In December, our President / CEO Dan Kazmierczak announced that he will be retiring after 50 years of service to Binkelman. The company will remain in family hands, though.
Dan’s son Brian and daughter Rebecca will assume ownership in 2024. Get to know our new owners below.
Rebecca Conrad
Rebecca has been with Binkelman for 25 years. After graduating with a Business degree from Miami University, she moved to Chicago where she worked with the consulting firms Price Waterhouse and Hewitt Associates.
Since joining our team in 1999, she’s learned the business by working in different departments, including customer service and then as an Account Manager. While she always had a hand in marketing and event planning, she took on the Marketing Director role full time in 2018.
Rebecca has volunteered with many organizations. She served as a board member for the Anthony Wayne YMCA and assisted with fundraising for many youth sports teams. She was the first and – to date – the only female president of the Toledo Country Club, which was established in 1897. She currently sits on the board of The First Tee of Lake Erie.
“I’m very excited about working with my brother Brian to continue building on our parents’ legacy,” said Rebecca. “They grew a company with the highest reputation in our industry and I’m proud to help carry that forward.”
Brian Kazmierczak
After earning his degree in Computer Science from DePaul University, Brian served as a Systems Support Specialist for Boldt Metronics International near Chicago.
He worked at Binkelman for a few years on IT systems and programming custom software. He then founded Rubber Tree Systems as a side project, eventually growing the company to include more than 1,200 distributors. Brian sold the successful company after 17 years at the helm. Rubber Tree still serves the fast-paced tech industry.
“During my time at Rubber Tree, I worked closely with hundreds of distributors across the country,” said Brian. “I saw a lot of great businesses and observed the cultures of companies with five employees and those with thousands of team members. I think the culture at Binkelman stacks up against the best of them.”
Brian added that “this is an exciting point in our company’s timeline. I want to congratulate my dad on 50 years at Binkelman. What a fantastic achievement! I was lucky enough while growing up to watch both my mom and dad develop all aspects of the business, from finance, customer service, supplier relationships and employee engagement. A lot of what they taught me helped me build my own company. It’s nice that I’m now bringing that knowledge back to Binkelman. I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my career, as well as continuing to deliver quality products, services and support to our valued customers.”
Sure, the temptation to craft your own pulleys from the wood scraps in your backyard shed may be strong, but resist it. Wooden pulleys are so 1850s. Instead, focus all your pulley interest on the Binkelman Pulley Assembly Center.
We stock drum and wing pulleys in many sizes, along with shafting, couplings and bearings. That should be cool enough, but there’s more.
Authorized Dodge representatives have trained the Binkelman assembly team. And with our rigorous quality assurance process, you can be sure the pulleys we assemble will live up to even the highest standards.
Since we maintain such a large selection of conveyor pulleys and provide quick delivery, you’ll always have easy access to the essential conveyor components you need, including idlers and conveyor belt. We can even ship conveyor pulleys loose or as an assembly. And, of course, the Binkelman Conveyor Service team can install all of those components as well.
Since the Binkelman team’s got all your pulley assembly needs covered, you can spend your spare time on other manly pursuits, such as throwing axes or training hawks to beat up people. The pulleys you need are just a phone call away.
Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene. You couldn’t shove more hyphens into that name if you tried.
Some of the guys in our back room thought it might be those hyphens that make UHMW such a strong material. We didn’t have the heart to tell ‘em that’s dumb.
UHMW does have many applications in many industries, though, including aggregate, ore and mining, agriculture, food and beverage handling, concrete, forestry and others. We can access UHMW for you in several forms, from full, half and quarter sheets to extruded rod stock, dowelled rod stock, tubing stock and more.
What can UHMW do for you? That’s a great question. Thanks for asking. Let’s take a look.
Aggregate – Sand & Gravel Industry
Duravar® UHMW-PE makes it easier to move wet sand and smooth and fine aggregate over metal surfaces. It also reduces or even eliminates corrosion and wear on your equipment.
Use UHMW-PE in these applications:
Bucket Conveyors Chain Wear Plates
Conveyor Belt Rollers Belt Wiper Blades
Filter Scrapers Idler Pulleys
Rope Guides Filter Liners
Shaker Screen Guides Wear Bars & Plates
Chain Guides Chain Sprockets
Belt Scrapers Filter Plates
Filter Wipers Idler Rollers
Rope Pulleys Shaker Screen Bar
Filter Guide Shoes Wear Guides
Ore & Mineral Mining Industry
When your surfaces are lined with Duravar® UHMW-PE, you’ll notice less sticking, holdup and bridging, as well as faster product flow and movement, lower energy consumption and quieter underground mechanical operations. All without the need for lubrication.
Incorporate UHMW into your drag bucket liners, slurry pump parts and any of these application:
Guide Belt Scrapers Idlers & Pulleys
Chain Wear Plates Conveyor Bucket Liners
Guides & Skirt Boards Impact Pads & Bumpers
Belt Rollers Sprockets
Scrapers & Wipers Agitators
Liners & Plates Shoes & Tracks
Even More Uses for UHMW
Sawmills use UHMW for their log decks. Asphalt and cement plants use it for bin and chute liners. Sugar plants line screw conveyor troughs with UHMW. And what would a list like this be without a mention of potato farmers. They use it with gravity wagons, transitions chutes and conveyor belts.
Your Binkelman Account Rep will talk your ear off about UHMW if you let him.
When you’re dealing with costly, unexpected downtime – no matter what the reason – you need a partner that prioritizes and actively prepares for emergencies.
That’s Binkelman. Here are a few reasons you should call us.
We define an emergency as any scenario in which a customer’s production process stops because of unexpected downtime. A recent example: a fire at a customer’s facility damaged several conveyors. Our team came into the shop that same day (a Sunday), cut and slit four conveyor belts and delivered them within three hours of the customer’s initial call.
We know that most emergencies involve conveyor belts and pulleys, bearings, gearboxes and/or motors, so we make sure we have quick access to all those parts and that we have the experts standing by to install them.
At the start of each year, we publish an internal on-call schedule, assigning a point person to cover each of the 52 weeks. When an emergency call comes in, the point can quickly source the needed products – if they’re not already in one of our warehouses – and put the repair process in motion.
Yes, we work quickly to fix emergencies, but we’ve also joined with leading manufacturers to apply technology and smart solutions to proactive equipment maintenance. We’re working to be able to alert a company’s maintenance team about potential equipment failures well before they happen.
At Binkelman, we approach our customers’ emergencies with a team philosophy. All of our employees are willing to pitch in to make sure you get back up and running and that we exceed your expectations.
Contact your Binkelman Account Rep for more details.
Pat Pieton (pronounced PEE-ton) is someone you should know and not just because his last name suggests that he has 2,000 pounds of urine inside of him. (He claims he doesn’t.)
As the leader of the Binkelman Conveyor Maintenance team, Pat brings decades of experience to each project. There’s a lot of knowledge trapped under Pat’s hat, so let’s see if we can get at some of it.
What are the services you provide for clients?
Pat: Everything conveyor-related: belt replacement, mechanical and hot vulcanizations, plus general troubleshooting. We install belts, saddles, Dutchman, rollers, bearings and pulleys. We work on conveyor tracking issues and, in some instances, we can remove the old rolled belt from the customer’s property.
What’s one of your team’s specialties?
Pat: We’re very versatile, especially when it comes to installing new conveyor belts that need hot vulcanized splices or mechanical splices (Flexco or Super Screws). Our team is broken into two groups: one handles conveyor belt installation and the other focuses on conveyor maintenance and repairs. With the two teams we can divide and conquer or combine our resources when needed. Having two teams is very unique and allows us to safely and efficiently accomplish tasks that other belt installers can’t take on.
What is your typical response time to a customer’s request for service?
Pat: Our Belt Crew needs a day or two’s notice and the Conveyor Crew needs a day. We know how expensive downtime can be, so we always work with our customers to get them up and running as quickly as possible.
Any truth to the rumor that your body can store a super-huge amount of liquid waste?
Pat: Next Question.
What’s new and improved with the Conveyor Maintenance team?
Pat: We’ve added a conveyor repair team to handle welding, fabrication and general conveyor troubleshooting, repair and maintenance. Each member of that team has several years of aggregate maintenance experience.
And we purchased two state-of-the-art vulcanizers, a service truck with auto crane, a shop welder and a plasma cutter to support both service teams.
Binkelman is committed to conveyor maintenance for the long haul and we’re proving that by investing in the people, the training and the equipment to provide the best service in the area.
Contact your Binkelman Account Rep for assistance.
Hey! Let’s talk about conveyor pulleys! C’mon, it’ll be fun!
At Binkelman, we carry Dodge conveyor pulleys for two reasons: 1) they’re great pulleys and 2) someone at Dodge has embarrassing pictures of us and a donkey at a Christmas party, so…
Drum Pulleys
Available in many common sizes or custom-made to your specs, Dodge heavy-duty and mine-duty extra drum pulleys are known for their high performance. They meet or exceed CEMA application standards for use with conveyor belts rated up to 750 PIW by 131 kN/m. Drum pulleys are definitely the most outgoing of all the Dodge pulleys, which means they’re a hoot at parties.
Wing Pulleys
Dodge wing pulleys meet or exceed CEMA application standards for use with conveyor belts rated up to 450 PIW by 78 kN/m. They, too, are available in stock or custom sizes and highly regarded for their performance. It’s rumored that, inside each wing pulley, the Dodge team hides a treasure map that leads to a pirate’s booty somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. We’re not sure we believe that, though.
Bushings and Hubs
Dodge bushings and hubs – also known as hubs and bushings – are designed to endure rugged environments, while extending the service life of your conveyor pulleys. Dodge’s XT bushings can be used to replace bushings on other brands of conveyor pulley products. And hubs can be used in fan rotors, impellers and agitators that need to be mounted securely to the shaft. Together, bushings and hubs – or hubs and bushings, if you prefer – pack a dynamite one-two punch that we think is outta sight!
By the way, the Binkelman team can work with Dodge to build an entire pulley assembly for you or replace just the pulley. Pretty neat, right? Contact your Binkelman Account Rep for assistance.
Headaches and car crashes and explosive diarrhea can all make for a bad day. Throw in a tussle with the mother-in-law and you may feel like jumpin’ off a bridge.
But PPI Retro Rolls give you the strength to get through life’s rough patches. That’s because you can use proven PPI Idler Rolls in any manufacturer’s frames. How ‘bout that for flexibility? You’ll also enjoy PPI’s famous durability and low maintenance, all without the need to replace existing frames.
Is that better than a sack of hot dogs or what? But wait! There’s more.
Just look at PPI Retro Rolls’ terrific features:
The heavy-duty ball bearings are sealed for life, so they’re maintenance free.
The Low Total Indicator Run-out means good balance and lower horsepower usage.
The proven seal system ensures a long, trouble-free service life, even in punishing conditions.
And if you’re the kind of guy, gal or gaseous vapor that won’t settle for a one-size-fits-all solution, get a load of these options:
They’re available for all major idler brands and in all standard CEMA classes.
Choose from different engineered shaft and bearing combinations.
Quarter-inch wall tubing, lagging and Poly Sleeve are all available.
Choose slotted shaft ends or adjustable adapter nuts.
Your Binkelman Account Rep will be as happy as all-get-out to tell you more. Contact him today.
It sounds painful, doesn’t it? Crimpnology. But, actually, it’ll make you feel quite good.
It’s a technology that lets us build an integrated, leak-free hose system using any brand or type of hose. And since Crimpnology is a proprietary process developed by Campbell Fittings, anyone using it needs to be a Campbell Authorized Distributor, like us. That’s your assurance that you’re getting a safe and effective air, steam, chemical, petroleum or specialty hose assembly.
And if all that doesn’t give you a big case of the happies, you might just be a crusty, ol’ bastard incapable of experiencing hose-related joy.
By the way, all Campbell fittings, couplings, ferrules and sleeves work as integrated parts to meet the published performance criteria. The turn-in end of the ferrule locks into the interlock groove on all fittings and couplings to ensure a 360° ferrule-to-fitting interlock. And the coupling/fitting serrations provide the ultimate in hose retention and sealing.
The endorphins are really kickin’ in now, aren’t they?
Your Binkelman Account Rep is standing by, panting with anticipation in hopes of telling you more about Crimpnology.
Raise your hand if you like saving money.
We’ll assume your hand is raised and remind you that cutting your electricity usage saves money. And an easy way to use less electricity is to optimize the performance of the belts driving your machines. When those belts are tensioned properly, you can enjoy significant energy savings, and that will leave a lot more money for company pizza parties.
Here’s an example from Continental:
In the cement industry, V-belts drive machines that commonly operate at 75 kW (~100HP). If that type of machine runs ’round the clock every day, it will use 657.000 kWh of electricity per year.
Assuming drive system friction results in a natural energy loss of 5 percent, that drive will transmit a total of 624.150 kWh to the driven part. But slippage between an improperly tensioned belt and a pulley can require an 8.5 percent increase in electricity to operate the machine – an additional 53.000 kWh annually.
That’s the same amount of energy typically used by 32 people in a year; roughly the energy consumption of a medium-sized apartment building – all wasted by a single set of V-belts!
The good news is that the first of many pizza parties is just around the corner, thanks to Continental’s Make Power Smart app.
The Make Power Smart app helps you optimize your energy and MRO investments by making it easy to evaluate drives, install belts properly and reach out for assistance.
The app can calculate the target belt tension, measure key dimensional figures of the belt drive and determine the misalignment between two pulleys. Ideally, you’d be able to order your pizza right from the app, too, but that’ll have to wait until version 4.0.
Contact your Binkelman rep today for help in analyzing current or new drives, and we’ll provide recommendations for that drive and its application.
Conti Repair is a two-component, no-VOC urethane material that makes it easy to quickly repair conveyor belts, elastomeric products and concrete.
When dispensed through the product-specific gun, the urethane in each of the two tubes automatically blends. It can then be applied to repair burns, impact damage, skirt liner wear, even punctures. The product hardens in just two minutes and is ready to buff in 30 minutes.
The resulting repair is flexible and permanent and it won’t shrink.
The Binkelman team has been using Conti Repair to fix damaged belts and cover hinge splices with great success.
Repair, bond and seal many types of surfaces quickly with no messy measuring. Ask your Binkelman Account Manager about Conti Repair.
