Keeping a chemical plant operating productively and efficiently is a complicated task. That's why, when you find a strategic partner you can rely on, it's important you maintain that relationship -- even if it spans 100 miles.
That's the situation for the Eastman Chemical plant located in Kingsport, Tennessee. Eastman's manager of lifting services, Gary Arwood, frequently calls on ALL Crane Rental of Tennessee for support, even though the branch is located all the way in Knoxville.
Eastman is a global company, with the Kingsport plant producing a broad range of chemicals, fibers and plastics. They end up in products as diverse as paints, adhesives, textiles, bottles, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and more. The plant has a rich history in the area, having been founded by George Eastman himself back in 1920.
It's a massive facility that spans both banks of the South Fork Holston River. It's so big, in fact, it has nine cranes of its own to handle the constant projects slated each month. However, there's often so much going on, even those nine cranes frequently need augmenting. It's during those times Arwood calls on ALL Crane Rental of Tennessee, a division of the ALL Family of Companies. He knows he can rely on ALL for responsiveness, expertise and a broad, well-maintained fleet of equipment.
The geographical distance between the two entities has never been an issue. "Whatever I need, ALL Crane makes sure I have it that day or the next at the latest," said Arwood.
The relationship began nearly a decade ago, when Arwood realized he needed to expand support for his own crane teams.
"At a chemical plant, there is always a focus on keeping operations and equipment well-maintained and running smoothly, and a lot of that maintenance requires the use of cranes," said Arwood. "The typical jobs we'll encounter include things like removing production equipment from buildings or setting new equipment, removing and replacing piping, and changing relief valves on top of buildings. There also are construction projects where we need to employ cranes for tasks like steel erection, taking off siding and taking off roofs."
Arwood said ALL Crane's professionalism and flexibility stand out. "Sometimes our work requires 24-hour coverage because we only have a small window of time to complete it," he said. "Other times, we might need crews to be on-site for extended periods, up to several months. No matter what we need, ALL Crane of Tennessee is there."
Arwood also appreciates the breadth of ALL Crane's fleet. Because Eastman's largest-capacity crane is 250 tons, ALL Crane's vast fleet has come in handy for the plant's heavy-duty jobs. The Knoxville branch even facilitated bringing in a 550- ton crane to the plant from ALL Crane & Equipment Rental Corp. in Nitro, West Virginia. This ability to allocate resources from different branches is another factor that helps ALL Crane exceed expectations again and again.
"At this point, the ALL Crane guys are an extension of our own Eastman family," summed up Arwood. "They know their way around the facility and understand our needs and our safety procedures. They're a great group to do business with."
For more information, visit www. allcrane.com or call (800) 232-4100.
