Uniloy putting emphasis on other portions of business at NPE2024 | Plastics News

Oct 19, 2024

Uniloy CEO Gary W. Riley Sr. says the machinery maker has been building its service operations.

Orlando, Fla. — Uniloy Inc. is a blow molding machinery maker that didn't bring a blow molding machine to NPE2024.

And for good reason.

The Tecumseh, Mich.-based company — with a backlog of equipment orders extending throughout next year — instead focused on different aspects of the business, including service, spare parts and mold services, this time around.

It is a move designed to highlight the changes the company has made to better support machinery already deployed around the world, CEO Gary W. Riley Sr. said.

Uniloy wants to show customers the company is listening when it comes to portions of the business that he said have been underrepresented in the past.

After-sales service was not as big of a focus in the past for Uniloy, said Riley, who has been with the company for almost two years. Conversations with customers since his arrival made it clear that changes needed to be made.

"I've met a lot of customers," Riley said. "And our customers told us, 'Yeah, you make great machines, but you don't do a particularly good job of taking care of them after the sale when we have problems.'

"We looked at our business and turned it upside down," he said.

Uniloy has spent millions of dollars building up an inventory of spare parts so the firm can now be more responsive to customer needs when a problem does arise.

The company also has developed a network of technicians far beyond what it once had — Riley estimated there are eight times as many — to respond to customer locations when needed.

Uniloy also is investing in creating an inventory of molds for larger customers to allow for a quick swap when there is a problem with a mold in the field. This gets a processor back up and running more quickly while Uniloy then works on repairs.

"We created a new vision, mission statement. Our vision is to provide solutions that create value for our customers and provide a safe and secure working environment for our people and partners. So we changed the business around, focused on the customer, not necessarily the machine, so we want to use our products to solve those problems," Riley said.

Widening the focus to place more emphasis on services is a significant opportunity for Uniloy, the CEO said.

"Parts and service create a lot more value for our customers and, frankly, for us. And if I could add ... we were fortunate enough to have over 6,000 machines installed out in the market globally. So our opportunity there to serve our customers is big," Riley said.

Part of the new approach will include the launch of an online parts catalog later this year, a move designed to make the ordering process easier for customers.

"I think the big thing we've done today is we've stepped back and looked at how do we have happy, satisfied customers," Riley said.

The CEO pointed to an unnamed major user of Uniloy machines in Asia where the increased focus on customer service already has paid off. Riley flew to meet the company's CEO and talk about problems, then followed up by sending a team to assess the company's equipment free of charge. This resulted in not only selling five new machines but also what he called a "major" repair and refurbish business as a result of the added attention Uniloy gave to the firm.

"We want to grow our business by taking better care of our customers, providing those solutions to the customer that makes our businesses better," Riley said. "And that's what's driven a huge increase in backlog in our equipment business and what's driving our continued expansion into the parts and service mold areas."

Uniloy Inc.

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