Necessity is the mother of invention, according to an English proverb.
For OSC Inc., that meant becoming self-reliant when its machines failed under extreme circumstances.
In business for approximately 18 years, OSC is not a typical specialty contractor. Whether it be environmental cleanup, building drill pads at the Marcellus shale project, or some of the largest demolition projects in the country, OSC has a wide range of services and expertise.
During the first 10 years of the company’s existence, work was focused primarily in New York. Over the past decade, however, it has tackled projects as far away as Winnipeg, Manitoba and Aratu, Brazil.
“As a construction company we have never had relationships with equipment suppliers in the traditional sense of the word,” said Jon M. Williams, CEO. “Due to the nature of our work and the geography that OSC covers, we always used multiple brands and worked with various suppliers.”
“OSC is involved in projects that put the machines under tremendous stress. Many dealers do not want to get involved with our business primarily because manufacturers cannot stand behind products that are used in such extreme circumstances. This has always created a difficult set of challenges for us.”
“When our machines break, and by break I mean we have snapped the stick on a 150,000-pound excavator, we have had to become very self-reliant. Over the years our master mechanic, Pat Krantz, and our master fabricator, Lenny Kostelnik, have seen it all and have addressed situations that many equipment dealers have never come across, like massive hydraulic excavator cylinders that have been bent in half. In the case that I am referring to, we actually rebuilt the hydraulic cylinder on site and repaired a twisted boom. That particular repair on what was a brand new machine consumed 500 pounds of welding rod. That instance was our baptism by fire and a lesson that we needed to be self-reliant. We came to realize that these challenges would be part of our business, so we started to build an infrastructure that would allow us to be completely self-reliant.”
OSC’s first steps toward self-reliance came when it invested in a fabrication shop that would allow it to make any repair and to custom build nearly any part imaginable, according to the company.
“Our company handles over $70 million worth of contracting projects a year and from a repair standpoint we are almost completely self-reliant. The fleet that we own is made up of over 300 machines and 500 attachments. We have gotten so good at custom fabrication that many of these attachments we have designed and built ourselves,” said Williams.
As the tooling in OSC’s fabrication shop and its capacities grew, word got out among local contractors about some of the company’s capabilities. Soon OSC had a number of significant projects from outside contractors.
It was then that OSC decided to open its shops to outside parties.
“Soon we were regularly selling cutting edges, buckets, pins, bushings and many other standard items, which we were manufacturing for our own fleet. In fact, we currently have pins available to fit every bucket and every machine made. Bucket repairs and cylinder rebuilds are also provided. At one point we had 30 different projects outside of our fleet that we were working on. That is what led us to conclude that our people and our facilities would be well suited to opening up a dealership for equipment sales, custom fabrications and repairs,” said Williams.
OSC’s construction equipment facility, which was only 25,000 sq. ft., soon became overcrowded and the company began looking for a new facility. This also was the time OSC Inc. opened a new division: OSC Manufacturing and Equipment Services Inc.
Williams continued, “We purchased a facility which allows us 50,000 square feet of parts, service and repair fabrication space. To better serve our repair customers, we started renting equipment that was not being utilized out of our construction company’s fleet. As we saw that demand grow we started to search to represent some manufacturers of new construction equipment.
“For an excavator line, we have become an LBX dealer. We found the LBX to be a very well designed Japanese excavator that offers tremendous reliability, is structurally sound, and meets all of our assembly protocols. LBX demonstrated to us their ability to help us support our customers and provide them with a very reliable machine.
“We have also decided to represent Bell trucks. John Deere had formerly been branding Bell trucks through their sales network. John Deere and Bell recently separated when John Deere decided to engineer and construct their own trucks. Bell trucks feature a Mercedes Diesel engine and meet all Tier IV requirements. Its Mercedes-Allison drive train gives the machine 25 to 30 percent better fuel mileage than any other truck that we have used. The truck also features integrated scales and an information control system that is second to none, and Bell Trucks are priced very competitively.
“For more price conscious customers, we have also decided to represent the SANY line.
“SANY is the 4th largest manufacturer of construction equipment in the world, and they recently began marketing their excavator line in North America. Their machines are well designed, are built with many common components, and are still available with a Tier III engine.
“Finally, to help pull us all together, we were recently able to hire Tony Cordaro to head up our sales. Tony has a long history with John Deere and other significant manufacturers of construction equipment.”
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