Posted on Wed, Jan 18, 2012 @ 10:18 AM
WAVERLY --- The newest chairman of the president's advisory council at Wartburg College brings experience from the business world to the role.
Mark Hanawalt was appointed by Wartburg President Darrel Colson.
Hanawalt, a graduate of Cornell College with degrees in economics and business, is president of United Equipment Accessories in Waverly. He also serves on the board of trustees for State Bank and Trust in Waverly, is a board member for the Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community and Waverly Community Foundation and serves on the executive board of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
According to the college, the advisory council includes leaders from around the country who represent a wide range of expertise and disciplines
Read More:
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/hanawalt-appointed-chairman-of-advisory-council-at-wartburg/article_78e34d8b-624c-59a0-b5bc-6c4537aee7d5.html#ixzz1jpMgTCxx
Posted on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 @ 03:19 PM
To not only satisfy but to exceed our customer's expectations tops our list of goals at United Equipment Accessories. This means not only providing high quality, high value slip ring assemblies, cable reels and shift controls but exceptional service. Customer Service is not a unique department at UEA but includes every employee. This service starts with a real person, not a computer, answering all calls and a quick transfer of the caller to the correct department for a knowledgeable response. Sales and Engineering are closely related at UEA and work closely together to provide the most accurate quotes for new products as well as providing personal contacts for any questions, revisions, suggestions, etc. from both new and existing customers. Some of our personal contacts go back 30 years or more and relationships with specific customers for over 50 years.
UEA has been building slip ring assemblies for over 50 years and shift controls for nearly as long. Support in the form of records, trouble-shooting, repair parts and repair service are still available for virtually any slip ring, shift control or cable reel assembly ever built at United Equipment Accessories. It is not always easy to determine the exact model of slip ring used on a specific serial numbered machine built in the 70’s, for instance, but with the advent of the cell phone camera, etc., today’s technology has been used to identify some very old and limited production products. Identification and problem resolution questions can come from both a final user or from the service department of a current customer. If the final user needs parts or a replacement assembly, and the machine was built by a current UEA customer, the user is referred to the original manufacturer. In such cases the manufacturer was and is UEA’s customer and retains the right to sell repair parts. If the manufacturer is no longer in business or declines the repair parts business and refers the user back to UEA then repair parts or complete new assemblies can be provided. In a few applications an exact duplication of a complete slip ring or shift control is not possible due to the obsolescence by the manufacturer of specific cable connectors or similar parts. In the case of an obsolete connector the problem can normally be resolved with the use of a reasonable substitute connector attached to the wire harness and supplied with the mating connector and terminals. Repair service is also available at UEA and is always preceded by an evaluation by UEA personnel to determine if repair is justified or if a complete new assembly is the best option.
Personal service always has been and will continue to be a very important ingredient of the total customer experience at United Equipment Accessories.
-Brent Jensen, Head Engineer
Posted on Fri, Dec 09, 2011 @ 11:45 AM
United Equipment Accessories, Inc. President Mark Hanawalt speaks with the Iowa House Leaders! See below link for details.
ABI Leaders Meet with House Leaders
On Wednesday, ABI’s Executive Committee met with Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen and House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer to discuss the 2012 ABI legislative agenda. The ABI leaders stressed a focus on pro-economic growth policies and encouraged less partisanship in the 2012 legislative session. The “Its About Jobs” program was also outlined to encourage House members to visit ABI member facilities in the coming months. The ABI Executive Committee will meet with Senate leadership as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday.
http://www.abievents.org/abienews/120811_ABI%20E-News.html
Posted on Thu, Nov 03, 2011 @ 01:56 PM
United Equipment Accessories, Inc. President Mark Hanawalt serves on the ABI Board of Directors. Check out his story at: http://www.iowaabi.org/index.cfm?nodeID=29724&audienceID=1&action=display&newsID=11741 Note: His first job was sweeping the floors at United Equipment Accessories!!
Name: Mark Hanawalt
Position: President/CEO
Company/ Organization: United Equipment Accessories, Inc.
Address: 2103 E Bremer Ave, PO Box 817
City/State/Zip: Waverly, IA 50677
Telephone: 319-352-3946 Fax: 319-325-2175
E-mail address: markh@uea-inc.com
Web Site address: www.uea-inc.com
Education: BA: Cornell College
Home Town/State: Waverly, IA
About My Family: Married to Barbara - Sons: Michael, Matthew, David, and Daniel
Notable Achievements: 37 years of marriage and helping raise 4 successful sons
Boards or Organizations you serve on: ABI Board of Directors, Waverly Fund Foundation, Waverly Community Foundation, Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community, State Bank and Trust of Waverly
I Drive an: Lincoln MKS
My First Job: Sweeping floors at United Equipment Accessories, Inc.
Biggest Career Break: The opportunity to come back to a family business and make a difference for our employees, the company and my family.
Outside Interests: Musical Arts, Water Sport Activities, Golf, Running, and Tinkering
Something not everyone knows about me: I sang professionally.
What’s the best business advice you ever received? Always have capacity.
Leadership Is: Instilling in people the confidence that you have the vision to take your organization forward.
What company achievements are you most proud of? 5 year annual growth rate of 20%+ from 2003-2008.
Why does your organization support ABI? It is an organization in which you feel you can make a difference for your company, your city, and your state. The networking opportunities to meet exceedingly interesting people are outstanding.
Posted on Wed, Oct 12, 2011 @ 09:24 AM
It seems as if bad news regarding the US economy is hiding around every corner. Shipping jobs off to India, Mexico, China and the list goes on and on. Mean while the soul of US manufacturing seems to be becoming shelled out. How can we compete with rock bottom wages of developing nations? How can we leverage our strengths as a nation? What are our strengths?
Geert Hofstede developed five cultural dimensions and ranked many of the world's countries on these cultural dimensions. The dimensions are as follows: Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation.
The US's highest ranked dimension is Individualism. Countries with high individualism scores tend to exhibit loose ties between individuals and a strong will to be self sufficient. Our lowest score is Uncertainty Avoidance. A nation with low uncertainty avoidance usually has fewer rules and does not attempt to control all outcomes and results; also there is a higher degree of tolerance for a variety of ideas, thoughts and beliefs.
Our highest and lowest cultural dimensions indicated that we are a nation of creators, inventors and innovators, which is true; we create the technologies that the world uses. Our national R&D budget has more or less increased every year since 1953 (data from 2009 onward has not yet been compiled) according to the National Science Foundation. This is an encouraging trend considering our nations strengths.
Here at UEA we embody the innovative spirit that will carry this country forward. With many new products in the pipe-line we are not standing still, we are not resting on our laurels; we are carving out new niche markets. Watch us grow!
-Brady Haugo, Engineer
Posted on Wed, Oct 05, 2011 @ 11:00 AM
A few weeks ago, United Equipment Accessories, Inc. exhibited at the Small and Community Windpower show in Des Moines, IA. The demand for smaller scale wind turbines was represented at the tradeshow with many attendees looking to purchase a small turbine for their home or for their small business. UEA slip rings for small turbines are very highly regarded in quality and design. They send all the power from the generator down the tower and allow the machine head to turn. Many small wind turbine manufactures were present at the show as well. It was a great show as UEA got to speak with current customers and prospective customers.
Every UEA slip ring is custom designed to the customer’s specification!
For more information on our wind turbine slip rings please visit our webpage: www.uea-inc.com/products/slip-rings/wind-turbine-slip-rings.aspx
Posted on Mon, Sep 12, 2011 @ 09:42 AM
Terminal Blocks, A Growing Trend
As customers try to decide on how they will connect to their slip ring assembly, United Equipment Accessories tries to offer the best option to fit their application. The standard connection type for UEA's slip ring assembly is a universal knife disconnect terminal. These terminals have been used for years and have proven to be very reliable; however some customers want easier connectivity.
Depending on the slip ring application and size restrictions, terminal blocks may be able to be incorporated into the stator and rotor connection points. Although this adds an upfront cost, it may be worthwhile to a customer that requires their wire harnesses to be easily disconnected from the slip ring.
Most of the new wind slip ring applications require terminal blocks or plug-in style harness connection points so that costly labor time can be reduced up in the wind turbine tower. Regardless of how reliable the slip ring is, or whether or not the slip ring will need to be replaced, this is a value added feature.
UEA offers a variety of terminal blocks from modular DIN rail designs to panel/chassis mounting designs and most recently purchased a terminal block marking system to allow more customization as well as shorter lead times on custom marker cards.
Josh Bockholt, Sr. Designer - Engineering
Posted on Mon, Aug 29, 2011 @ 08:22 AM
One of the available options that sets UEA slip rings apart from most other slip ring manufacturers are custom wiring harnesses. These harnesses are built in-house to attach to either or both the center leads from the center core stack and/or the brush leads or outer portion of the slip ring assembly. With plugs or connectors added to the outer ends of the harnesses the slip ring assembly becomes a ‘plug and play’ component of the customer’s complete electrical wiring system.
The assembly of the harnesses begins with discrete wires of the correct AWG size, voltage rating, environmental rating, etc. that are often color-coded to meet a customer’s specifications. The harnesses may also include or be composed of one or more jacketed cables of the required size and ratings. Any discrete wires in the harnesses are ink-jet marked with the circuit number to match the correct circuit in the slip ring and also often a customer specified function for that circuit. These markings are spaced approximately every 2.00” along the full length of the wire to make the circuit easily identifiable at any position along the full length of the harness. The wires and cables are cut to a length to meet customer specified overall lengths when attached to the slip ring, bundled for use in either the brush or center harness and supplied to the Harness Layout Department. If any one of a vast variety of connector types or brands is to be attached to the harnesses the insulation is stripped from one end of the individual wires and terminals are attached or the wires are soldered to the connectors. At that point the individual wires from the connector, or connectors if the harness includes more than one, are put through individual holes in a ‘die’ which puts the wires in the correct order to match the center core leads from the core stack of rings and insulators or to provide a more orderly ‘break-out’ of the leads to the brushes. As the wires are pulled back through the die they are taped to keep the wires in the correct order and often a twist is added to the harness, retained by the tape, which adds flexibility to the harness. Some harnesses are supplied with only the taped covering but many also add a heat shrink tubing jacket for better sealing or an over-braided nylon thread covering for increased abrasion resistance. Once the harnesses are completed they are attached to the slip ring assemblies and then attached to one of the test stands for a complete continuity, shorting, and etc. test. It is at this point that the harnesses which include connectors becomes an advantage to UEA as the assemblies with connectors are more easily attached to the test stands using mating harnesses than the assemblies with only the individual wires on the ends of the harnesses.
Custom wiring harnesses are just another of the advantages provided by UEA slip ring assemblies.
Brent Jensen, Director of Engineering
Posted on Thu, Aug 11, 2011 @ 01:29 PM
As the AWEA Small and Community Wind Conference & Exhibition in Des Moines nears, UEA gears up for a slightly different style of wind power.
Just because a small or community wind turbine is smaller in size and power than the industrial grade wind turbines, doesn't mean the slip ring follows act. In fact a lot of the slip rings UEA builds for small wind towers are larger than slip rings built for industrial size towers.
The reason for this is the slip ring going into the small turbines is not the hub slip ring as they are in the large turbines. Most small turbines have no hub slip ring but instead a yaw slip ring that allows the entire machine head to rotate 360degree. Since this is allowing all cabling going down tower to rotate, all the power the turbine is generating must go through the slip ring as well as any other power and or data/signal circuits. In a hub slip ring for the industrial size turbines the slip ring is just sending power out to the hub to the pitch motors which are rotating the blades, and sending some data/signal back.
UEA will be attending and exhibiting at the Small & Community Windpower Show this Sept. 15th-17th in Des Moines. We will be looking to add some new customers in an industry that is still growing and somewhat unknown as compared to the large turbine companies. Stop by and see us at Booth #126!.jpg)
Slip Ring for small wind turbine
Posted on Fri, Aug 05, 2011 @ 01:43 PM
United Equipment Accessories is in the news! This video highlights UEA's family owned business and how it contributes to the low unemployment rate found in Bremer county. United Equipment Accessories has been family owned and operated since opening its doors in 1952. Even though the economy is still somewhat struggling, UEA continues to grow and expand with the future in mind. Bremer County has the lowest unemployment rate found in the state of Iowa, and UEA is proud to be a part of that. Thank you to the Iowa Economic Development Crew for stopping by to highlight UEA's success!
United Equipment Accessories, Inc. is a leader in the production of reliable Slip Rings, heavy-duty Industrial Cable Reels, Decril Cable, Cable Chain/Cable Carriers and durable Shift Controls. UEA's common goal is to work together as a team so each of our products meets our customers needs and is of the highest quality in engineering, design and workmanship. Please contact one of our helpful staff members for your motion application needs at 1-877-352-4739 or by email at info@uea-inc.com.