When Blyth Biggs Sr.
was designing the ergonomically correct mop handle his company makes, he went through a thousand pounds of aluminum tubing before he got it right.
His Biggs Corp.
Manufacturing will be going through a lot more aluminum tubing in coming months as the Mound House-based company widens its scope into consumer markets.
The company's nine employees make about a dozen varieties of ergonomic handles for janitorial products ranging from dust mops to toilet plungers.
Its push-broom handle, for instance, is adjustable so the user can stand straight, and a couple of bends in the aluminum provide better control and leverage than a traditional straight handle.
Since its creation in 1998, Biggs has sold its ergonomic handles to manufacturers such as Rubbermaid as well as end users Boeing, for instance through a modest network of distributors.
The distribution channel is about the get a lot bigger, however, as Biggs teams with Delta Industries International of King of Prussia, Pa., to roll out a consumer line of ergonomic handles.
The consumer line, to be marketed under the name "The Smart Handle," will be rolled out to national markets this summer.
"The products fit perfectly with two important consumer priorities today more time and better health," said Karen Meacham, president of Delta Industries.
Delta, North America's biggest distributor of reusable spray bottles, brings retail distribution channels to the alliance with the Mound House company.
The consumer products will include handles for shovels and rakes along with handles for cleaning tools.
It's by far the biggest deal in the history of Biggs, and the company expects to add 15 people to its manufacturing operation.
The company's 21,000-square-facility has plenty of room to take on the additional business without need for expansion.
More important, Biggs said, the manufacturing volume is expected to be great enough to allow his company to turn the corner into consistent profitability.
The little manufacturer has faced challenges that would have stopped most in their tracks.
Biggs, who operated a janitorial service in South Lake Tahoe, was inspired when a mop handle one night bent in his hands and he noticed how much more efficiently it allowed him to work.
He designed his first ergonomic handle, started the patent process, lined up an investor and traveled to show off the product at trade shows in 1998.
Almost immediately, a bigger and better financed competitor brought out a knock-off product.
Nearly as quickly, Biggs was in court with a claim of unfair business practices.
The attorney who represented the company took the case on a contingency fee basis eliminating the need for the young company to come up with cash for the cash and the private investor who financed the company's start-up was patient.
Even so, Biggs wife, Diana, said the knock-off product and legal action confused and worried potential customers who didn't want to find themselves in the middle of a dispute.
The case was settled in late 2001, allowing Biggs to devote full attention to its manufacturing and sales operations.
It's a hands-on operation for Blyth and Diana Biggs, the mid-30s couple who are the company's controlling shareholders.
Blyth Biggs continues to develop and test designs for extensions of the company's product line.
Diana Biggs, meanwhile, recently devoted long nights to development of videos and other marketing materials.
"We're a very enthusiastic company.
If we say we're going to do it, we do it," she said.
"We believe in the product, and we believe in what we're trying to achieve."
