In 1935, Otto Lagervall, an inventor, entrepreneur, and musician, created a folding music stand that was unlike anything else on the market at the time. This breakthrough was key to the founding of the Manhasset Specialty Company in Lagervall’s hometown of Manhasset, New York. Today, the company is headquartered in Yakima, Washington and, some 81 years later, a refined version of this same music stand remains its flagship product.
As the Manhasset Specialty Company has grown over the years, significant changes include the introduction of new products and accessories, upgrades in materials and manufacturing processes, and a major transition to becoming a fully employee- owned entity.
Dan Roberts, president and general manager, proudly trumpets Manhasset’s unwavering commitment to quality, noting that all products and materials are sourced and assembled in the USA, using a process that is both efficient and environmentally friendly. “No waste is generated in the production process,” he says.
MMR recently caught up with Roberts for a deeper look into the past, present, and future of the Manhasset Specialty Company.
Musical Merchandise Review: What are some of the more significant milestones in the company’s history?
Dan Roberts: In the 1940s, Otto Lagervall made the decision to move his company to Yakima, Washington from Manhasset, New York for a variety of reasons. That move ensured that the company would have plenty of room for expansion as it grew.
In the 1990s, Manhasset became fully employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This transition truly created a spirit of ownership among all of the company’s employees, which has led to a universal drive to achieve excellence in our product quality and performance, as well as creating a commitment on the part of all employees to offer the best possible customer service to the company’s customers and consumers.
How do you explain the longevity of the success that the Manhasset music stand has had over the years?
The Manhasset Symphony Music Stand is recognized worldwide for its quality, durability, and dependability. The same objectives that Otto Lagervall aspired to achieve are still the goals for Manhasset stands today. The company has worked hard over its 81 years to continuously improve the performance of Manhasset music stands by finding new, more durable materials and to develop the most dependable production processes. The result is that Manhasset is now able to offer a lifetime warranty on its music stands, which is unprecedented in the world of music stand products.
Manhasset has also brought a number of new and innovative music stand and accessory products to the marketplace in the last 81 years. Manhasset now offers a variety of shaft heights on its stands, all of which feature the Magic Finger Clutch, as well as new models with built-in shelves for storage, portable stand models, new colors of music stands, models with wider desks so that lengthy scores
can be used by musicians, and many more items. Manhasset also offers three models of stand carts for storing or moving music stands safely and easily.
Have there been other significant technological or product innovations along the way?
New product introductions have been stepped up in the last few years. Some of these include new colors with matte finishes for music stand models, new Percussion Trap Tables, new Clear Desk Symphony stands. We also offer many new accessories, including bandstand fronts, music stand base weights, a new LED Lamp that is about to be introduced, repositioned instrument holders that conveniently fit onto Manhasset music stand bases and store easily, universal tablet holder models, and a repositioned instrument holder peg system for a wide variety of instruments that fits securely onto Manhasset music stand bases.
In terms of product innovation, we moved to powder coating for finishing music stands, which has allowed for more consistency in our operations, and a process called plaforization for our pre-wash preparation of music stands prior to powder coating. This enabled Manhasset to become 100 percent green in its manufacturing – no waste is generated in the production process. The company was recognized for this accomplishment in the fall of 2014 by the Association of Washington Business, receiving their Green Manufacturing Award.
Manufacturing is another area that has seen substantial technological advances in recent years. How has this innovation influenced your manufacturing process?
We introduced robotics into operations for the production of welded parts and the production of component parts for music stands, adding speed and improving the overall quality of the parts affected. Manhasset has committed to significant capital expenditures that will be made over the next five years to further improve manufacturing processes in packing and assembly, metal fabrication and another plant expansion. The packing and assembly line is being installed in the fall of 2016, which will improve throughout while assuring that the quality of products stay at their current high level.
We also take pride in Manhasset’s commitment to making its products in the USA. As a further commitment to USA production, the company only uses steel and aluminum from U.S. manufacturers.
From the first Manhasset stand that Otto Lagervall produced to the present, product quality is of the utmost importance. Quality control checks are conducted at every phase of production to make sure that Manhasset products will perform for years and years.
Keeping on the topic of technology, how have the company’s marketing efforts been influenced by the rise of social media and other tech-based methods of communication?
In the last few years, we have increased our marketing efforts, resulting in an updated website, a new trade show booth, and increased social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. In addition, we have introduced new packaging for Manhasset Stands and accessories, with QR codes included to provide access to support for consumers.
We have also focused on growing export sales, which have been very successful in the last ten years. The company has worked through the Ex-Im Bank to provide insurance on the company’s export receivables, helping the company grow its export sales from five percent of sales to over 30 percent of the company’s annual sales. In 2016, export sales are expected to hit record levels for Manhasset based on YTD sales and order commitments the company has from its export distributors.
What were some of the keys to success for Manhasset through recent periods of market turbulence, including the recession of ‘08 and pressures from foreign imports?
Every company was impacted by the recession of 2008, but fortunately, Manhasset was not affected dramatically. The stability of school music programs and the growth of international business has helped Manhasset to maintain and grow the company’s sales and to expand its market share during the last eight years and that trend is expected to continue in the coming years. The growth of foreign imported products is a major concern to Manhasset, however. The company has become much more aggressive in defending its patents, trademarks and trade dress in the last few years to keep marketers from bringing knock-off products to the US market and that will continue to be the case until foreign manufacturers stop copying the company’s products.
Also, Manhasset has been working closely with raw materials suppliers to control costs by working on economies of scale and by being flexible in ordering to take advantage of any price savings opportunities. Long-term commitments for these raw materials have ensured that Manhasset will receive enough materials when mild shortages occur, to make sure that production is not impeded.
What can you tell me about the current facilities and the people who make the company run day in and day out?
We are blessed to have fantastic employee involvement and virtually no turnover, in part because the work is so rewarding and especially because the benefits of employee ownership (ESOP) are outstanding. More than half of the company’s employees have been with the company for 20 years or more. Our employees are able to plan for their retirement with confidence as a result of the ESOP program that the company offers, and recruiting is easy when you have these kinds of positive stories to relate to potential new employees.
Manhasset owns two buildings for its operations, the first of which is the production plant and the second is the warehouse used for storing finished goods, some raw materials, sub-assemblies, and packaging materials.
One of the major advantages that Manhasset has with its experienced and dedicated work force is that there has been cross-training among all employees. Everyone is ready, willing and able to move to another position in our manufacturing, packing and shipping operations if needed, which is tremendously helpful for production planning. Yet another advantage of the ESOP mindset – everyone sees what needs to be done and jumps in to make it happen. All of the moves the company is making are designed to make sure that Manhasset products are made in the USA for many years to come. We all enjoy helping to create jobs in this country!
What at Manhasset are you most excited about today? And where do you see opportunities for growth and innovation?
All of us at Manhasset are excited about finding ways to make our products even better for the generations to come. The commitment to increased levels of capital spending will put the company in a position to be even more competitive and flexible in our operations in the next 81 years. We are constantly working on developing new product ideas so the company’s product lines will be fresh and remain at the pinnacle of performance.
We are working to remove any bottlenecks in our production process so that we can produce at an even faster pace, while keeping that great Manhasset quality inherent in each music stand we make. A healthy backlog of orders is great for every manufacturer, but we want to reduce our lead time for our distributors’ orders to help create move inventory turns for our customers. The commitment to capital spending and to the development of new products will also help position the company for even greater success in the future.
And we will continue to push to grow market share outside of the U.S. We know that we can grow our sales dramatically on all six continents that we distribute to now. And if Antarctica develops a population, we will find a distributor there!
Ha – good luck with that! Anything else you’d like to add?
We are delighted to see the renewed enthusiasm for music and arts programs in our schools in the U.S. and we will do all we can to support those efforts. We are very hopeful that this commitment to and support of the arts will be continued for many more years. We know the benefits these programs bring to kids as they grow into adults. The company is also looking at possible acquisitions that would fit strategically into Manhasset’s operations, ensuring more future growth and more jobs for Americans making great American products.
