Lee Industries, Inc. Expands Lines To Include 1,500 And 2,000-Gallon Kettles
Philipsburg, PA -- "Lee Industries loves a challenge," says vice president Greg Wharton. "Especially a big one."
The challenge came from a valued customer: Build a 1,500-gallon production vessel with rigorous capacity and design criteria. "There is probably no company in our field that would attempt to build what this food processor was looking for," notes Joe Bordack, Lee's chief engineer and manufacturing manager. "Of course, Lee prides itself on meeting customer needs and expectations—no matter how big. So our team went to work."
"In the new lean manufacturing world, being able to fabricate larger vessels allows our customer to produce more product without having to use multiple vessels," says Wharton. "The bottom line is that being able to produce product in a single larger vessel is more cost-efficient for our clients than multiple smaller kettles."
The delivered product was the industry's first-ever 1,500-gallon capacity hemispherical kettle. The unit also features Lee's patented Tri-Mix Turbo-Shear, one of the most versatile, high performance mixing systems available today. Wharton adds, "This truly represents an unprecedented process systems blending of capacity, versatility and functionality. This product exemplifies the Lee Industries commitment to the success of our customers by providing world-class high quality stainless steel process equipment and service."
Underscoring the point, notes Bordack proudly, "We've just built two 2,000 gallon Twin Action kettles out of Incolloy—no doubt the first ever!"
Wharton also envisions this innovative spirit infused into the acquired GPE (formerly Groen) line of agitator kettles. GPE's products, a trusted brand in the food industry for nearly a century, will be vastly improved and expanded. This will include updated technology, kettle sizes and warranty and field service capabilities, while maintaining the highly popular core agitator design.
About Lee Industries, Inc.
For over 80 years, Lee Industries, Inc. has been designing stainless steel kettles to meet all processing requirements. Built to ASME specifications in various jacket styles and pressure ranges, Lee Industries hemispherical kettles are available with a wide variety of accessories and may be modified or custom built to customer specifications. Lee Industries manufactures custom designed processing equipment, including kettles, tanks, and agitation systems for the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. For more information, visit www.leeind.com.
About GPE
GPE (Groen Processing Equipment), formerly known as Groen, Division of Dover Corp., is a division of Lee Industries. For more information, visit www.gpeequipment.com.
SOURCE: Lee Industries