A U.S. leather tannery which provides leathers to a major American heavy work boot manufacturer needed a long term grating replacement for their facility in Minnesota. As this facility approaches its sesquicentennial anniversary, it has an extensive portfolio of quality versatile leathers. The success of the tannery has been attributed to the utilization of a lengthy chrome tanning process. The process involves tremendous temperature adjustments, chemical processes, constant exposure to moisture, and extensive testing, all of which makes their products stand out amongst its competitors.

To say the least, this environment is extremely challenging for traditional structural materials. The benefits of FRP made it the clear choice for their 6-8’ of elevated catwalk decking around their tannery coloring drums. This tannery supplies enough leather in a week to produce around 25,000 pairs weekly or 1.2 million pairs of handcrafted shoes annually. Strongwell was able to provide and deliver sized-to-order yellow 1½” DURAGRID® I-4000 panels for their maintenance staff to easily install in their existing structure. By doing so, this tannery experienced minimal downtime while achieving huge improvements in aesthetics, durability and corrosion prevention.

Asked as to why they chose to buy Strongwell’s product, management replied, “After examining multiple samples, making the decision to purchase a far superior product in design and craftsmanship from a local, ‘Made in USA’ product was an easy decision.”

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