Blog: 90 seconds with Conveyor Expert Kevan MacRow

I started with the original Stephens-Adams company as an intermediate draftsman right out of school. At that time, I was designing drag conveyors referred to as redlers. We moved towards standard products after that and I spent some time in sales and marketing. Since then, I’ve moved back into the engineering product group. I’ve had experience across the board on all of the conveyor components and accessories.

This marks your 40^th year with Metso, what motivates you to stay with the company?

I would have to say it’s the challenges. I enjoy designing new products for the company. Being a nuts and bolts kind of guy, I enjoy getting the products out in the field where they need to be and that our customers are happy with what they have. So, the design and challenges is what keeps me going with the company.

Now that you are a part of the global function, where has it taken you?

All over! The biggest part of the global aspect is that I went to China this year. I’ve also been to Venezuela, Sweden and recently, Australia. I do travel around quite a bit.

Can you share a goal that you are working on for the coming year?

We have a project in house at the moment called MCO: Metso components offering. This is basically the conveyor components section of the conveyor solutions ABC group. We are looking to design and redesign the components section of the conveyor solutions offering for the global market. This is the biggest project we are working on. Stay tuned for further announcements in 2018!

What’s the number one business challenge for your customers?

I would say daily maintenance on their conveyors and keeping them operational on a day-to-day basis. Having the proper components and accessories to put on a conveyor to keep it running all of which Metso of course offers through our ABC Metso line and the Conveyor Solutions group.

What’s the number one problem that customers encounter with their conveyors?

I would say the biggest problem would have to be trying to keep the daily operation of the conveyor running straight and clean which involves anything on the components and trying to keep the product flowing on the unit itself.

What are you most excited about right now?

I’m most excited about the release of our Conveyor Solutions Handbook which includes all of our standards products for the conveyor solutions lines. I think it is a great tool that explains what we can offer to our customers for their conveyors.

Where do you see conveyor solutions going in the future?

Only forward! I can see them going to all corners of the world. We have market areas in all countries. There are mining and handling systems all over the world that can use our products. We have a great team of people in the organization which will drive us into the future.

What’s next for you with Metso?

Further teaching of our product line in the global market to the market areas, engineering and technical groups in the Metso community. My goal is to get our product line out there and make the understanding of what our components do.