Shop-Vac employees work on the assembly line Feb. 16, 2022 at Williamsport. The company is currently looking for new employees and has reopened under a new management.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
The Shop-Vac plant at 2323 Reach Road sounded encouraging. Employees were also busy assembling vacuums and packing them for shipment.
Shop-Vac had a hiccup in production after the former company ownership’s abrupt closure of the plant in September 2020.
Hangzhou Equipment Holdings LLC was a subsidiary to Hangzhou GreatStar Industrial Co. Ltd. and GreatStar Tools USA. It acquired substantial assets of Shop-Vac Corp.
As part of the acquisition, GreatStar took ownership of the company’s assets, including the Williamsport plant and hired a number of employees who were separated after the company’s shut down.
Charlie Lawrence, chief operating officers of Shop-Vac USA LLC, was pleased with the churning of machines and the factory workers who made the product line this week.
Lawrence stated that he was looking to hire 25 additional workers to increase the number of people employed at the plant, a 10-percent increase.
If he doesn’t, it can delay product shipments, he said.
Hopefully that doesn’t happen, and Lawrence and his team have done what they can to make sure of it, by extending outreach with resources that can help him to recruit employees.
Resources include the Sun-Gazette, use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, business networking and joining the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce and reaching out to schools such as Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Recent mergers with other businesses keep the paychecks printing.
In one large section of the factory, for example, S-K Tools manufacturing occupies 40,000 square feet.
As you walk by the injection molding machinery, you can hear a clinking sound as metal strikes metal.
Lawrence smiled at Lawrence’s noise.
It was the production and dropping of stainless steel sockets down a conveyor belt into storage bins.
Behind the machine, an employee watched as the metal was cut and formed into sockets for thousands, if certainly millions, of plumbers, carpenters and other handymen.
S-K is the acronym for Sherman-Klove Co. It was a business that produced munitions for World War I and other screw-machine products. The giant shop also made tool parts for suppliers across the country.
“This city needs it,”Lawrence spoke of the production lines being in motion.
He’s excited to tell more people about the Shop-Vac story and wants employees with the right attitude who want to join a winning team.
Shop-Vac was established in 1953 by Martin Miller, a mechanical engineering engineer who patented it.
The vacuum quickly replaced the broom or dustpan.
It could clean wood chips and metal chips in places like high school workshops. In 1969, the corporation established its world headquarters at Williamsport. They produced the Shop-Vac brand and also private labeled vacuums under the names Craftsman, Black & Decker and Montgomery Wards.
The wet/dry vacuum has evolved over the years. Shop-Vac introduced a pump vacuum in 1998 that could pick up water from flooded areas, pump it out up to 60 feet, and so on.
The machine proved to be extremely useful in areas of central Pennsylvania that experience periodic flooding.
It’s still considered a Godsend.
A 300,000-square feet warehouse is located inside the facility covering 350,000 square feet. It houses the product line.
Another area of the plant houses 40 injection molding and blow molding machines.
This is where tanks, nozzles or hoses are made.
In the distance, workers are busy packing the components and putting them into boxes for shipment.
They wave their arms in the direction of Lawrence and his tour. Some are moving their bodies side to side, while others are quickly assembling the cardboard boxes. Still others are stacking the vacuum, parts, instructions, and warranty in the boxes.
They move along a line to be stacked and ready for shipment or stored for emergencies.
In case of natural disasters, 100,000 vacuums are still in the plant.
Nearly everyone has or knows someone who owns a Shop-Vac. The Shop-Vac is available in 50 sizes and can be used by anyone, from the grandmother who spills Cheerios on the floor to the industrial worker who needs to clean up ash from industrial sites.
To remain competitive, the factory tries to produce the majority of the vacuums at the plant site. This includes stainless steel cages, plastic fans, and hoses.
The motors — that power the product lines — are manufactured by a sister company in China, and most of the raw materials are U.S. suppliers.
40 mammoth presses are located in another area of the factory, where they produce the plastic parts for the vacuums.
These are turned on, and due to their energy-intensive nature, they are left on for days or weeks in three shifts.
The coupling attaches the top to the injection mold used for the production of the plastic parts. It is attached to the top by a huge chain with a hook that lifts it up.
The air temperature is comfortable. New employees are trained on slow runs and mentored before being brought in for regular assembly.
Some of the employees have been with this company for over 30 years. There are a mixture of older and younger employees.
“We promote a positive work environment and culture,”Lawrence said.
The employees participated in a community tent sale, held picnics, and played an important role in increasing production to ensure that vacuums are readily available at local retailers.
The Shop-Vac website offers vacuums and parts for sale. There is also a shop and 1-800 customer support line.