Recently, Sunpro employee Austin Hatch spearheaded a continuous improvement effort to solve a challenge the company was facing with a scissor lift trailer in St. George, Utah.
When it rained, the lift could not be loaded onto the trailer due to slippery conditions, and if the lift battery died, there was no way to charge it on-site. This caused delays, taking away valuable company time.
After being stuck on Beaver Mountain for three hours trying to figure out a safe way to load the lift, Austin realized that something had to be done. He and his team brainstormed solutions like adding grip tape to the trailer or using solar panels for wind power, but neither option would be effective enough to solve the problem entirely.
Austin then found inspiration in a YouTube show where a winch and battery pack were used to recover side-by-side vehicles and Jeeps. This gave him an idea—what if they added a winch and battery pack to the front of the trailer so that the lift could be safely loaded in any weather condition?
This solution was implemented, and so far, the battery pack has been used successfully multiple times during rainy weather or when the lift battery has died. The battery pack is kept charged in the office, and whoever takes the lift grabs the charger when needed.
This simple yet effective solution has saved time and increased efficiency. “We Continuously Improve” is one of Sunpro’s core values, and efforts like this are crucial to keep the company moving forward while staying competitive. By identifying and solving problems, employees like Austin Hatch drive these efforts every day to make Sunpro a better company.