How Morris Boosted Productivity at Akkerman Inc.

Aron Bishop, the Machining Technology Manager at Akkerman Incorporated, shares insights into how the company's partnership with Morris has enhanced their productivity and efficiency. Akkerman Inc., founded in 1973, began as a construction company and evolved into a manufacturer of underground pipe jacking and tunneling equipment ranging from 4 inches to 14 feet in diameter.

Company Overview

"Akkerman started building tunneling equipment in 1973," Aron explains. "We evolved from a construction company and have been growing ever since. We build our own pipe jacking and tunneling equipment from 4 inches to 14 feet in diameter."

As the Machining Technology Manager, Aron's responsibilities include programming and collaborating with suppliers like Morris to introduce new equipment and tooling to increase productivity. "My job responsibilities are programming, working with people like Joel for introducing new equipment and new tooling that is out, bringing it to Akkerman to increase productivity," he says.

Engaging with Morris

The initial engagement with Morris began when Akkerman needed a machine with specific size and capacity requirements. "When we purchased the VTR-350, we needed the size, the capacity, the technology behind it to increase output throughput of the rings that we were turning," Aron recalls. "At that time, it was purely size when we first started working with them."

Their previous supplier did not have a machine that met these specifications. "They didn't have anything that was that size or able to do what we needed to do," he notes.

Experience with Morris

Aron speaks highly of the experience working with Morris. "It's great. The service from the other supplier that we had really fell short. Morris has really stepped up in that end," he says. "One of our core values at Akkerman is teamwork, and I think that Morris has really fit that very well. Anytime we have any issues, they're always a phone call away. Whether they can fix it that day or the next day, or maybe two days down the road, they still keep in contact and let us know what's going on."

Specific Examples of Support

He provides a specific example of Morris's support: "We were doing a 2-inch pipe thread with the right-angle head on the VTR, and if anybody knows a VTR, there's no Y-axis. So I worked with an application engineer and was able to single-point a tapered thread using only the C, Z, and X axes, which is pretty great. We weren't able to finish it, but we were able to rough it—a 2-inch lead-in pitch tapered pipe thread is quite a substantial size thread to put into a part."

Another instance highlights Morris's quick response time: "The MCR was crashed on a Thursday. They were here on Friday so that we were making parts again on Monday to continue what we were doing. Very great turnaround time."

Improving Efficiency

Aron discusses how the new equipment from Morris has significantly improved efficiency. "Like on the jacking frame, the sections we're able to machine it all in one time. I'm able to lay it sideways in the MCR mill both sides in one setup, which just increases efficiency tremendously," he explains.

Comparing it to their old methods, he says: "Even then, we weren't able to do that; we had to make them in shorter segments. So it was a lot of welding, and a lot of times they wouldn't fit. So we'd have to stick them back in the machine and machine them again. It was just a big turnaround that was very unneeded."

He continues: "Even the VTR and the MCR—the cycle times on parts, some of the weldments we do, like the one on the VTR now weighs 13,000 pounds. When we used to do that the old way, I would have to index the table manually. We were talking these things cut off days of cycle time, not just hours, not minutes—days."

Challenges in the Industry

Regarding challenges in the construction equipment industry that Morris has helped address, Aron says: "Make parts faster. I think that we're low quantity, high volume. So the setup, the turnaround time is huge for us. We're able to innovate something to make it faster."

He also mentions staffing challenges: "The biggest thing too is the employees that we have. You know, it's hard to find trained employees that are machinists anymore. So we're bringing people from other different places to work for us, and the training time is shorter because we rely on the machine to do more of the work—less operator input and more of the machine finishing the part complete."

Importance of the Relationship

Aron emphasizes the importance of the relationship with Morris, specifically with their representative, Joel. "The relationship that we have is great. I think that anytime we want to acquire something or some new technologies, Joel's always here to show us and help guide us so that we make the right purchase to grow our company," he says. "It makes it easier for people to make parts more accurately, faster."

Recommendation

When asked what he would tell a friend who owns a shop about working with Morris, Aron replies: "I would tell him to buy a machine from them if they were really interested in doing it, just because of the service they have. Because like I said, it's more of a team than it is—he's a seller and I'm the consumer. We work together on projects. It isn't that he sells it and he's off on his merry way. It really makes my job a lot easier, makes everybody at Akkerman's job a lot easier."

He adds: "Even like when we bought the Momentum, he's really followed through on the final—it's not just the upfront sale that he's worried about. He's concerned about the future of Akkerman. So that makes everything easier for us."

Training and Support

Aron mentions that they used Morris for training on the new Momentum machine. "We did. We did Morris on Momentum. The training got a little dragged out just because there were things that they needed to take care of ahead of time. We probably ended up with a week of training," he says.

Shared Core Values

He concludes by highlighting the shared core values between Akkerman and Morris: "It's just how Morris and Akkerman, our core values really meet together so that it makes it a better relationship between Morris and Akkerman."

Conclusion

The partnership between Akkerman Inc. and Morris has led to significant improvements in productivity, efficiency, and overall operations. Through advanced equipment like the VTR-350 and the MCR, along with exceptional service and support, Morris has become a valuable partner in Akkerman's growth.

As Aron Bishop summarizes, "For us, it's not just the sale; it's what comes after the sale that makes them a good company to pair with, and that's what works the best for us."