by David Peters Where would you expect to find a 65-foot-tall Ferris wheel, a shooting gallery, hundreds of exotic salt water fish and 24 flavors of Granny's delicious homemade fudge? If you said the county fair, while you may be technically correct, that's not the answer we were going for here. What we're talking about is 220,000… Read more »

by Andrew Pector Transporting glass in 1927. Little changed in glass handling until the introduction of Hand-Held Vacuum Cups. I was 16 years old. It was 1967. While working at my after school job, cleaning up in a glass shop, I heard a crash and bloodcurdling yell. Dropping my broom, I ran toward the commotion. In a pool of blood… Read more »

by Lisa Hagel If you thought Wood's Powr-Grip® Hand-Held Vacuum Cups did not work on pattern glass or other textured surfaces, we have a surprise for you! Powr-Grip Textured Surface vacuum cups have been redesigned to more capably meet the challenge of handling shower doors and windows with patterned, textured, cast or irregular… Read more »

This year is the 50th Anniversary of Wood's Powr-Grip® Company, Incorporated so we're marking it in a number of BIG ways! Throughout the year, we will be sharing our photos, memories, history and culture. You may have noticed that, in addition to our regular logo, an oval emblem with the letters "WPG" inside it began appearing on our… Read more »

by Bryan Strobel The long-awaited VPFS10T vacuum pad with replaceable foam ring will be available for order as an upgrade/replacement part starting March 1, 2014. The VPFS10T is redesigned to offer better value, longer life and ease of replacement. The low-cost sealing ring requires no adhesive to keep it in place and can… Read more »

by Joe Landsverk It's the early 60's in the small Northeast Montana town of Wolf Point where Howard Wood owns and operates Wood's Auto & Electric Company. In previous years, Howard has successfully invented, manufactured and marketed a tool to Briggs and Stratton, a well known small engine manufacturer. [caption id="attachment_413"… Read more »

OSHA's Fatal Four Vacuum cup and below-the-hook vacuum lifter safety in the workplace by Joe Landsverk At Wood's Powr-Grip® (WPG), we regularly receive calls from industrial safety managers requesting information about vacuum lifter safety and maintenance; and we are only too happy to help out in any way we can! It's good that there is… Read more »

The objective of product-safety efforts is to correct or address safety problems. From Machine Design magazine, April 15, 2005 by Lanny Berke The methodical way to approach product safety is with a formal hazard analysis. A hazard analysis examines product features and tries to anticipate any potential hazards that might result from… Read more »

by David Peters Santa sat sipping his tea, reviewing his naughty and nice list one final time in preparation for his early morning Christmas outing. Suddenly, the front door burst open, flooding the room with a bitter cold breeze. With a start, Santa spun in his chair to see what was the matter. There, towering at latch level in the… Read more »

by Byron LaRue Ever since James Oliver invented the chilled plow in 1868, new technologies have been driving the agricultural industry forward. Over the intervening years, new inventions have continuously offered farmers greater yields, while using less labor-intensive farming methods. One of the most successful trends in modern… Read more »