MEI-Duluth Office, MN

Obsolete Drive Replaced at Paper Mill

Boise Paper’s PCA Mill in International Falls, MN has been trusting MEI to service and maintain their 12 elevators for more than two decades. During that time, a strong relationship has continued to evolve due to MEI going above and beyond for their long-time customer.

In August 2022, Account Manager Matt LaFlamme and Field Superintendent Jason Klatt were at the PCA Mill to survey a couple of their elevators. After they left, they received a call that one of their 27-year-old elevators had just shut down, so LaFlamme and Klatt turned around and went back to look into the problem.

After surveying the 5,000-pound traction freight elevator, it was discovered that the EMS drive was shot. It was an obsolete drive so new parts were no longer being made to fix it. Having the elevator down was a big problem for the PCA Mill as they needed all elevators running for their annual maintenance shut down.

After making many phone calls, MEI found someone in Maryland who had parts and could repair the drive. LaFlamme drove from Duluth to International Falls to get the EMS drive and then drove back to the Duluth International Airport to overnight the part to Maryland. The board was fixed and shipped back to Minnesota the following Monday and by Tuesday, mechanic Brian Gramling had the drive replaced and the elevator back up and running!

By working together, MEI successfully pulled, repaired, and installed the bad drive within six business days! The customer was extremely satisfied with the extra effort the MEI team put into getting their elevator fixed.

At MEI, it doesn’t matter if you have been a customer for two days or two decades, our team will always do what we can to help our customers with all their elevator needs.

MEI Installs New Controller at Morson Ario

In 1988, MEI manufactured and installed a 2 stop hydraulic passenger elevator at the Morson Ario VFW Post 950 in Mankato, MN. Since then, MEI has been performing regularly scheduled preventative maintenance in order to ensure a smooth-running elevator.

In March 2020, MEI responded to a trouble call and after surveying the problem, it was found that the controller was obsolete and could not be repaired. The installation of a new VHC-102 controller was recommended, and because the Morson Ario has a long-lasting relationship with MEI and Vertitron, they trusted MEI to move forward with the repair.

MEI was able to get the new controller ordered and installed within one month. Normal turn around for a repair like this usually takes six to eight weeks.  This was a huge win for both MEI and the Morson Ario, as this is the only elevator in the building, and it gets used frequently. After all was said and done, the customer was extremely happy with the quick response time and continues to count on MEI for all of their service and repair needs.

The MEI team that worked on this project consisted of: Account Manager Kirk Yungerberg, Field Superintendent Rick LaRock, Mechanic Mike Anderson and Apprentice Andy MacGregor.