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Situation

For the past five years, Hoosier Tank has struggled with determining the correct avenue for growth. The options all required different competencies, and the Purdue team helped work through some of the hurdles that each option placed before the company.

A separate situation came up just last year when Hoosier Tank experienced a sudden rash of product failures in the field, and Purdue assisted in conducting a failure analysis to not only present to the customer base, but also to provide a better understanding of the product.

Solution

In the first project, Hoosier Tank reviewed potential alternative materials for our steel tanks. Purdue provided analysis of different plastic possibilities based on the needs of our products. Ultimately, the company decided not pursue the plastic tank option, but the information was enlightening and helpful in making that decision.

The second project helped in the tank assembly process.  As the company looks to further grow in the trucking market, one major obstacle is the orientation of threaded openings on the tank and the tight tolerances required by the industry. Purdue helped in identifying a new way to line these openings up correctly using laser sites mounted to the assembly apparatus. Hoosier Tank still uses this process today and have found it extremely beneficial in improving product quality.

Results

The largest benefit to date is in customer retention. One of the company’s top 5 customers was having issues with their threaded opening alignment capabilities and the laser light solution identified by Purdue was part of a corrective action presented to the customer that allowed Hoosier Tank to keep the business.  This company still represents a top 5 account and 2.5% of total revenue.

The work done on the product field failures also helped retain business and limit exposure to potential claims in the future. Hoosier Tank was able to present the findings to customers and further prove that the source of the failures was not due to defects in the product, but rather some other component of the trailer.

Testimonial

“The Purdue team has been fantastic to work with over the past several years.  Everyone from Dietra Rosenkoetter who introduced us to the program to James Stratton and Craig Zehrung who were our project contacts for all three of our encounters.  I would highly recommend this program to anyone in need of a fresh set of eyes on a project, problem or process.”

Andy Kinnucan, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Hoosier Tank