Local family business goes global
ZELIENOPLE — Every Monday through Friday at 6 a.m. another day for a worldwide company with local history begins with the roaring sound of machinery and the burning light of welding torches.
Robinson Fans has been growing for 125 years from a locally based machining business into a global manufacturer for industrial fans with multiple locations.
Carl Staible, president and chief executive officer, said the facility supplies industries within a 500-mile radius.
“When you drive by a plant that has a smokestack, that usually has a fan on it,” Staible said.
The company started in 1892 in Monongahela when Samuel Robinson, an English immigrant, and his son, J.R., began building and manufacturing fans for air to be vented out, making for safer mining conditions.
Robinson came to the United States in 1862 and soon discovered a problem with coal miners breathing in methane gas due to a lack of ventilation.
After that the business, then called the Robinson Machine Co., built fans, steam boilers, engines, hoists, crushers and haulers.
“They then collaborated to write a handbook that was used as a textbook for mine ventilation,” said Tricia Staible, executive vice president. She is Robinson's great-great-granddaughter.
Samuel Robinson retired in 1907, and J.R. started leading the company.
A fire burned the facility in 1921 and the company moved to Harmony, where it operates today. Some original features, including the main loading dock, are still in place.From there, the business has been passed down to family members, generation by generation.Robinson Fans builds large, custom fans of various sizes and repairs fans that companies need.The largest fans the company has made measured 190 inches.Raw material is brought into the facility and placed onto a burn table, which cuts the material.The cut pieces are then used to build whatever component employees need to work on.“These guys (employees) make sure it (material) fits, bend it, mold it and take it where it needs to be,” Tricia Staible said. “It often gets noisy because they're hammering on parts and pieces.”The company has about 180 employees.Types of fans include air foil, axial flow, backward curve and backward incline. Each type has several different designs and blade types.“We have a huge variety within our products,” Staible said. “There are lots of things you can do surprisingly to the design of each of these fans that causes them to be better in different applications.”The fans are then put through various tests to make sure they are up to specifications.“We can do full run tests. We also do air performance tests to make sure it provides the pressure and flow requested,” Staible said. “Sometimes now we do overspeed tests, which means we run them significantly faster than they ever will.”After that, the fans are shipped out to customers.The company builds new fans for new installations in industries.“If there's a new regulation out that requires cleaner air standards, what will happen is the facility will add an air-cleaning component,” Staible said. “In order to push the air through that process, they'll need new fans.”For repairs, the company can replace and refurbish components such as blades and housing and send them back to companies.“With a lot of the industrial complexes reducing their capital budgets, they're trying to make equipment last longer,” Staible said about the need for repairs.
A typical workday for employees is between 6 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., although sometimes overtime is needed to complete projects.Robinson Fans over the years has had multiple locations across the U.S. These include Lakeland, Fla., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Abilene, Texas.Service offices are in Zelienople and Trussville, Ala.Although most of the company's business clientele is in the U.S., some clients are international.Companies in Australia, China, Europe, Morocco and South America among other international areas have custom-made fans from Robinson.Carl Staible said almost no local businesses call for industrial fans. However some clients are based in Pittsburgh.About 150 clients are based in Pennsylvania.Industries the company deals with include steel, cement, mining and automotive among others.He said what makes Robinson Fans successful and has kept it going for nearly 125 years is the need for aftermarket work and being regionally located.“Being regionally located enables us to respond quicker, which is always a desire for people,” he said. “That has been helpful.”He also says the company's attention to customers' needs, quality, competitive prices and knowledge have led to its success.“We have a lot of smart people,” he said.“We value the customer first and place a high value on our employees.”
