Bishamon Industries

&:;;;"JJWJI (pronounced Bee-shu-mun), one of seven lucky Japanese gods, OIiginated in India and signifiesprosperity. It also happens to be the name of one of the leading producers of material handling equipmentnationwide. Whether the success of Bishamon Industries is related to its luchy name or not, President and CEOWataru Sugiura is sure of one thing: Bishamon s product quality is the best in the industry.

Bishamon IndustriesCorporation sports a

78,OOO-square-foot facilitylocated on eight acres of

land in the heart ofindustrial Ontario.

Photo by David Hopley

Situated on eight acres of prime industrial landin Ontario, Bishamon sports a 78,000-square-footfacility built according to company specificationsand a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility An ini-tial investment of approximately seven million dol-lars, including land, facilities and equipment hasbeen more than worth it, according to Sugiura. Theinvestment has also contributed to the company'ssuperior product quality and success.

Originally begun in 1988, Bishamon is owned bya Japanese parent company, Sugiyasu, which wasstarted by Sugiura's late father and is now run by hisbrother. Bishamon also has a sister company, ECOALift Operations, which is located in Florida. All threecompanies manufacture similar equipment such ashydraulic lift tables, pallet jacks, pneumatic palletpositioners and loading docks - just about any-thing associated with the moving and lifting of mate-rials. Their products are used in just about everytype of industry and are sold through distributors.

In addition to its nationwide clientele, Bishamonalso sells products throughout' Europe andAustralia. The company also imports some prod-ucts. from Japan while exporting others.

One very popular and unique Bishamon prod-uct, which is often shipped to Australia and Europe,is the EZ-Loader, desigri.ed and patented by

Bishamon. Created by Bishamon engineer Dr.Robbie Stone, the EZ-Loader is the answer to backinjuries and decreased productivity caused by repet-itive stooping and walking during pallet loading andunloading. Its unique design features no mechanicalsprings and automatically adjusts, keeping its load ata comfortable working height. By eliminating theneed for most bending, stooping, reaching andwalking, the time to load normal pallets can bereduced up to 40 percent. The product is in highdemand by companies seeking to improve workerproductivity and morale, while decreasing fatigue,injuries and Workers Compensation claims.

Ergonomics, the human engineering science ofdeveloping a safe and effective work environment,is very important to the folks at Bishamon. The EZ-Loader, like all Bishamon products, was specificallydesigned with ergonomics in mind, according toSugiura. "Whenever somebody has ergonomicproblems, we try to solve them with our equip-ment," he said.

Environment is also an important issue withinthe company, according to Bishamon OperationsManager and Vice President LaCount "LC' Jones."We're an environmentally friendly company," hesaid, explaining the plant's state-of-the-art powdercoating system, which is "best available control

technology" (BACT) for maintaininggood air quality Powder coatingreplaced painting the equipment withold-fashioned liquid water-based paintNot only did the change improve thequality of the product, but it also elim-inated waste water and volatile organiccompounds (VOCs) while recyclingeverything.

Bisharnons manufacturing processbegins with acquiring raw materialsfrom local vendors and putting them instorage or in the machine department,which includes CNC machine anddrilling centers. In the production area,materials are welded through MIGwelding, semiautomatic welding oreven by welding robots. After welding.is completed, the product is hung on a