Schramm launches new joint venture
Joins with Hardwick Machinery to expand aftermarket segment
WEST GOSHEN » Chester County hydraulic drilling rig maker Schramm Inc. has entered into a joint venture with Hardwick Machinery, an equipment design, repair and rebuilding firm based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The two firms have collaborated before, and the new venture will enable Schramm to deliver a wider array of aftermarket services to customers worldwide, according to the company.
The partnership with Hardwick is part of Schramm’s longterm strategy to complement its existing backlog of OEM rig sales with aftermarket maintenance and support services for gold and other resurgent mining segments in Australia, the western U.S., Canada, China and Chile.
In addition to the venture with Hardwick, the company also announced Monday the appointment of board member Otis Spencer as president and CEO of Schramm Inc. Spencer will transition from his current role of operating partner at Schramm’s parent company GenNx360 Capital Partners. Spencer has been deeply involved with Schramm since joining GenNx360 in 2014, according to a press release, joining Schramm’s board of directors in 2019.
“Despite significant global business challenges due to the coronavirus, we have a strong backlog of new rig orders and several large aftermarket opportunities through our Brisbane and Perth (Australia) facilities. This new joint venture with Hardwick Machinery further accelerates both our spectrum and delivery of services to customers throughout the American
West and globally, underscoring Schramm’s worldwide commitment to premier customer support,” Spencer said in the release.
Spencer succeeds Craig Mayman, who will become Schramm’s executive vice president of sales, marketing & aftermarket, based in Adelaide, South Australia. Mayman, who has served as president of Schramm Inc. for the past two years, will continue to work from West Goshen for several months before moving back to Australia, where he will oversee Schramm’s business development and calibration toward the mining market segment, the company said.
Justin Hardwick, president of Hardwick Machinery said the company has chosen to “double down” on its relationship with Schramm after years of close cooperation.
“The product of this partnership will be nothing less than a powerhouse of the global drilling industry, an integrated entity capable of building and maintaining rigs from end to end. The biggest winners of the joint venture are our customers, who will enjoy speedy, reliable and quality service, no matter where in the world they are operating,” he said in the release.
In June 2019, Schramm Inc. and its then parent company HDR Holding Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In the original filing made by Schramm Inc. and Mayman, the company claimed it owed $20 million in secured debt. GenNx360 Capital Partners, a private equity firm, completed its acquisition of Schramm Inc. in October 2019, through a sale conducted under section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Schramm was founded in 1900 in the West Chesterarea by Chris Schramm and originally manufactured engine-driven machinery and portable air compressors, according to information on the Schramm website. Today, the company supplies products to the hydraulic drilling industry and specializes in hydraulic drilling rigs used in mining, oil and gas, and water markets.
In 2010, Schramm received international attention when it supplied equipment used in the rescue of 33 Chilean miners trapped nearly 2,041 feet underground for more than 69 days after the walls of the mine collapsed according to the Schramm website.