Ram Industries Inc. was chosen as Business of the Year at the ninth Yorkton Chamber of Commerce awards presented last Wednesday.
Linda Turta president of Ram Industries said the award is one she is extremely proud of.
"I take a lot of pride at saying we can do it in Yorkton," she said. "This award means so much. It's reaffirming that business in Yorkton can be successful on a world stage."
Turta, who has been with the company 12 years starting as executive vice-president, said Ram Industries has been focused on expanding not only what it does, but where they market too.
"Our objective is to achieve growth," she said.
Turta said growth comes with new markets.
"It's a diversification of our customer base, moving from primarily agriculture into new areas," she said.
When Ram was started in 1973, by Leon and Ray Malinowski, hydraulic cylinders for farm implement manufacturers, such as Leon Manufacturing, and other short line companies was the focus. Today cylinders for agriculture make up only about 15 per cent of the company's business.
"Business diversification is key for us," said Turta, noting the more sectors they sell cylinders into, the less they are affected by a downturn in one of those sectors.
"The more diverse we are, the more mix we have in what we build the more strength Ram has today and tomorrow."
The company now sells across North America, although their hydraulic cylinders end up around the world. Turta explained, "our customers are other manufacturers They're components of bigger projects." As a result a Ram cylinder can be part of a piece of equipment shipped worldwide.
Turta said cylinders "are not the most expensive, or largest component on a machine, but it won't work without it."
Since the cylinders are an integral part of a machine's operation, and may end up around the world, Turta said they test every unit made before it ships to a customer.
Turta said while they manufacture hydraulic cylinders, they are actually marketing the company's capacity to create cylinders to meet almost every application. She said if a company needs a specific cylinder "We are capable of designing the solution."
To break into new markets Turta said it's a case of letting prospective customers know what Ram is capable of doing.
"It's telling them about what we can do," she said. "It's about establishing a rapport in other industries."
In creating custom cylinders, Turta said they work closely with customers taking their often very specific technical needs and creating what are at times one-off cylinders to meet their specific project.
As a result of diverse customer needs ranging across sectors including oilfields, mining, forestry, marine and transportation, Ram has manufactured cylinder ranging from one-inch bore with a 2.5 inch stroke, to one with a 46.5 foot stroke, with an extended length of 100.3 feet.
"The longest cylinder we made was too big to fit in the building. They had to cut a hole in the wall to accommodate it," said Turta, adding she realized two things when that happened. One it was time to expand.
And two, "the staff was willing to embrace doing things bigger and better than we had before. We were not limited by our physical structure."
Staff is critical to the success of Ram, said Turta, adding they have a great group, but could use more.
Ram Industries currently employees 60 people, and Turta said they could use 10 per cent more both on the factory floor and in the office.
"Finding qualified staff has always been challenging for us," she said, adding to ensure productivity in the face of often tight staffing Ram has added technology, from robotic welders to CNC machining.
Staffing becomes more of an issue with growth into new sectors too, something Ram is working hard to achieve.
"Our employees work directly with customers to determine what their needs are," she said. "Without capable employees we don't have capacity to sell."
Turta said when they become involved with a new sector they create skill sets which can be leveraged to open new areas. As a result she said the company will send on-site "to learn about the market, so we can speak their language." When they learn the needs of the oilfields in Alberta "we can then sell in Texas quite easily."
Since Ram does such a range of cylinders Turta said they always have a different work schedule on the production floor.
"Every day is different," offered Turta, adding that comes from a diverse range of cylinders. "Everyday a customer asks us for something different."
Turta said the diverse requests mean Ram employees have to be adaptive as a group.
"The team at Ram Industries has to be extremely open-minded to meeting those needs," she said. "The more we meet demand it opens up new doors for us."
Ultimately, Turta said in many ways Ram still holds the words of co-founder Ray Malinowski close.
"We can achieve better today than we did yesterday," she said.
