Elk River says it creates products to save lives, but it also wants users to be comfortable.

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Customers often touch base with suppliers of favorite products to laud their efforts and show appreciation for helping their businesses succeed. When Elk River Inc. gets feedback, however, oftentimes the customers are reaching out to thank the personal fall protection gear manufacturer for saving their lives, General Manager Mark Conover says.   

“You only have one opportunity to save somebody’s life with your product, then it is disposed of and replaced,” Conover says. “We have had testimonials by customers that have fallen in our harness and it saved their life. It is gratifying to hear about that type of thing.”   

Philip and Terry Clemmons founded Elk River in 1988. The brothers each had established careers in the construction supply and textile industries, respectively, when they realized they could go into business together as a manufacturer of personal fall protection products.   

Today, Elk River’s product line in­cludes harnesses, lanyards, hardware, self-retracting lifelines and related accessories, which are fabricated and tested at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Athens and Cullman, Ala. Elk River–which is owned solely by Terry Clemmons–makes its products to meet the regulations mandated by OSHA, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and others.

Similar Products, Better Service
Conover admits many of Elk River’s products are not unique in the industry. However, it is the company’s dedication to customer satisfaction that separates it from the competition.    

For example, customer service receives requests for emergency same-day shipping, and Elk River makes sure it meets that demand. “Our products, obviously in some ways, are very similar to other competitors’,” he says. “But our service differentiates us the best. We have an excellent customer service staff that treats customers like they are our only customers.”    

Although injury avoidance is obviously the top performance indicator of personal fall protection gear, Conover says Elk River incorporates as much comfort as possible into its designs. This makes the products more user friendly than those produced by competing manufacturers, Conover adds.   

“The safety of your product can never be compromised, so obviously the thing we have to pay attention to most is the construction and testing of our products,” Conover says. “When [end-users] are bending over and picking up something, they should be as comfortable as possible and still be safe while working.”   

These days, Conover has noticed an increased demand for specialized safety products. He says customers want products built to their specifications with features that fit into their particular niche within an industry.    

Elk River will comply whenever possible, and these new designs often find their way into the manufacturer’s regular product line.    

Conover says generally, these harness requests include increased padding for comfort and strategically placed D-rings for rescue purposes. Another example is various accessories that allow workers to carry tools to get the job done. “We can offer a wide range of different designs with lots of different options,” he says. “These customers want the product built to their specifications and their comforts with features that fit their job.”   

With that in mind, Elk River intends to grow by introducing its products to new markets. Conover explains the company has targeted the wind energy industry, which he says hasn’t been hit as hard by the recession. “One market that is growing at a rapid pace outside the economy is wind energy,” he says. “We hope to see things from that industry help us with our growth.”

Quality Management
Along with complying with mandates from various standardization organizations, Elk River’s facilities are ISO 9001-2000 certified. “We use this quality model to guide us in continuous improvement,” explains Rocky Baker, manufacturing operations manager. “It stresses documentation and identifies training needs to maintain good communication from production to the floor.”   

With standards constantly changing, the company’s product line must change with it, Baker adds. To address this, Elk River has internally controlled specification sheets that bring the marketing and design engineering together to ensure all products meet the latest requirements.    

“It is important that the quality of our safety products meets the standards of ANSI and CSA so our customers have confidence in it,” Conover says. “When people fall, they let us know about it and thank us for the quality product we’ve made for them.”