Midwest Fire Equipment & Repair Company (Midwest Fire), an SBA certified woman owned small business (WOSB), announced today that it has broken all previous sales records for the first half of a calendar year with 46 trucks sold already in 2015 leading up to the Fire Rescue International (FRI 2015) Show in Atlanta, Georgia. Since the company was purchased by Owner and CEO Sarah Atchison, the company has sold more than 100 new trucks to fire departments throughout North America.
“Our growth and success during the last year can be attributed to many things,” said Atchison. “Our customers know that we build great trucks at competitive prices with hands-on, caring customer service. Our team works with departments across North America from initial inquiry to delivery to guarantee that each truck not only meets department requirements, but also exceeds expectations. When a customer purchases from us, they deal directly with a member of our team and not through a dealer or distributor. That enables us to assure personal, customized care from start to finish.”
Exceeding expectations has come in the form of equipment effectiveness, safety, flexibility and affordability according to Atchison.
“A new pumper can cost departments $700,000+ in many instances," Atchison continued. "We have had customers purchase two of our All Poly Series tanker-pumpers for much less than that. Our 2,000 or 3,000 gallon tanker-pumpers give departments the ability to safely arrive at the scene of a fire with ‘big’ water and a ‘big’ pump ready to fight fires quickly before they have a chance to get out of hand. The additional tanker-pumper serves as a back-up or can provide service on mutual-aid calls with neighboring districts when needed. We continue to receive feedback from customers that saving time and money are essential in these challenging economic times no matter what size the city, county or even the size of the department. The economic advantages and multiple-use design of the Midwest Fire line of trucks has generated a lot of demand and resulted in more sales for us.”
Due to the tremendous growth and demand, Atchison has hired additional staff, allocated additional resources and is deploying lean manufacturing techniques across the company.
“We believe in operating with a culture of lean enterprise and continuous improvement," Atchison said. "Because of our product durability and dependability, using All Poly bodies built by APR, mounted only on the best and safest truck chassis available, the quality of our fire apparatus has been proven in the field. We determined as a team we would significantly increase our lean manufacturing efforts in order to meet the growing demand for our products. These efforts enable us to synchronize material flow through our facility and increase operating efficiency in order to hold costs down for our customers. At the same time our lean/continuous improvement initiatives drive on-going quality and delivery timeline improvement. Our team is committed to continuous improvement and expanding our production and design capabilities as we prepare for even more growth in the coming months and years."
Midwest Fire will have a brand new 2000 gallon All Poly Series tanker-pumper from Morehead City Fire Department in Morehead, North Carolina on display at FRI in Atlanta (booth #3505) August 28-29th. The apparatus will leave after the show for delivery to the Morehead City Fire Department and to begin serving the citizens of Morehead City.
To view some of the recent deliveries and customer testimonials visit http://www.midwestfire.com
ABOUT MIDWEST FIRE
Midwest Fire Equipment & Repair Company has been manufacturing high-quality fire tanker-pumpers, pumpers, rescue, brush and quick-attack trucks since 1987. We work directly with our customers, not through dealers, to keep costs down and communication consistent during the entire sales and manufacturing process. By working alongside our customers and creating long-term relationships with them, we are able to devise the best possible, state-of-the-art solutions required to meet each department’s unique needs. We take pride in our work and our ability to produce some of the highest quality, most innovative, and multiple-use tankers and pumpers on the market.
