by DONNA CURRIE
ANBO Attachments was founded in 1964 by two men who “found a need for things that weren’t on the market,” according to Chris Newman, the company’s president. Since they couldn’t find what they needed, they decided to make the equipment themselves.
Those two men needed equipment for farming, ranching and the timber work that came along with those industries, and they soon found out that other people wanted the same equipment they had made for themselves. So they started manufacturing and selling to others.
Newman joined the company about 12 years ago, after working in business development and custom electronic products. After working in these fields, he began to work with ANBO, a company with quality products but that lacked high market visibility.
He could apply his skills there and the company seemed to be the perfect fit for him. “I’ve always liked situations where you listen to what the customers say and you can do what they ask,” Newman said. “I’ve always loved product and made in the USA.”
The equipment that ANBO manufactures “are compatible with a wide range of machines.” The company has a product line specifically for scrap and recycling that meets the durability needs for steel waste and that provides the material handling capacity that increases the speed at which that work can be done. Most of the attachments fit on the front end of the machines, with the exception things like of backhoe attachments.
Newman described the attachments’ use as “moving things with the dirt, or moving things without the dirt.” In other words, there are a variety of attachments that transport both large and small materials, and there are other attachments that have designs that strain out the target materials while leaving dirt and small pieces behind. “Depending on material sizes, you can determine what won’t fall through, making it perfect for many types of waste recycling,” he said.
The attachments are made in a variety of sizes and widths to match the machine they will be used with “We focus on designs and use the kind of steel that is meant to tolerate long term aggressive use,” Newman said. Customers are interested in attachments that are reliable and will last to avoid expensive down time, but he said, “We design products that are known to outlast the machine they are used on.”
ANBO also makes industrial angle blades, specialty buckets for high capacity, grapples rakes, rock and root extractors. Root and rock rakes are designed to deal with “working above and below the ground.” Related obstacles may include rocks, stumps, roots, brush and trees. Newman explained that “speed is super-important” when a contractor needs to remove those items and get them off the site—a savings in time and money.
Newman said that their grapple rakes are probably one of their best-known products and lead the industry. A rake with a grapple on top, it is “like having fingers and hands. It provides an operator the dexterity to do a lot of little, and big things, with precision,” and can hold the material securely and move it quickly out of the way and place it exactly where it is supposed to go.
While ANBO has a very broad product line, “we can tailor our product line and make adjustments in the way the product is available for the job to be done,” This ability can suit different types of soil, vegetation, roots, sediment, rock, steel, trash and other materials.
To address that diversity, he said that ANBO has “a solution driven business model. We work with customers to give them exactly what they need. Sometimes there just isn’t anything out there,” he said, and that gives ANBO the opportunity to create the solution that will work for the customer’s specific situation – similar to the way the company’s founders built products they needed for themselves.
“I seriously enjoy seeing the company have such a loyal customer base,” Newman said. “A lot of referrals come from word-of-mouth.” Our customers “validate that ‘made in America’ is appreciated” —also our focus on innovation and strict quality design and manufacturing principles.
Meanwhile the company continues to work with heavy equipment manufacturers to innovate as the machines change and the users become more sophisticated.
Many new products have already been added to the line. When Newman first came onboard, the company was making attachments for machines in the middle range of power. Now, they make attachments that fit small machines from 10 to 300 horsepower.
Newman credited the “chain that starts with the suppliers” as well as employees, many of whom have worked in the industries that ANBO serves, for the “product quality and reliability.
Most equipment is sold through distributors, and Newman is expanding that network. He said that making long-lasting products means that “fortunately and unfortunately, our stuff doesn’t break.” ANBO may not sell a lot of replacements, but that pleases distributors because it brings customers back for more. And with the company’s emphasis on durability, that won’t change.
Published in the July 2018 Edition
