Remembering Gary Vermeer

Gary Vermeer, 90, inventor and founder of one of Iowa’s premier farm and construction equipment manufactures died Monday.Pella-based Vermeer Manufacturing grew out of a business that Vermeer and a cousin created in 1948 to manufacture wagon hoists. Vermeer got the idea from neighbors who had to shovel corn out of farm wagons. He invented a hoist that attached to the wagon and would dump an entire load by lifting the front end of the wagon.“His reputation for invention and management is well known,” said Mike Ralston, president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.Gary Vermeer was 29 when he invented the wagon hoist in 1948. He went on to create a number of other innovations for farm and construction equipment, including the first round hay baler, the first stump cutter and a line of trenching equipment that is now sold worldwide.His motto, which became the title of a family biography last year, was “In Search of a Better Way.”Vermeer retired in 1989 at the age of 70, turning management of the family-owned business over to his son, Robert Vermeer, and daughter, Mary Andringa, who are co-chief executives of Vermeer Manufacturing. Today, the company employs more than 2,000 workers with more than $600 million in sales.The family business has a reputation in Iowa and in the equipment industry as being one of the most efficient, well-run manufacturing operations in the country. Last summer, as part of a 60th anniversary celebration, the company invited writers for farm and construction equipment trade publications from around the world to visit the “Vermeer mile” in Pella, an area on the edge of town where Vermeer manufacturing plants stretch on for a full mile. As part of that tour, the writers were shown how Vermeer has used lean manufacturing techniques to cut costs and save time. One example was the amount of time required to build a wood chipper, one of the company’s signature products. The time required to make one chipper has been slashed from 52 days in 1999 to less than three days today, Andringa told the writers.The family biography, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the family business last summer, noted that Gary Vermeer and his wife, Matilda still live in the same modest home outside Pella that they moved into 55 years ago. It also noted that the couple’s favorite restaurants is McDonald’s.Gary and Matilda Vermeer traveled widely, circumventing the globe on three separate trips. Funeral services are pending at Van Dyke-Duven Funeral Home in Pella.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090202/BUSINESS/90202025/1029/archive

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