A 5-year-old Spokane manufacturer of hand-operated machines that enable one person to move heavy rolls of paper or reels of cable says its growing rapidly and taking away U.S. market share from its chief global competitor.


The company, PowerHandling Inc., makes machines called compact roll movers that allow an operator to move the heavy paper rolls and and cable reels. The roll movers are roughly the size of an upright vacuum cleaner and have a wedge-shaped motorized base that runs on compressed air or battery power.


The company, which employs 14 people, moved recently into a 12,000-square-foot building it purchased at the southwest corner of Market Street and Liberty Avenue south of the Hillyard business district. The structure is twice the size of a building that the company had been leasing on Hayden Road, in Airway Heights, since 2005.


We outgrew that quickly and wanted a larger building of our own, says Brent Crump, PowerHandlings general manager.


Crump declines to disclose the companys revenue, but says PowerHandling Inc. has quadrupled annual sales of its roll movers since 2005, and its work force has nearly tripled since it moved from California.


PowerHandlings roll movers are used mainly in industrial plants that manufacture or use heavy rolls of paper or reels of cable. The paper rolls typically are more than four feet in diameter and weigh up to 20 tons. A cable reel is a giant spool, that can be eight or more feet in diameter and wound with up to 40 tons of cable or electrical wire.


PowerHandling keeps some of the big rolls and reels on hand in its manufacturing area, where employees test each machine before shipping it out.


Companies that use roll movers include paper mills, cardboard manufacturers, and utility companies.


Crump says PowerHandling has a lot of room for more growth by developing new models for new markets. The heavy-duty railroad and general-manufacturing industries are emerging markets that PowerHandling is entering, Crump says.


PowerHandlings roll movers also are used for moving vehicles in plants that make fire trucks, buses, and military equipment.


In addition, PowerHandling is seeking to break into aircraft applications. Crump says a 48-volt battery-operated model that it makes moved a fully loaded cargo jet in a test for a parcel-delivery company.


Greg Newell, the owner of the company, started PowerHandling in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2002, and moved the operation to Airway Heights three years later.


The cost of labor and dirt was cheaper in Spokane than California, Crump says.


Crump says Newell was involved in the cardboard manufacturing industry, which consumes large amounts of rolled paper, when he thought he could improve upon a roll mover, called the Easy Mover, that was the industry standard.


He saw a need to develop a better mousetrap, Crump says. PowerHandling made the first roll mover with a one-piece, solid-welded frame. We have not had one failed frame come back.


The roll movers have a main drive roller that moves the machine along the floor and an exposed roller that spins in the opposite direction and butts against the paper roll or cable reel to roll it at a synchronized rate with the floor roller.


The company makes 16 production models ranging in moving capacity from 10 tons to 40 tons and in price from about $4,000 to $7,000.


PowerHandling can ship out 10 to 20 roll movers per day on the same day they are ordered, Crump says. Orders range from a single unit to more than 100, he says.


PowerHandlings latest advancement is a line of direct-drive models that drive the rollers with a gearbox instead of the chains and sprockets used on its standard models.


Its even more reliable, has less moving parts, and requires less maintenance, Crump says.


Roll movers add to workplace safety by eliminating the need for workers to move big rolls, reels, and other rolling stock by hand.


Workers used to move cable reels by climbing on them and using their weight to get them rolling, Crump says. That type of manual exertion increases the potential for back, hand, and foot injuries, he says.


The compact size of the roll mover and its ease of use make it less likely that a worker will try to move an object singlehandedly in a way that could cause an injury, he says.


At the same time, it can improve efficiency, because it takes only one person to move loads that otherwise might require more people or heavier machinery, such as a forklift, Crump says.


PowerHandlings roll movers are designed to operate at a cautious pace, he says.The operator can vary the speed of a roll mover by squeezing a lever and releasing the hand grip, but the machine tops out at an average walking speed for safety reasons.


The typical move of a roll or reel in a manufacturing plant is less than 20 feet, Crump says. It averages about 6 feet.


The Swedish company that makes the Easy Mover product is PowerHandlings largest competitor. Crump claims, though, that the Spokane company has stolen away about 80 percent of Easy Movers U.S. market share for roll movers in industries that use paper rolls and cable reels.


PowerHandling is increasing its presence in the rest of the industrialized world, too, he says.


We build them here and ship them worldwide, he says. Were selling into Russia and Turkey and all over.


The clocks in his office let him know the current time in Spokane; Bangkok, Thailand; Sydney, Australia; and Brussels, Belgium. Crump begins his work day at 6 a.m. to attend to the needs of European sellers and customers.


Newell, a native of Australia, returned to that country in 2005 and makes his home there, but Crump says, He visits twice a year, and Im in daily contact with him.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at [email protected].