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Tempo • Howards Grove Progress 2016 • Tuesday, August 23, 2016
ConceptWorks hunts for new ideas By Mike Mathes Innovative thinking is being paired with manufacturing know-how to open new product lines at ConceptWorks. Known for its unique ability to produce creative solutions for customers, ConceptWorks blends its talents in working with wood-based solutions, along with the advantages of fiberglassreinforced plastic fabrications learned through the acquisition of Mekco to broaden its productivity. Adam Schneider, ConceptWorks president/CEO said Mekco’s affinity for working with fiberglass has helped the newly acquired company make inroads to markets where materials must be anticorrosive, lightweight, and robust. Originally headquartered out of Cleveland, Mekco has created fiberglass components for items such as small sand and salt boxes, to calf hutches, silo caps and eventually growing into buildings used to house wastewater treatment equipment, nuclear power structures and instrument landing systems at airports. Mekco has constructed weather observatory shelters in Alaska, as well as radar sheltering devices for NASA. “Mekco had learned to utilize the advantages of fiberglass to develop high quality products in niche markets. Mekco had a great attention to detail and a high level of skills, and that’s what we thrive on at ConceptWorks,” Schneider said. The acquisition has enabled crossover of skill sets and employees, as well as product lines and potential new product. Additionally, the acquisition ties into growth marked by a continuing bump in the work force team—now 42 employees a six-fold increase in just seven years. Manufacturing facilities at the Sheboygan County location have expanded with the additional of 7,200 square feet of working space added last October. New product lines ConceptWorks’ ever-searching vision for new products has begun to churn out unique product lines fed by new diversity of fiberglass fabrication. “We started asking ourselves how we could use the Mekco advantages to produce more and more unique product lines,” Schneider reflected. “The innovation engine is always churning here, and it didn’t take long to come up with 40 or so new product ideas.” Since the ConceptWorks team has a lot of people with a passion for the outdoors, a new potential market and new products began to surface in the idea-shaping process. “We spun off a sub-set brand that became the hybrid of ConceptWorks and Mekco capabilities, known as Mekco Outdoors.” The Hunt Locker was the first such product, a Mekco Outdoors-produced fiberglass containment vessel with 75 gallons of storage capacity. Outdoor enthusiasts can situate and secure these lockers in their favorite outdoor sports location to store all their gear near where they will use it in the woods. Forget about rust, corrosion or water problems. Gear is stored safely in the lockable container. “Why should hunters lug all their gear out to the woods and back. They can just store items like seats, backpacks, decoys and such in the Hunt Locker, and it’s there for you every time you go back,” Schneider said. Gardeners might be able to store tools, seeds and bulbs. For those that camp, firewood and charcoal can be kept safe and dry. For areas where hunters are allowed to
The Timber Locker is the newest innovation from Mekco Outdoors, a subsidiary of ConceptWorks. Demonstrated by company president/CEO Adam Schneider, the Timber Locker is designed to help outdoor sporstmen and women carry their necessities into the woods or onto the ice in organized, efficient and quiet fashion, helping to optimize their hunting and fishing experiences.
use bait, the Hunt Locker works as an inthe-field storage solution to avoid hauling bait into the woods on a daily basis. What’s more, the fiberglass product can painted or hydro-dipping to match surrounding environments. Timber Locker added The newest Mekco Outdoors product offering is known as the Timber Locker. Geared for the sportsman or woman, the Timber Locker provides storage that is resistant to weather, scents or UV impact. Made from a hydro-dipped fiberglass shell, the Timber Locker offers great storage options for archers going up a tree, or for those venturing onto the ice for some winter fishing action. “The whole concept is about saving outdoorsmen time by making them more efficient. The Timber Locker has an integrated MOLLE system for strapping things on. “It gives the owner a place to strap on accessories, as well as putting things in places where they best fit,” Schneider said. “It can be used in an infinite amount of combinations,” he added. The Timber Locker can be carried into the woods as a backpack, or it is engineered to be mounted on to an all-terrain vehicle. However, the Timber Locker is stay in the woods attached to tree for the entire, unlike a traditional backpack. Carry it by the handle, a back strap, hoist it on your back, or haul it like a suitcase. Schneider said the Timber Locker is designed to make hunters more efficient, more organized and a lot quieter as they move in and out of the woods. In addition, the Timber Locker can be strapped to a tree, to make it easily accessible for the tree stand hunter. Design-to-market The Timber Locker symbolizes the ability of Concept Works to take ideas to reality in a short time frame. In just three short months, the product was taken from the idea stage to a consumer ready piece that was a big hit at Deer Fest, held at the Washington
County Fairgrounds. “We worked from sketches on May 10, then created the tooling to take out to Osman to create our fiberglass molds,” Schneider said. Along the way, Mekco Outdoors also obtained the patent applications for the new product and put it into production in time for the product’s unveiling. The camouflaged Timber Locker was a huge hit. “We had so many people come up and tell us, how cool the product is. We had great feedback. Schneider said his company has hopes that the Timber Locker’s success will spill over into the ice fishing season. It’s the ideal sturdy, dependable replacement for those 5 gallon buckets, without the breaking and spilling of gear. “The Timber Locker is a really robust piece of equipment. We make a video driving a Jeep over one of the models. The nine-pound fiberglass shell was able to withstand the weight of a two-ton Jeep,” he said. “For many years, we have been helping our customers design and make their own products,” he said. “Now, it’s fun to be developing products of our own, too. But, it can be a humbling experience.” Other fiberglass products Mekco Outdoors also produces complete hunting blinds made with fiberglass components. “They offer great creature comfort for the hunter and archer in the field, complete with windows that fold up and down,” Schneider said. “You could almost take it camping if you wished.” Several other products are in development mode. All products will carry the common theme of providing a robust product for the outdoor enthusiast. Mekco Outdoors focus is on a long-lasting product-line – capable of being passed down like an heirloom. Mekco Outdoors’ tag-line is: built for the next generation. Lasting quality “We want to produce durable goods that will last 30, 40 or 50 years, and the fiberglass components allow us to do just that,” Schneider added.
This spring, the company launched a new website www.MekcoOutdoors.com to serve this new product line. New life is continually being added to that site, with options for customers to purchase and pick up outdoor products from the Osman location. “It’s our first real true product line, our first effort to put a product out there with a price tag on it,” Schneider said. “And it’s all possible because of the great, talented staff we have here in Sheboygan and Manitowoc County.” Like the Marine Corps, ConceptWorks embraces the philosophy that they will improvise, adapt and overcome. It’s a philsophy that has helped Schneider earn recent honors from the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce as Entrepreneur of the Year. For ConceptWorks, the results are stunning new opportunities for an evergrowing business.
Howards Grove Progress briefs
Quality work for over 45 years
Damrow Construction Co., Inc. has been known for quality home construction, remodeling, additions, siding and windows for over 40 years. Tom’s Cabinet Corner (a division of Damrow Construction Co., Inc.) is known for its beautiful custom kitchens and all types of custom cabinetry. They work with the customer throughout the project, from the idea stage to preparing estimates at no charge, to rough construction, to finish work with the finest details. No job is too big or too small. Tom F. Damrow Sr. is the president of the company. The business is located at 308 N. Wisconsin Dr. in Howards Grove. Call 565-2426 or e-mail damrowco@tds.net for more information.