Hapman Expands Its Sales and Engineering Departments to Meet Growing Industry Demands

Kalamazoo, Mich. – Hapman, an industry leader in conveyors and bulk material handling equipment for 70 years, is pleased to announce the expansion of its sales and engineering departments.

Jim Hughes will transition into a new role in the sales department as Hapman National Sales Director. Additionally, Hapman welcomes Justin Story who will join the sales department as a Sales Manager and Kurtis Mielke who will join the engineering department as a Mechanical Design Engineer.

"We are excited to expand our team to meet the growing needs of our customers and manufacturing partners,” said Greg Patterson, Vice President of Hapman. “Jim has been an asset to Hapman’s growth through partnerships with representatives throughout North America. We are pleased to welcome Justin and Kurtis to the Hapman team and we are confident their backgrounds will add to our team’s broad range of experience and knowledge that enable us to create innovative solutions for our customers."

Hughes has spent the past eight years as National Sales Manager, traveling the country to enhance and expand partnerships across North America with factory representatives. “Establishing local partnerships across North America is a key element in Hapman’s growth and supporting the needs of our customers,” said Hughes. In his new role as National Sales Director, he will oversee Story as the Sales Manager and together they will continue to look for ways to grow relationships with representatives and customers. Before joining Hapman, Mr. Story worked in B2B sales roles and is experienced in managing a sales team. His experience will be the catalyst for his success in building and supporting Hapman’s current and future nation-wide representatives. Justin has a bachelor’s degree in sales and business marketing from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Mielke brings 24 years of manufacturing experience to his new role as a Hapman Mechanical Design Engineer. In his new role, Mielke will be responsible for designing and drawing equipment using Inventor and AutoCAD®. He will work alongside the engineering team to manage projects to ensure Hapman’s custom equipment and systems meet a customer’s needs.

"The growth of our team and the breadth of our equipment offering will help Hapman focus on our main priority: delivering the highest quality equipment and superior customer support,” noted Patterson. “We continue to look toward the future and how Hapman will shape the bulk material handling industry."

Hapman's Tubular Drag Chain Conveyor Gives the S.S. Badger, America's Last Coal-Fired Steamship New Life

Kalamazoo, Mich. — Hapman’s Tubular Drag Chain Conveying System provides a new, sealed ash-handling system for the 62-year-old SS Badger, the last coal-fired steamship operating on Lake Michigan. The conveying system will allow the ship to meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements and continue normal operations beginning in May, 2015. The Badger is a passenger and car ferry that safely transports people and cargo from Ludington, Mich. to Manitowc, Wis. and back.

Hapman’s conveyor system will assist the SS Badger to meet EPA requirements by eliminating the discharge of coal ash from the ship into Lake Michigan. The Badger has four coal-powered boilers on board which it uses to create steam to power the ship. The Hapman Tubular Drag Chain Conveyor System is a completely sealed conveying system that will transport coal ash from each of the Badger’s boilers 180 feet, safely depositing the waste material into one of four containment bins located on the ship’s deck. The ash will remain in the sealed bins until the ship docks in port. The containers will be emptied at shore and the ash will be sold for use in cement-making.

Installation of the conveyor system is underway and will be fully operational when the ship sets sail on May 15, 2015. The SS Badger, a 410-foot carferry launched in 1952, travels between Manitowoc, Wis. to Ludington, Mich. The ferry can carry 600 passengers and 180 vehicles.

Henry Hapman invented the Tubular Drag Conveyor in 1945, as a reliable way to move material across a plant. Today, the Tubular Drag Conveyor successfully handles a diverse range of materials, from hardened steel shot, to peanuts, to chemical powders, to pasta, and more.

The engineering, design, and material handling experience coupled with the unyielding commitment for efficient, reliable operation are the elements that make the Hapman Tubular Drag Conveyors the industry standard mechanical conveyor of modern manufacturing and power production.

Headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich., Hapman provides worldwide tailored equipment and systems to move thousands of distinct materials in the chemical, utility, energy, food, pharmaceutical, plastics, building, minerals and a varying range of other industries.

For more information please contact, Jim Hughes, National Sales Manager for Hapman at 269-382-8269 or email at sales@hapman.com, or visit www.hapman.com