Above: Yates mill-duty cylinders are secured for transport.

Cylinder manufacturer keeps industrial and commercial markets moving with high-performance products, repair services and a personal touch

July 2019 - In the late 1990s a large chemical company launched a series of commercials with the tagline “We don’t make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.” Yates Industries Inc. could say the same. The St. Clair Shores, Michigan-based company doesn’t make the products that OEMs and fabricators build. It engineers the hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders that make these products move.

William Yates II founded the company in 1972 as a fluid power products distributor. When William Yates III took the helm in 1993, he used his company’s reputation for quality and service as a platform to become a leading cylinder manufacturer and repair facility.

In 1998, Yates moved into 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space, then over the years added Yates Cylinders in Alabama and a third cylinder production facility in Georgia. Current expansion plans will bring the company’s total square footage to 300,000.

Mill-duty cylinders like this one are produced at Yates' Alabama facility. 

“Growth has been explosive since we added our welded product line at the Georgia facility to our mill-duty line in Alabama and our tie rod line at the Michigan plant,” explains Vern Berels, computer systems architect for Yates.

Tie rod, welded and mill-duty cylinders are made primarily from carbon and stainless steels and  aluminum in sizes that range from 1.5-inch bore diameter up to 50 inches. The ISO 9001:2015 certified company also engineers, machines and tests its products.

Hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders are used in just about everything, Berels says. “When you get your teeth cleaned, hydraulic cylinders allow the dental chair you are sitting in to change position. We provided cylinders used in equipment that helped build One World Trade Center. We recently did a job that called for cylinders able to raise a college’s running track.”

On the industrial side, Berels says Yates cylinders can be found throughout the supply chains for the construction and steel industries.

“For example, moving iron ore from a steel mill or forging plant’s oven requires a robust, monster-sized ladle powered by a cylinder,” he continues. “In a coke plant, you have conveyors, overhead cranes, scoops and other equipment that move material from a truck to a barge. At port, a crane pulls the material off the barge where it’s readied for a mill or service center. Our hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders operate in each of the systems used to move ore from the mine to the day it is coil processed.”

Large- and small-bore tie rod cylinders support heavy-duty applications.

Tie rod and welded body cylinders see the most use. Large- and small-bore tie rods and mill-duty cylinders typically are reserved for heavy-duty industrial applications. Welded body cylinders are sourced by the mobile and construction equipment markets. Demand for hydraulic cylinders remains high, chiefly due to their ability to transfer large amounts of power through tiny tubes and hoses.

Pillars of strength

While the company’s expanding cylinder technology has fueled its growth, Berels maintains that Yates’ repair skills, re-engineering and new product engineering capabilities remain the supplier’s pillars. “Our roots are in cylinder repair work,” he says. “The work gave us the opportunity to see why things failed and evaluate how to make improvements.”

“We can take a cylinder that’s beyond repair and return it to like-new condition,” Berels adds. “We can replace a broken unit with a new cylinder to original specifications.”

Yates employees work on large rod for a cylinder.

Yates’ factory space and the capabilities it has honed over the last 40-plus years allows the company to produce cylinders more efficiently and cost effectively than most of its peers. Major market segments now include off-road, energy, shipping, oil and gas, defense, and automotive, to name a few.  But it is the company’s service and the capability to perform economical repairs or replacements in house that Berels says sets Yates apart from other cylinder makers.

“It can cost a manufacturer a lot of down time if a cylinder fails,” he says. “Sometimes we get a call in the middle of the night and have to determine if the cylinder warrants a repair or replacement so that we can meet the customer’s needs quickly and help to minimize production delays.”

Dedicated to making its products in the U.S., customer service and communication are also priorities for the company. “When a customer calls, they are talking to a person,” says Berels. “We stand by our product and we’re going to get you what you need at the best value.” MM