YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
L&W Industries LLC has carved out a substantial niche in railroad signal and communication products. In business for nearly six decades, the company’s products are used in train systems throughout North America. L&W Industries grew last year after it moved to a 350 feet by 400 feet building on Lot 7 in the SWMO Rail and Business Park in Strafford.
SBJ: What is a wired bungalow?
Jenny Carr (president and CEO): It’s like a house. If you go up to a railroad crossing, typically you’ll see ... multiple things wired into the bungalow, for instance the flashing lights, the gates coming down, the timing of all that, as well as communications. There’s some pretty sophisticated electronics that trigger those events. All of this has to be wired and integrated into the bungalow with communications back to the appropriate railroad center. You will see these in transit operations as well as freight operations.
SBJ: What does production look like for the wired bungalow? How are these made, and where?
Carr: These vary significantly based on the application, the customer, whether it is rail or transit type. In general, the bungalow, or house as they are sometimes called, is first made. This entails a lot of sheet metal fabrication, including punching, lasering, forming [and] welding a lot of parts together to assemble what looks like a house. After a series of other ancillary operations to the interior of the structure, the bungalow gets wired much like a house does with receptacles, lights, some grounding equipment. This is when the product is moved to the wiring area where (direct current) equipment such as controllers, relays, chargers, batteries and communication equipment gets installed and wired into the bungalow. Software is loaded and there are testing procedures usually unique to each bungalow. All of this production is now done in our new Strafford location in the industrial park.
SBJ: How has this product impacted your company’s growth?
Carr: This is one of the reasons that we just moved into a new 140,000-square-foot facility, was to accommodate the growth of this product and other signaling equipment. It has increased a lot of new and highly skilled jobs in the area.
SBJ: Can you give me an idea of how many you sell a year? Are these located nationwide?
Carr: We sell hundreds that may vary in size from a 4-by-4 to a 10-by-30 profile. Each year, we continue to sell more and more. We have some customers we just sell the bungalow to, and there are other customers that want all the equipment installed and wired, and there are some customers who want the bungalow, the cantilever, the flashers, gates and all the related equipment that might go to a crossing location. There are lots of different applications, but most people are most familiar with a crossing bungalow that is at every railroad crossing. We sell these to the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Taking shape on 3.5 acres just east of State Highway H/Glenstone Avenue in the area of Valley Water Mill Park are the Fulbright Heights Apartments – three 23,000-square-foot buildings with 24 units each for a total of 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
