We recently introduced the Speed Change Pallet System (SCPS) to our lineup of workholding products.  The SCPS is a ground-up redesign of our best selling Pallet Retention System (PRS).  At first glance you’ll notice a few obvious cosmetic changes but here is a quick list of the top 10 improvements:

1. Wider Base – The best selling PRS Pallets were always the 8″ wide sizes.  We’d sell them 10:1 over the 6″ sizes and 5:1 over the 10″ sizes.  Naturally, we engineered the Base to use the more popular 8″ and 10″ pallets only.
2. Cast Iron Core – Cast iron is a great material for workholding devices (tough, thermally stable, dampens vibration), but using it from tool to table is overkill (weight, corrosion exposure, higher cost of manufacturing).  We kept all the benefits of cast iron and placed it in a….
3. Hard-Anodized Aluminum Carrier – Aluminum machines faster, has lower tooling cost and requires fewer post machining operations than cast iron. All these benefits lead to lower cost that we pass on to you, the customer.
4. All-Around Clamping – Previously, there were only two slots for clamping the Base to the table. We’ve added a step on all sides of the SCPS Base and are providing four toe clamps with bolts. This gives unlimited mounting options.
5. Improved Chip Management – One silicone rubber face seal runs aroung the entire perimeter of the Base.  Plus, rounded edges allows chips to easily wash away.
6. Higher Holding Power – 3000 lbs of locking force holds pallets tight against the Base.  This means vibrations from cutting are transferred from the pallet to the machine table which yields better part finsishes.
7. Larger Alignment Pins – Larger, tougher pins means better performance over the long run.  Plus, the pins are replaceable if they get damaged or corroded.
8. Round Locking Mechanisms – Rectangle or round… what’s the difference? A circle takes up less area than a square. This means a pallet has more volume for fixtures.
9. Better Pneumatic Seals – We’ve worked closely with the best seal suppliers and have completely overhauled the pneumatic mechanism of the Base. This provides a lifetime of zero-maintenance performance.
10. Lower Price – Redesigning the system for better performance wasn’t our only goal. We were able to refine the manufacturing process to reduce the overall cost of the system.  The SCPS Starter Package is now only $1995.00!

We’re proud to announce the opening of our new online store.  Now all of our products can be purchased online at any hour of any day.  The store is secured through 128 bit SSL encryption to ensure credit card transactions are safe.

Better Pricing

For some reason the industry has followed the same old distribution pattern – make a product, sell it to manufacturer reps, sell it to distributors, sell it to the end user.  The entire time every one of those middlemen are taking a little (or a lot) off the top.  By the time the product gets into the hands of the user its price has been artificially inflated beyond its actual value.  On the service side of things, the application knowledge of the product gets diminished each time it is handed down until you finally have an order taker at a distribution house trying to BS his way through application advice.

I recently had a good conversation with a customer about this distribution model.  They had a job that they had previously passed up on because it required a vacuum chuck for manufacturing.  They had their eyes on a competing product and decided to make the purchase in order to complete the job.  When they called up their local distributor they were shocked to find out that the manufacturer of the vacuum chuck had aligned themselves with a large manufacturer’s rep and that the price had risen by 80% overnight.  The product didn’t get any better, and it was still purchased from the same local distributor, but the simple fact that a middleman was added caused the price to skyrocket.  Irritated, the customer walked away and the sale was lost.

Better Service

A few months later the job came back around for quoting and by then we were in full production of our SmartVac II.  Our price was unbeatable, but our detailed application support, something that a local distributor could not offer, sealed the deal.  We were able to walk them though some very tricky workholding and get the job dialed in so their purchase paid for itself in a matter of weeks.  Since then this customer has purchased several systems and regularly takes jobs that he had passed on in the past.

Every time someone calls Pierson Workholding I will answer the phone 90% of the time.  Some might ask, “Why is the president of the company answering phones?”  Because that’s how I wish it was when I call other companies.  Conventional business “wisdom” says when you’re successful you get to create more barriers between you and callers so that you’re not bothered.  I’ve never considered speaking to a customer bothersome.

Give us me a call.  (800) 352-2894

-Jay Pierson

You spoke… we listened.  Introducing the SmartVac II Workholding System.  The system was released today with great improvements we think you’ll appreciate.

• Larger surface – 14″ x 9.5″
• New Vacuum Control Unit
• Ability to link multiple bases
• Closer grid spacing
• Longer clamping slots allowing multiple clamps per side
• Ability to control multiple bases from one Vacuum Control Unit
• New system… same affordable price. Starter Package still $995.

Call Pierson Workholding at (800) 352-2894 or visit www.piersonworkholding.com for details.

A customer recently asked me what the motivation was for giving out a free drawing for a great workholding idea.  My simple answer – you just can’t make enough money selling soft jaws.  Add in shipping, labor, packaging and no one wants to pay $25 for a set of jaws that they could make themselves.  I consider this one as “giving back to the community”.

I sincerely hope my soft jaw design starts popping up in metal shop classrooms and trade schools everywhere.  It would delight me to see how they are being used to build the future. Click this link to get them –> Soft Jaws

- JP -