G&H Fiberglass Inc. & Alliance Equipment Co.

As Waco Boom legend describes, founder Vince Hanke made his first fiberglass boom by hand in a chicken coop and most of the early development occurred in his garage. Founded in 1974, G&H Fiberglass began selling booms out of its Alliance, OH location, then founded Alliance Equipment in 1983 to manufacture buckets. Vince focused in on the insulating booms when moving the business to Waco, soon to become a global insulated boom manufacturer.

Move to Waco

Originally named Waco Fiberglass Inc., the company first moved to Waco, TX for more strategic proximity to customers and to benefit from Texas’s manufacturing support.

New Campus

The Hanke family purchased the former Conlee Seed Co. building and surrounding acreage at 481 TX Central Pkwy to expand the Waco Fiberglass manufacturing, on the brink of becoming a global insulated boom manufacturer.

EMPLOYEE STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL (SPC) TRAINING

The courses taught in this program to Waco Boom employees established a consistent trend for employee training and enhancement of quality measures. With the introduction of more automated controls in the plant, the SPC program helped develop an understanding of using and qualifying manufacturing equipment.

Move Into New Facility

The Conlee Seed building infrastructure was complete and ready for move-in. Production began with two curing ovens in the building. The property is still home to Waco Boom’s manufacturing and offices with several renovations and expansions through the years.

Winding Upgrades

Now COO, Bob Simon, had been with the engineering team for 2 years when they began major overhauls to the winding system. Resin baths were redesigned for more cleanliness, volume, reduction of fiber tension, and better control of resin wet-out. One winder was extended to handle round booms up to 36’ long for the tree care industry. Other upgrades mitigated absorption of moisture in the fiberglass prior to winding and the bulk resin system was introduced.

4-Axis Winding

Winders were upgraded to 4-AXIS machines allowing constant bandwidth, reduced tensions, and the

Winding Computer Upgrades                 

The user interface and servos of the computers in addition to the winding motors to provide more a robust and reliable system to improve capacity and efficiency.

Reaching New Heights

Release of new logo and branding to reflect the reinvigorated emphasis on customer service, product development and recognition within the aerial lift industry.

Longer Boom Trials

Production and engineering began to research and examination of the longest square profile boom to date–a 50’ long square boom! Waco Boom continues to pursue methods and equipment to produce booms of this length on the in the standard production line.

Building Expansion

Once concluding several permitting delays, Waco Boom was given permission to occupy the new expansion where infrastructure is underway to support the next generation of equipment and increase in capacity.