KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Customers and partners of Weber Inc. gathered at its North American headquarters in Kansas City July 28 for the company’s 20-year Anniversary Celebration and Open House. In addition to celebrating 20 years in business in North America — Weber Maschinenbau was founded in Breidenbacuh, Germany in 1981 — the company was introducing customers to new equipment as well as its new Guardian training and maintenance program.
“We couldn’t have gotten through 20 years without the friends, customers and partners in this room,” said Jarrod McCarroll, Weber CEO.
Visitors had the chance to see the company’s bacon processing line in action during the Open House. Weber showed off its 702 slicer alongside the IP420 bacon press from Hoegger, the PPI-200 card dispenser from Pacproinc. and Multivac’s R565 packaging system.
Other demonstrations included the Weber 804F fresh meat slicer, the Textor TS700 blade slicer, the Textor TS700 SA and the Weber Shuttle System. The Shuttle System, which was launched at the IFFA Show in Frankfurt, Germany, this May, offers a flexible alternative to the conventional transport of product portions via belt systems. Instead, this system conveys product in single units to various handover points. The system can be individually customized to fit in smaller or larger footprints.
The Open House also gave Weber the chance to introduce its Guardian program. The program includes a training program in which customer partners can get their team members trained in specific equipment, but in a customized way that fits their specific company’s needs. “It’s not a cookie cutter training program,” explained Ron Lussier, director of customer experience. The training takes 1 ½ to 2 years to complete.
The first part of the Guardian program is assessment — assessing the needs of each customer, and tailoring a training program to fit those needs and their production goals. Second, is optimization. The program will examine the company’s entire program from raw material delivery to sanitation to help the customer come up with an optimal production process for their individual operation. Finally, the Guardian program includes preventative maintenance — “to keep the line running,” Lussier said.
“The Guardian program is different for every customer we have,” McCarroll explained.
In addition to the equipment demonstrations and learning sessions, attendees at the Open House had a chance to celebrate the company’s 20 years at a barbecue and social event that followed the tours.
