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Monday, November 7, 2005

Steel plant's business on fast track
Roller coaster manufacturer keeps innovating

By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor


Quelle: cmsimg.enquirer.com bilde

Zoom The Enquirer/Steven M. Herppich
Documentary makers for Indigo Films interview Robert Mampe, a liaison for the B&M design firm of Switzerland, at Clermont Steel Fabricators. The Batavia company has made roller coasters since 1990.
ABOUT CLERMONT STEEL FABRICATORS LLC

Where its roller coasters are sold: Around the world.

Interesting fact: It takes about 2,000 tons of steel to make one roller coaster.

Some history: National Geographic Television interviewed Clermont Steel in September as part of a TV documentary to be aired in 2006 on the history of roller coasters. Many of the Bolliger & Mabillard coaster designs that Clermont Steel makes have been landmark achievements in the industry.

Number of employees: 50 union, 10 non-union.

Address and information: 2565 Old State Route 32, Batavia. (513) 732-6033.


BATAVIA - In the history of roller coasters, a small steel plant just east of Cincinnati plays a big role.

Clermont Steel Fabricators on Old State Route 32 has been the sole manufacturer since 1990 of world-renowned, Swiss-engineered Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters.

B&M coasters are known for their smooth and comfortable rides and are in amusement parks in the United States, Canada, Asia, the Middle East and other parts of the world.

The secret to the smooth B&M coaster ride is precision engineering matched by precision manufacturing, according to industry experts.

"It's Swiss engineering," Clermont Steel Vice President Ken Miller said matter-of-factly but also giving his own workers credit. "We follow along and fabricate precisely. And we do a lot of testing."

Neither Clermont Steel nor B&M allow much tolerance for error in the drawings - plus or minus 1 millimeter - which is why B&M coasters are considered tops in the industry, Miller said.

"If you're a general manager of an amusement park, and you're putting together a Christmas list, a B&M coaster will be on it," said Jack Falfas, chief operating officer for Cedar Fair LP, parent company of more than a dozen U.S. amusement parks and water parks with B&M coasters.

"Everybody wants a B&M - that's our standard of quality. They're just great coasters."

Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, and Dorney Park in Allentown, Pa., are among Cedar Fair parks with B&M coasters.

Paramount's Kings Island does not have a B&M coaster, mostly due to the non-compete rights of other B&M coaster buyers, according to Miller.

Clermont Steel has manufactured several roller coaster "firsts" for B&M, including floorless models such as "Hydra The Revenge" at Dorney Park. This coaster was unveiled in May and features seven twists, rolls, drops and spirals.

One 95-foot-high lift hill is followed by a 53-mile-per-hour plunge.

Another first for B&M and Clermont Steel was the SheiKra "dive coaster" at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida.

This coaster features a record-breaking 90-degree vertical dive from 200 feet and is the only dive coaster in the U.S. SheiKra also is the tallest of only three dive coasters in the world and the first to incorporate an Immelmann loop (a rolling maneuver named for a World War I flying ace), a second dive from 138 feet into an underground tunnel and a water-feature finale.

"Part of the magic in these roller coasters is B&M's ability to design a very smooth roller coaster and Clermont Steel's ability to fabricate it in that exact alignment," said Mark Rose, vice president of design and engineering for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. "Other manufacturers don't have the ability to fabricate exactly as it is on paper - it's a real trick," Rose said.

U.S. manufacturing of B&M coasters happened by chance. "B&M wanted to manufacture in the United States - that's what drew us here in the first place," said Robert Mampe, U.S. rep for the Monthey, Switzerland, company.

But what kept B&M with Clermont Steel is the "real story," Mampe said. "It's the expertise and craftsmanship of the employees. Building a roller coaster is no easy task - it's very important to execute the design."

Many workers at Clermont Steel have been there for years, including Miller, who started with the company as a laborer in 1973, the same year he graduated from Colerain High School.

At the time, Clermont Steel was known as Southern Ohio Fabricators, and its focus was industrial and commercial buildings.

Roller coasters became the company's manufacturing focus when Miller and "a small group of investors" bought the assets of Southern Ohio Fabricators in July 2004.

The decision to switch from building steel structures to steel roller coasters wasn't difficult, Miller said, because roller coaster work is "unique, so precise and fun."

Clermont Steel makes several roller coasters a year. The company fabricates the entire coaster - everything from the supports and track to the cars - and it takes four to six months to complete one.

Clermont Steel currently is working on four new coasters for U.S. amusement parks. All Miller could say is that the four new rides will be in parks in 2006 that currently have B&M coasters.

Miller said the company has remained profitable since it was purchased last year and is continuing - although on a limited basis - its work on steel structures.

E-mail aguido@fuse.net

Zitat

Clermont Steel currently is working on four new coasters for U.S. amusement parks. All Miller could say is that the four new rides will be in parks in 2006 that currently have B&M coasters.

Welche?
Goliath - Six Flags over Georgia
Tatsu - Six Flags Magic Mountain

Patriot - Worlds of Fun => hat noch keinen B&M-Coaster
Goliath - La Ronde => liegt nicht in den USA
?

Danke, Tejay, für das Aufspühren des Artikels.
Endlich weiß man etwas mehr, wo denn die B&MŽs zum Teil herkommen

Tejay

Zitat

Clermont Steel currently is working on four new coasters for U.S. amusement parks. All Miller could say is that the four new rides will be in parks in 2006 that currently have B&M coasters.

Welche?
Goliath - Six Flags over Georgia
Tatsu - Six Flags Magic Mountain

Patriot - Worlds of Fun => hat noch keinen B&M-Coaster
Goliath - La Ronde => liegt nicht in den USA?

Auf dem Bild oben sieht man Robert Mampe an einer Schiene von vermutlich Tatsu lehnen.
Daneben steht bereits ein Schienenteil von vermutlich Goliath.

Könnte es nicht sein, dass Herr Miller die anderen beiden Coaster (Patriot & Goliath2) einfach mit dazu genommen hat?

Im weiteren Text heißt es ja auch, dass Clermont Steel
1. nicht nur für den U.S.-Markt die Coaster produziert und
2. seit 1990 der einzige Hersteller für B&M in den USA ist
("Clermont Steel has been the sole manufacturer since 1990 of world-renowned, Swiss-engineered Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters.").

Ich vermute ein einfaches Mißverständnis im Text.
(Wobei ich nur zu gerne einmal in der Fabrikhalle Mäuschen spielen würde ).

Gruß
Mat