Thomas Edison said, “There’s a way to do it better – find it.”
In 1974, while working as a backhoe operator, street engineer Andry Lagsdin decided to do just that. Day in and out, he would perform the daunting task of switching out 100 pound stabilizer pads to correspond with the type of work surface, pavement or dirt.
With each turn of the wrench, Andry thought to himself, “why can’t they design a stabilizer pad that provides two uses – one side made of rubber for the pavement, the other steel for dirt? A pad that flips. An idea was born!
It took 10 years of determination, elbow grease, perseverance and a small dedicated crew to bring Andry’s FlipPad idea to market. John Deere was the first to show interest and Andry welcomed the opportunity to demonstrate his “magic” product. Lucky for Andry, Deere loved the pad. Ford, Caterpillar, Case, JCB, Kubota, Volvo, Komatsu and other industry giants soon followed suit.
Stoughton Steel became the “go to” manufacturer of the FlipPad in the U.S.
By the early 90’s Stoughton Steel continued to thrive designing and manufacturing FlipPads.
As business continued to grow stateside and abroad, Andry’s sons Andris and Eric joined the team. The two brothers provided a fresh perspective on how to keep the business prosperous. They revisited values that had been instilled in the company since day one; on time delivery, sustainable product materials and customer satisfaction, and made sure these were met and exceeded.
They took on the task of achieving ISO 9001:2015 quality certification and implementing lean manufacturing techniques which would secure their position among the “big guys.”
For 30 years our business model revolved around one successful product – business continued to grow and we were happy. However, in 2009 the economy hit the brakes. Business slowed considerably. We had a decision to make – change and grow or live in the past?
Based on the principle that started it all “there is always a better way,” we put our heads together. The construction industry had been our home base for the last three decades. We loved (and still do love) this sector and the customers it brought to us.
However, it was time for us to take our 30 years of design and manufacturing experience and expand outside our “comfort zone,” bringing quality products into the home sector.
Fast forward to today as we launch our new industrial strength, sustainable, made in the USA home product line. Like our original FlipPad, these products reflect our commitment to the environment and our customers.
There is always a better way and we’ve found it. We hope you will to!