COO: Startup to Help Manufacturers Prevent Downtime
(photo courtesy of Guardian Machine Protection)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWith the manufacturing base growing in Allen County and beyond, a Fort Wayne-based company wants to ensure those companies are not losing revenue because of unscheduled downtime due to equipment problems. Wall Control Services Inc. just announced a new venture, Guardian Machine Protection LLC, a spin-off company offering maintenance programs, which is expected to add 170 jobs over the next five years. Most of those positions will be mechanical engineering technicians. GMP says the company was born out of a need to provide a solution to what Guardian calls a “common pain point” in the manufacturing sector.
“Companies that are large or small don’t have the time to do preventive maintenance, or they don’t have the staff,” said David Wall, chief operating officer for Guardian Machine Protection and Wall Control Services.
Wall says manufacturers have service technicians on staff, but they’re often busy with reactive maintenance. “They’re always fighting fires, so to speak. They’ll start replacing parts on a machine, and that leads to a lot shorter lifetime of the machine overall, as opposed to the preventive maintenance.”
GMP is a subscription-based model, allowing companies to get ahead of potential equipment failures before they occur.“Reactive behavior negatively affects the bottom line. We serve our customers when they need us, and we proactively engage with their teams to plan scheduled downtime for preventive maintenance,” said Yan Wall, founder and CEO of Guardian Machine Protection.
Wall says Guardian found a growing niche of providing basic preventive maintenance with simple, predictable pricing.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Guardian up to $1 million to conditional tax credits to help the company grow. IEDC says those incentives are performance-based which means the tax credits are not available unless the company hires Indiana residents.
“Guardian Machine Protection’s commitment to northeast Indiana will help advance the state’s reputation as a leader in manufacturing while supporting even more quality career opportunities for Hoosiers,” said Elaine Bedel, president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
David Wall explains how this niche business will help manufacturers.