It's Not Easy, Bein' Green...Or Is It?

Modern Fence Technologies Working Toward a Sustainable Environment

Kermit the Frog said 'It's not easy bein' green', but Modern Fence Technologies is proving him wrong.

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Cargo ships burn low-grade "bunker fuel".

“We can afford to use better quality materials because we're not paying to ship materials and finished goods halfway around the world.” Mark Knudson

East Troy, WI (PRWEB) June 13, 2013

Recently the media has paid a lot of attention to the state of the environment and the potential for health risks and even global warming. Modern Fence Technologies is announcing its commitment to combating the destruction of the environment. “Part of our commitment to making our product here is that the people who work here want to be good stewards of the resources that we have been blessed with,” said Marge Knudson, a principal of the company.

Modern Fence Technologies practices green manufacturing to reduce the amount of waste and saves money doing it, while making gate hinges and other hardware for the fence industry. By shifting to a four day/ten hour schedule, the cost of lighting and environmental control in their manufacturing facility has been reduced significantly. In addition, all scrap materials are collected and recycled. By watching the market, scrap metals can return enough money to make a big difference on the bottom line. Even paint has been addressed, by using powder coating technology, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with traditional “wet paint” are eliminated.

All of this adds up to savings for Modern Fence Technologies. “We can afford to use better quality materials because we're not paying to ship materials and finished goods halfway around the world,” Knudson's husband Mark, another principal of the company pointed out. "Using better materials means replacing them less often, which also helps the environment," he added.

Another key component of the equation is the environmental cost of international shipping. According to portoflosangeles.org, the Los Angeles/Long Beach complex receives roughly 60% of the goods imported to the United States. The California Air Resources Board has studied the effects of pollution originating in the Port, including rail and truck traffic and pointed out:

“Air Pollution from international trade and goods movement is a major public health concern at the statewide, regional and community level. Adverse health impacts from the pollutants associated with goods movement include but are not limited to premature death, cancer risk, respiratory illnesses, and increased risk of heart disease.” (Environmental Health Perspectives, 2006 April; 114(4) A-204-A205)

Modern Fence Technologies avoids these hazards by making their products in the U.S. of domestic materials, avoiding both the financial and the environmental costs associated with overseas manufacturing. “We're saving money by manufacturing here, and we're doing our part to preserve the world we've been given.” Mr. Knudson finished.

Modern Fence Technologies' April Move to Carson City Part of Long-Term Expansion Plan

Modern Fence Technologies moves into new facility with goal of expanding manufacturing to area.

In April, after nearly fifteen years, of working from rented facilities, the Modern Fence Technologies Facilities and Fleet team purchased a new property and relocated their West Coast Sales and Distribution center from Reno, Nevada to nearby Carson City. The move was undertaken to take advantage of a larger facility better suited to their operations and is a preliminary step in the long-term plan to establish a manufacturing division in Nevada.

Serving customers from the west coast and ranging to the western plains states, the sales office is managed by David Silvernale. “The move took a lot of work, but it's worth it because the space is all our own, and it's arranged to fit our needs better than before.”, Silvernale said. The new location offers flexible storage and warehouse options, while providing a spacious sales office. Contacting Modern Fence Technologies West Coast operations is just as easy as it has always been, with phone numbers remaining the same. Call (775) 331-3331 to speak to David any time, or toll-free during business hours at (888) 613-8146.

While there are still improvements being made to the exterior of the building, the office is open and ready for business. “Most customers didn't even notice the move because there was no downtime,” David Silvernale pointed out. “Phones were forwarded to our East Troy headquarters so customers were able to place orders during the move.”

As a manufacturer and distributor of American made hardware and accessories for the professional fence industry, Modern Fence Technologies has seen business surge recently on modest gains in the U.S. economy, coupled with rising costs associated with importing and a growing awareness of the distinct quality advantages of American made products, and found the need for more efficient space to keep up with customer demand. The ability to process and ship orders out of the West Coast Operations Center is critical to meeting Modern Fence Technologies commitment to controlling shipping costs and lead times for customers.

Modern Fence Technologies: Taking the Guess Work Out of Choosing the Right Hinge

Modern Fence Technologies announced today that they are once again improving the fence industry by making it possible to select a gate hinge based on the dimensions and weight of any gate. Until now, selecting a hinge was largely based on experience. Knowing that a hinge had supported a similar gate in the past allowed a contractor to “guess” that a similar hinge would support a current gate.


Over the past year, Modern Fence Technologies has taken a scientific approach to the problem, working out the physics of hinges to determine the true load that a gate generates. They have then gone the next step and rated their entire line of hinges based on these calculations to allow fence installers and job specifiers to determine exactly which hinge will be best for their application.


“The simplest way to describe the way this works is to say that knowing the width of the opening, the weight and style of the gate, and the distance separating the two hinges, it is possible to determine how much force is exerted on the hinge. Remember, the wider the opening, or the closer together the hinges are, the more load is placed on each hinge,” said Mike Jacob, a representative of the company.


The purpose of this research was to help fence professionals save time and money by selecting the proper hinge for each particular gate. It has already been used by several Modern Fence Technologies customers to eliminate the possibility of hinge failure due to undersized hinges.


In an early application of the new calculator, Roger Aronson of Aronson Fence in Wauconda, Illinois recently called on Modern Fence Technologies looking for a hinge to hang a four hundred pound gate that is six feet tall and fourteen feet wide. Using the formula devised there, it was determined that the gate in question would generate a load of nearly 2,800 pounds on the hinge. Mr. Aronson chose a hinge from the offerings available, based on the results of the calculator, to meet his needs. "This gives me confidence that the gate I put up won't start sagging, " Mr. Aronson pointed out.


This greatly reduced the likelihood of being called back to service a gate that may otherwise have been hung on a smaller hinge, one chosen to save on initial cost. The savings realized by reducing call backs justifies using the calculator, even when the contractor ends up using a more expensive hinge than was originally planned. The calculator has also proven a valuable tool to prevent “over-hinging”, the use of heavier, more expensive hinges where a more economical hinge would suffice.


The most seen and used portion of any fence is the gate. Moving parts need to be strong enough to endure the outdoor elements and to do the job they are called on to accomplish. This new calculator tool is one more way that Modern Fence Technologies leads the industry in value engineering.

Sell Quality to Earn Profit, and Satisfy Your Customer at the Same Time

  Is your customer willing to pay $50 more to get American made, high quality hinges and post caps on their vinyl fence?  $100?  You might be surprised at the answer you get when you ask.  Offering an upgrade to your standard line of products doesn't need to sound like an admission of guilt.  Your bid wasn't designed as a bait and switch, it is an attempt to offer a fair comparison with the bids your customer got from other companies.
  The advertised price on a new car is a base model, just like your fence bid.  Point out to your customer that you also offer a higher quality product with a lifetime warranty and superior appearance and function.  If the bid is typical, it will be in the $2500 to $4000 range.  If you offer to upgrade for $100, it will cost you $15 to $50 more for product, depending on the job, but that's $50 to $85 profit in your pocket, plus you have a better chance of landing the job, because you differentiated yourself from all your competitors.
  Try it, and when you land that job with upgrades, call me, and I'll hook you up with the best caps, hinges, latches and drop rods in the business!

The Race to the Bottom, In Real Time...

We've discussed market building and the effect of market destroyers on markets here before. I just heard about a scenario that is related to this discussion, and points to the fact that healthy competition can cause prices to be kept more reasonable, but when the players are not on a level playing field, market destroyers often self destruct while trying to compete.

Having competitors in a market segment is a form of accountability. No one seller can get away with overcharging or under-delivering for very long, because the consumer has an alternative. Where competition is absent, you usually see both bloated pricing and unresponsive customer service. (Think cable TV providers, and the Department of Motor Vehicles).

When all players in a market are seeking the same things, market share, profit, and growth, the forces governing their decisions are roughly equal, and their costs of doing business are based on the efficiency with which they carry on their operations. Whoever controls costs and sells products, wins.

The situation I just looked at is a little different. It involves a big player,that until recently, was practically the only game in town offering the services it offers. This organization operates on a business model which uses revenues from services sold to its members to promote the organization and to support its large staff. This promotion includes marketing the services of it's members to the public under its seal of approval. Because there has been little or no competition, there has been no check on the prices they could charge members for the services.

When a new player entered the market working on a different business model, the reaction of the big player reveals where they fall in the realm of market building vs. market destroying. See if you can follow. The new group is focused on serving its members and operates as a volunteer, not for profit group. They offer similar services to their members, and charge much lower prices, and they have no paid staff, which means much lower overhead.

Once the big player noticed that there was “competition”, they responded by drastically reducing their prices for the services they sell. How long can they hope to do this? In a previous post I described a similar situation in which Dow Chemical found a way to undersell European chemical producers, who then reduced their prices to a level below Dow's cost. Dow knew that they were losing money on every unit sold, so he began buying as much as he could from them at prices below his cost, selling to his customers at his regular price and made even more money selling their product than his own.

These two situations aren't identical. Dow was selling a commodity, something that is identical, no matter where you get it from, so his customers didn't care where it came from. They were interested only in price, which, for commodities, is all that matters. In our present case, the services sold are similar, not identical, and the profit motive present for the big seller is not present in the new organization.

As long as the volunteer organization is offering a service to its members and the community that is of equal value to the offerings of a paid staff business, and does so at a lower cost, it holds down the prices of both organizations, thus improving the market for their members and the community. They both offer value at a reasonable price.

It also should serve to drive the big organization to improve their product, adding value , and allowing them to charge more. Ultimately, with the chosen business model, that is their only road to success. Currently, the path is to engage in a race to the bottom against themselves.