CHICAGO (June 21, 8 p.m. EDT) — Get ready to do a double take if you pass by Epco Machinery LLC's stand (Booth S1459), where the company is showing a 1973 Van Dorn injection press, one side oil-stained and ugly, the other side fully remanufactured and looking brand-new.
"I've always wanted to do this," Epco President Steve Schroeder said at a June 18 news conference, as employees pulled back a silver tarp to reveal the new old machine. "I drew a line right down the middle and everything on the other side is remanufactured."
At the show, the beat-up side faces the aisle, relay switches and all. The new side faces the back of the booth. Not the type of machine you normally see at a trade show, but Schroeder was aiming for pure shock value.
"If I just (remanufactured) the front of the machine, everybody would say, `Oh, nice machine' and keep on walking. I want people to say `What the hell was that?' " he said.
Once visitors step inside Epco's booth, they will see old and remanufactured components side by side. Epco also is introducing its E-500 machine control system, designed by Allen-Bradley as an inexpensive replacement of older controllers and relay switches. Epco is marketing the E series to owners of injection molding and blow molding machines.
At the news conference, Schroeder said the company's service business segment — including controller retrofits, parts and service, and ANSI-151 safety standard audits — are growing much faster than its core business of machine remanufacturing.
