The success or failure of powersweeping naturally hinges on the quality of the brooms and brushes used. A manufacturer’s product design, engineering logic, production principles, material choices, and rigorousness of product testing together dictate sweeping performance levels and long-term durability. Therefore, it’s very telling that Old Dominion Brush Company (ODB) holds numerous product patents and has become the powersweeping industry’s longest established and most trusted manufacturer of replacement brooms and brushes for sweeper trucks.
Founded in 1910, the company is based in Richmond, VA. So many monthly NAS readers, who are undoubtedly also daily users of ODB sweeper parts throughout the US, have an interest in understanding what makes such a difference in the performance and reliability between ODB and other brands of broom and brush equipment.
Britt Calloway, Old Dominion Director of Engineering and Sales, met with us recently. He explained what makes the Old Dominion broom and brush designs so unusually effective and enduring that the manufacturer has come to dominate the market for over a hundred years:
Old Dominion Replacement Brooms and Brushes
Well, we have a long track record of innovation. ODB has long been known for continuous practical improvements to the essential brooms and brushes around which commercial and industrial sweeper trucks are built to function. Our patented ODB CLAW™ broom, for example, is the most advanced component on the market for gutter clearing.
For highway construction, industrial facilities, or other extreme environments, using mechanical or vacuum trucks, Old Dominion brooms and brushes are trusted by contractors. That’s because they deliver sweeping performance and long-term durability that surpass the expectations of the sweeper truck operators.
Customer-Inspired Broom and Brush Innovations
It all starts with solving a problem for the customer. Engineers love solving problems. So, first, hire the right folks. That means bringing in people who are capable of solving the kinds of problems you need to resolve by innovating solutions when conventional methods are not enough. The sweeper truck broom is a commodity product; it arguably hasn’t changed much for 50 years. So, we’ve recognized the need to figure out new ways to solve problems for customers.
You have seen various broom and brush products that help extend equipment life, pick up more vegetation, and perform well enough overall with standard gutter broom wire. But they all use a very bespoke design. It’s more or less the same general set of specs for virtually every sweeper model. It’s molded to a steel plate, with cables bolted between the standard gutter broom and the standard plate on the sweeper.
We looked at different redesign options available for improving on the long-time accepted model. And, we decided to install super swaged cable. We’ve seen others do that with standard 3/16-inch cable. That’s very common. But we instead tried 1/4-inch cable, to see if that increased performance. The pilot test was very positive. Based on that outcome, I realized we had some potential in this kind of product upgrade.
The next step was to deliver to a larger customer base. So, we spent time developing some of the slick sheets and marketing materials, and we reached out to customers we had relationships with for feedback. We asked about the performance of the newly upgraded brush construction. The positive feedback was overwhelming, well above 75%.
The Industry-Changing Patented ODB Claw Broom
The claw broom has been a very successful product for us. It’s designed to strip the densest buildup of accumulated dirt, gravel, debris, and plant matter. With the claw broom, we removed some bristles and installed cable in their place instead. [This increased the contact area by 42% and the cable weight by 33%.] We reasoned that if vegetation cutting was longer lasting due to affixing cable to a broom, then we have a very competitive offering.
Early on, we decided we wanted to move into the gutter broom market. We developed a test cell, in which we took a sweeper broom arm to measure wear on gutter broom wire through time. The gauge we used to measure performance was percent of weight loss. We found the claw broom lasted about 2.5 times longer than a standard gutter broom. It was a stand-out performance in terms of increased broom life. In the field-testing, the broom innovation also performed exceptionally well.
Priorities in Best Sweeper Broom Designs
We see new design efforts come out in the industry, and we welcome the increased customer awareness it generates. And, we invariably find that we have a very good option for providing customers with the same or greater results. For example, different manufacturers have the capability to adjust down pressure from the truck cab to match operators’ preferences of down pressure and broom speed. They can adjust for truck speed during sweeping very well, accommodate variable environments, clear gutters, function at highway speed, etc. All offer tremendous amounts of variables.
So, we found that you can’t test all those in a cell at a production plant, but all that matters is if the operator believes he’s getting more performance and efficiency from these key components of his sweeper truck. That’s where we’ve pivoted.
Instead of talking about percent of wear or the array of attributes of the brooms or brushes, we just send samples. Because, I think most customers want to try it. So, it’s worth it to send out samples to whoever asks for one, even though it’s expensive to do that, especially with the shipping rates as they are. We’ve found that operators recognize the strong comparative advantages of the ODB options. We have built many lasting relationships that way.
From Manual to Automated Broom Production
We historically have built our brooms manually. About two years ago, we went to automation. It allows us to drastically improve throughput and meet increasing customer demand. The automation we chose is very simple, compact, and scalable.
We have taken a different path than other sweeper broom and brush OEMs in our method of automating production assembly. That has unlocked a lot of potential for the long-term, because the capital cost to build is a lot less per broom, if you amortize the expense.
ODB Service Excellence
We have an ODB ecommerce site where people can see pricing and availability, and they can order and get information. Our team of customer service reps averages about 25 years of experience per person. They really understand our products. Turn-around time on orders is tightly managed. The team meets every morning and reviews every order that is nearing the strict limit we set for acceptable delivery time, and we watch it like a hawk to ensure timely fulfillment.
What’s Next from Old Dominion Brush?
Over the long-term, we’re looking at how we can set up to be closer to our customers for even greater responsiveness to their needs. We want to reduce freight costs, which are substantial, and minimize total cost of delivery.
For information about Old Dominion Brush, you can call (800) 446-9823, or visit odbco.com.