EAST SYRACUSE — When Nathan Andrews took over as president at Morse Manufacturing Co., Inc. at the beginning of the year, the transition didn’t drum up any problems, he says. “There are a lot of family businesses around, and a lot of them don’t go through very smooth transactions,” Andrews says. “We’ve been blessed in […]
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EAST SYRACUSE — When Nathan Andrews took over as president at Morse Manufacturing Co., Inc. at the beginning of the year, the transition didn’t drum up any problems, he says.
“There are a lot of family businesses around, and a lot of them don’t go through very smooth transactions,” Andrews says. “We’ve been blessed in the smoothness at which this transition has progressed.”
Morse manufactures equipment to move, roll, tumble, and pour from industrial drums — containers that can hold a variety of contents, from dry material to oil. Nathan Andrews stepped in as president of the company Jan. 1 after his father, Robert Andrews, retired from the position.
Robert Andrews is Morse’s sole owner and had been its president since 1980. He will continue to serve as the chairman of the company’s board of directors, a role that does not require him to be involved in its daily operations.
The manufacturer’s day-to-day workings are now the responsibility of Nathan Andrews. He has been preparing for that charge for four years, since he was named vice president at Morse Manufacturing.
Nathan Andrews is trying to bring new technology to Morse. He sparked the manufacturer to start using Quick Response Codes, or QR Codes, in its marketing materials so customers can visit the company’s website on smartphones by scanning the codes.
He is also attempting to increase Morse’s international advertising. Morse will start with advertising in Canada and move into Central America, Andrews says.
Between 20 percent and 30 percent of Morse’s sales are international, Andrews says. Half of international sales are in Canada, he adds.
Andrews declined to share the manufacturer’s revenue totals. But he projected the firm would generate revenue growth between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2012.
Morse Manufacturing has 40 employees. The company does not have any plans to add workers in the immediate future, according to Andrews.
However, Morse would like additional facility space, he says. The company currently operates in a 35,000-square-foot building it owns at 727 W. Manlius St. in the village of East Syracuse. Andrews would like an additional 15,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet, he says.
“There are some machinery processes that we’d love to have the capability of doing in-house, but we don’t have the real estate for it right now,” he says. “Robotics welding, we could definitely use that. There’s some laser-cut machinery that we’d love to get into. We’d love to have a powder-coating system in place here for painting.”
Morse Manufacturing is not “actively looking” for opportunities to expand its facility at this time, but the company is keeping its options open, Andrews says. It would consider on-site expansion options or relocating if the right opportunity comes up, he says, adding that the company wants to stay in Central New York.
Even after discussing expansion, Andrews says he does not want to drastically overhaul operations at Morse Manufacturing.
“If you take it too dramatically in a different direction, it can be trying for an organization,” he says. “We haven’t really wanted to change things too dramatically.”
The company has found a niche after facing stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers in the late 1990s, Andrews says. Morse Manufacturing now focuses on specialized equipment that can be customized, he says.
“We get into spark-resistant applications or wireless applications, or applications where companies want to integrate our equipment into their larger manufacturing systems,” he says. “Instead of making 20 different drum-handling products, now we make over a hundred different models.”
The company’s transition between presidents was helped by advice it received from the Manufacturers Association of Central New York and the New York Family Business Center, Andrews says.
Morse Manufacturing was founded in 1923 as a producer of custom-made metal parts and stamping. In 1943, Nathan Andrews’ grandfather, Ralph Andrews, joined the firm, and it started making equipment to move drums.
