsburgh was hit with a flood,
which affected nearly the entire downtown area. As Marty explained, if the
company had still been in its original
location, they would have lost everything,
and may not have been able to rebuild.
Abe continued his quest of product
development and found a natural progression into drain cleaning machinery, which
until that time, consisted of labor-intensive equipment. Abe felt that power-driven
equipment could perform better and be a
great benefit to the operators. At the heart
of these new machines were the snakes
that General already produced.
•1
SUPPLIER NEWS
Second-generation brothers and partners Lee and Art Silverman mentor their sons and
nephew, but leave the day-to-day operations to the third generation. Pictured from left are:
Mike and Jeff Silverman, Steve Glick, and Steve, Art, Marty, Bob, Lee and David Silverman.
“We’re the only manufacturer of drain
cleaning machinery that started off as a
spring manufacturer,” Marty said.
The Sewerooter was the first powerdriven sewer cleaning machine produced
by General. Over the years, the company
pioneered a series of innovations, including a heavy-duty automatic feed sewer
cleaner and a smaller, hand-held model.
General’s Flexicore® cables stand apart
because the outer spring is tightly
wound around the wire rope inner core.
In the 1940s, when most drain cleaning
cables were simply long hollow springs,
Abe developed the Flexicore® wire rope
reinforced sewer cables, which were far
ahead of anything available at the time.
“It’s the same wire that holds up suspension bridges,” Marty explained. “The reason
it’s so strong is that it is the wire’s surface
area that gives it strength, so when a bundle
of wires are braided like rope, there is more
surface area and, thus, more strength.
“Our patented cable stands apart from
others because the outer spring it is so
tightly wound around the wire rope inner
core that it’s difficult to copy. This design
makes our cable very resistant to abuse,
but if it does break during use, it can be
pulled out as one piece.”
While originally catering to local
plumbers, Abe knew that his products had
great appeal for a variety of uses around the
2•
By the 1960s, much of the company’s
creative work was turned over to Abe’s
sons, Lee and Art Silverman. They, too,
continued the company’s mission of innovation.
“They are both very creative,” Marty
said. “Art and Lee both have a number of
patents to their names, so I think the ingenuity rubbed off through the generations.
In addition, we have always had a great
group effort on R&D work. We value the
ideas and feedback our employees, reps
and customers share with us. You wouldn’t believe the number of times we’ve
developed something just based on an
idea one of our customers has suggested.”
Of course, not every family can so
easily blend personal relationships with
business, but in the Silvermans’ case it
appears seamless. No easy task, considering that the company is managed by nine
family members.
country. As a result, he began traveling to
Ohio, New York and other neighboring
states to build relationships and do business
with plumbers in those areas. Eventually, he
hired manufacturers reps to boost General’s
visibility throughout the country.
Thanks to an increasing
customer base and demand
for General’s products, the
company relocated in 1944
to a building in the Southside of Pittsburgh and then
to their current facility in
McKees Rocks, Pa in 1968.
This facility was the original home of the McKay
Chain Works, which had
been very active in World
War II but had sat empty for
many years. General invested a great deal in renovating the facility, and has A plumber loads the Sewermatic, one of the Generals early
expanded it several times in automatic feed machines, onto his truck using the truck
loading wheel. (circa 1964)
the years since.
“There is such a good relationship
Family management dynamics
among all of us,” described Marty, who
Beyond his creativity and keen business
has been with the company for 22 years.
sense, Abe Silverman built a lasting legacy
“I am very close to my father, and look
that continues today. “Not only is our comforward to working with him every day.
pany multi-generational, but many of our
My father and uncle are around 70 and
reps have been as well,” Marty said. “We
still are in the office quite a bit. My genstill have several who are on their second
eration is doing a good job of handling the
and third generations of representing our
daily business, but they are always availline. We also are proud to say that 40% of
able for advice and guidance.
our workforce is multi-generational, as well
“Also, my cousins grew up right next
as a many of our customers. Beyond the
door to me, so we have been extremely
success of our company, I know that those
close all our lives and work together very
are achievements my grandfather would be
well. There is a great bond between all of
proud to know he built.”
us. We still talk business during our family
• THE WHOLESALER® — OCTOBER 2004
SUPPLIER NEWS
get togethers, which I’m sure doesn’t
thrill the spouses, but this company has
been a huge part of all of our lives. Each
family member involved has a portion of
the business they are responsible for,
based on their talents and interests. We
learned that from my grandfather, who
brought in his brothers-in-law to be partners early on and who managed the company in much the same way. I think my
grandfather would be most proud of the
fact that he truly built a business for our
In the 1940s, when most drain
cleaning cables were simply
long hollow springs, Abe
developed the Flexicore
wire rope reinforced sewer
cables, which were far
ahead of anything
available at the time.
family, and would be pleased with how
well we all work together.”
Another unique fact about the company
management is that though there is a corporate hierarchy, the family members
govern as a board of directors in which
each is equal.
“You can imagine that would be a problem if we didn’t all have our own areas of
responsibility, but with the way it is set up,
it works beautifully,” Marty said. “We
bounce ideas off each other and are always
there for each other. We don’t ever wait for
meetings to discuss things. We talk every
day about issues, which helps us address
market concerns much more quickly and be
more responsive to customers’ needs. It’s a
great advantage for us.”
Continual quest for product development
There are two basic parts of the company
— General Wire Spring and General Pipe
Cleaners. Drain cleaning products serve
several different industries and are sold
through plumbing wholesalers, equipment
rental companies and hardware stores.
While General is constantly evolving by
THE WHOLESALER® — OCTOBER 2004•
updating existing products and developing
new ones, some things haven’t changed —
the personal aspect of its manufacturing
operations and its core, quality products. As
Marty explained, the company has had to
design and build many of the machines
used to make drain cleaning snakes, and
most of the assembly is done by hand at the
company’s McKees Rocks plant.
“We’ve also got good quality products,
which is the foundation of our business,”
Marty said. “We’re very proud of the personal attention that is paid to each one. We
hope it means as much to our customers
as it does to us that our products are completely made in the U.S.A.
“We have an excellent relationship with
our wholesaler customers and have treated them well. We give them good service,
competitive prices and support all of our
products both in-house and through our
rep network. In fact, we’ve done customer
surveys every year, and we are the most
preferred brand of drain cleaning equipment among plumbing wholesalers by a
healthy margin.”
General distributes its products and
parts to many of its wholesalers through
warehouses located throughout the U.S.
and Canada, allowing them to get customers the products they need as quickly
as possible. In addition, though drains
clog no matter what the season or the
economy, Marty said that inventories are
General’s biggest drain cleaner, the
Typhoon trailer jetter provides a 24-horsepower waterjet blast to clear seriously
clogged lines.
ramped up in preparation for the busier
times of the year to give the warehouses a
buffer stock and to reduce delays.
While drain cleaning was a fairly lowtech process for many years, that all began
to change rather quickly in the 1960s and
1970s when automatic feeds were developed. Then in the 1980s, water jets
appeared in the U.S. after being successfully used in Europe, and in the 1990s,
cameras were introduced that allowed
operators to fully see and diagnose the
often buried clog problem. Today, General
offers a full line of the most advanced
drain cleaning tools available, including
General’s Hot-Rodder™ is a sectional
drain cleaner that blends power and
maneuverability.
high-pressure water jets, video pipe
inspection and location systems, water
leak location systems, pipe freezers and
thawing machines.
Among General’s more recent products
launches are:
• J-2512 Typhoon™ Trailer Jet,
General’s biggest jet yet. It’s designed to
clear big lines with high water flow
requirements or remote jobs far from a
water source. It uses 12 gallons of water
and 2,500 psi driven by a 24-hp engine to
cut though grease, sediment and debris.
The 200-gallon holding tank carries
enough water to handle remote applications where access to water is limited.
• J-3080 Gas Jet, which allows high
water flow without a trailer. The unit has a
cleaning power of 8 gallons per minute
while a 12-gallon buffer tank mounted on
the frame allows for extra safety when
using a high-flow water jet to clear difficult lines. A low-water shut-off valve protects the pump from burnout until the tank
•3
SUPPLIER NEWS
The Handy-Stand allows greater possibilities for Generals popular hand-held
drain cleaners.
is refilled. A 20-hp electric start engine
drives a 3,000-psi pump through a 2-to-1
gear reducer.
• Hot-Rodder™ is a sectional drain
cleaner that blends power and maneuverability for rapid clog removal from large
lines and long runs. The 3/4-hp motor
spins 10- or 15-foot cable sections at 715
rpm and clears lines up to 10" diameter as
far as 200 feet away. Its size makes it easy
to transport, and 10" semi-pneumatic
wheels allow greater maneuverability.
• Handy-Stand™ allows even greater
possibilities for General’s popular handheld drain cleaners. The stand eases the
strain on the operator and can be used on
the counter or floor. Handy Stand is
designed for use with the Super-Vee™,
Power-Vee™ and Handylectric™ machines. It can be positioned either horizontally or vertically for maximum flexibility.
• Gen-Eye3™, the third-generation
video pipe inspection/location system.
The camera helps users see where and what
the problem is, taking the guesswork out of
digging. The Gen-Eye3 can be used for inline inspections and preventative maintenance for sewer and drain lines, septic
tanks, heating and cooling ducts, crawl
spaces, chimneys, attics, wells and more. It
can troubleshoot lines from 11/2" to 12".
Marty described General’s product
development as constantly evolving and
The Gen-Eye3 is General’s third generation of video pipe inspection and location
systems.
Generals J-3080 gas jet has the cleaning
power of 8 gallons a minute at 3000 psi
while a 12 gallon buffer tank protects the
pump in low water situations.
said the company management team is
committed to further research and development that will benefit customers and
end users, while preserving founder Abe
Silverman’s legacy.
“We always want to provide the best
product possible,” he said. “Being a
family business allows us to be much
more flexible in dealing with market
changes. We truly know this industry
because we only offer one type of product
and aren’t distracted by other lines. All of
our energies are focused on further
improving our drain cleaning products
and accessories, and developing and
maintaining relationships with our customers, reps and employees.”
Reprinted with permission from The Wholesaler, October 2004, Volume 59, Number 10 by the Reprint Outsource, 717-394-7350