Our Company
The mission of 1stSource is to provide quality, cost effective components and systems to the Industries we serve. In any situation the measure of our success is, if we have delivered to our Customers products or services that have reduced, not only their initial costs, but their whole life cost. With this goal before our eyes, we strive for continual improvement in all we do. Our products must be not only the most cost effective in the market but high quality and our services whether they be applications engineering, system design/build or installation and aftermarket support must be the highest value for money invested.
Our Products and Services have developed and evolved fueled by our desire to meet the needs of our Customers. Now as we are in the midst of our second decade, our products and services fall into the following general categories:
Overhead Conveyor Components and Systems:
Overhead Conveyors (OHCs) have been a humble workhorse of Industry since they were first developed 100 years ago. The basic design concepts have not changed over the years, but components and assemblies have evolved and improved and of course electrical components and controls have made quantum leaps in recent years.
OHCs fall into two basic types, each with subtypes. 1stSource offers quality components for all of the following (8) sub-types of OHC as well as the design/build and systems integration ability for expansions of existing systems and new systems.
The first of the two basic types of OHC are known as Enclosed Track Conveyor (ETC). These conveyors have machined chains which run in enclosed steel tracks. ETCs have a much lighter loading capacity as compared to the second type OHC described below.
Round Tube Enclosed Track Conveyor:
There are two types of round tube ETC. One type has a vertical pendant between two wheels from which the load can be suspended and the other has an offset pendant from one load wheel. 1stSource offers both complete systems with components that are equal in form fit and function to other manufactures.
E-Trac Lite
Square Track Enclosed Track Conveyor:
There are two sub types of Square Track Enclosed Track Conveyor which handle heavier loads that round tube ETC and are more widely used in Industry:
E-Trac 6
E-Trac 8
X Type drop forged Overhead Conveyor (OHC) Chain and components.
This type of conveyor was first used by Henry Ford in his early assembly facilities to move auto bodies through the various stages of assembly. Over the past 100 years, X Type OHC has been used extensively not only in the auto Industry, but in the Steel and Aluminum Industries. It has also been used widely in many types of assembly and painting systems. Over many decades the components for X Type OHC have become standardizes and they are available from several manufactures. 1stSource offers competitive pricing for all X Type components and we have the system integration ability and know how to extend existing systems or offer completely new systems. The three types of X Type OHC are:
X348, X458 and X678
Bearings and Ball Transfers:
1stSource holds inventory of over 150 SKUs of the most commonly used bearings and ball transfers in the conveyor industry for same or next day shipment. In addition we offer volume pricing to our OEM Customers based on annual blanket order agreements. We have the ability to design and develop almost any type of bearing and ball transfer required if our Customers have adequate usages to justify development costs and inventory.
Many of our bearings and ball transfers are equal in form, fit and function to leading manufacturers supporting the conveyor industry with quality equal or superior in many cases accompanied by a cost savings to our Customers.
Fence & Gate Hardware:
1stSource entered the Fence Industry because we were asked to develop a series of Cantilever Gate rollers for a national Fence Hardware Distribution Customer. These components are wheels each with bearings and they were similar to the Conveyor components familiar to us. After supplying these Gate Rollers for several years, our Customer turned over marketing to 1stSource and we entered the Fence market ourselves.
Cantilever Gate Roller
In addition we also provide steel hinges and attachments for wood and vinyl fencing.
Wood and Vinyl Gate Hinges
More recently we have entered into a national distribution agreement to offer several types of leading edge glass-fiber reinforced hinges and latches.
We offer a line of glass-filled reinforced hinges.
Hinges and Industrial Hardware components:
1stSource holds continual inventory of many steel butt hinges for annual blanket order supply to our OEM Customers. The butt hinge and hitch pin below is a standard used by UPS for safety guarding. One of our OEM customers purchases over 100,000 of these sets per year while other OEMs purchase lower quantities. Hinges can be shipped same or next day in any volume to our End User, OEM and Distributor/Installation Customers.
If you have any hinge or fabricated steel components used on some annual volume, contact for a proposal to develop and supply prototype samples for approval prior to ongoing production based on firm per piece pricing and scheduled deliveries.
UPS Butt Hinge with Hitch pin.
OEM Component development and long term supply:
Over many years, 1stSource has developed long term supply relationships with OEM Customers in the Conveyor Industry and other sectors of Industry.
Typically, our Customers request that we provide proposals for the development of different types of proprietary components and assemblies. We submit our offers with schedules for design, tooling and develop of prototype samples for Customer inspection, testing and approval. At times prototype samples require modifications, but once samples are approved by Customers we then proceed to annual blanket order agreements, whereby we supply the products just in time from our US warehouse or via direct volume shipments to the Customers facility.
Many times we start a relationship with a new OEM Customer with one or two components, but after prototype approval and on time production shipments, our Customers are comfortable with the process and with 1stSource and they ask us to make proposals for additional products.
What type of OEM products can 1stSource develop and supply? Just ask us and we will tell you if we are capable of developing a product or not, but in general we excel at bearing related products, stamped steel assemblies, castings, forgings etc.
Material Handling and Fence & Gate components supply and distribution via eCommerce:
1stSource has successfully served as an online supplier of products produced by other quality manufacturers for over ten years. We are continually adding more products to the eCommerce section of our website to provide convenient and secure product selection and fast delivery to our online Customers at very competitive pricing. Our online pricing is intended to be retail but discounts are offered for many products to our distributors which allow them comfortable resale margins.
Systems Integration:
Our Systems Integration Group focuses on design/build and installation of the Overhead Conveyor Systems we offer, but we do extend our systems solutions to other types of conveyor and material handling systems.
In recent years, we have not only provided overhead conveyor systems to our Customers but we have done complete upgrades to Distribution Centers modifying and adding belt and roller conveyors, vertical lifts and control systems.
