News & Resources
As engineers, we love learning about the world around us and drawing inspiration from other people and inventions throughout history. And, we love sharing our favorite stories with you! Who knows? Maybe they’ll help spark your next big idea too.
In the countryside of Connecticut lies a property called Pepperidge Farm, the place where Margaret Rudkin founded her now nationally-known bakery brand of the same name. What began as a mother experimenting with baking healthful bread at home for her family has become a company which sells over $2 billion
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something new comes along. One that made our Denise McIntosh say, “What is that? That’s the strangest looking machine I’ve ever seen!” It’s another innovation from the smart minds in our engineering department. The challenge they encountered was a customer who needed to
If you’ve ever tugged a knotted rope with a puppy, you can be sure that you’ll get tired long before the puppy. And the puppy already knows it. In the article “Embrace the Grind” by Jacob Kaplan-Moss, he goes into the detail (and determination) involved in pulling off a magic
Meet your biggest enemy: Downtime. When machines go down, customers don’t get taken care of, the time clock keeps ticking up your payroll, and money stops coming in. Unfortunately, machines break down. It’s one of the inevitable truths of anything with moving parts. Fighting the downtime enemy means being smart
There’s nothing magic about the date “January 1st.” It will be a Friday, so it has that going for it. But, collectively, we have decided that it’s a day for a new beginning. A day to start resolutions. A commitment to make 2021 better than 2020 (not a high bar
This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving in the US, where it has been an… unusual… year. In some ways, our world feels larger, and in other it feels smaller. Whether you’re a client, vendor, or partner here in the States, or you’re among those we count as friends around the world,
“…and in an instant, everything changes.” Have you heard that a few times this year? 2020 will be remembered for many things, but the common thread is change. And if we’re not talking about change, we’re talking about health and healthcare. Future needs and regulations can pop up at any
Vivian Burnett was the picture of a proper lady. Born at the tail end of the 19th century in Kansas, she was no wilting flower. While a curse word never crossed her lips, you always knew where you stood. Family called her a yellow-dog Democrat and a fierce fighter for
“Unexpected twists and turns” has been the theme for 2020. Restaurants have had to turn almost inside-out to accommodate the sudden glut of carry-out orders. Car dealers are bringing cars to your home for a test drive. And our customers are quickly learning why we set up shop in Springfield,
Every Henry Ford has a James J. Couzens quietly making him a legend. Every Warren Buffett has his Charlie Munger. Every Jagger has a Richards and every Paul a John. So, too, it was true in January of 2008 when Custom Powder Systems found its perfect complement in Integrated Containment
Here at Custom Powder Systems, we’re always on the lookout for creative applications of practical absurdity. Because we’re so often faced with constraints (space, time, budget, gravity, etc.) in the projects our clients bring us, we try to hire engineers who look at problems outside of work with the same
In nearly every way, it was an F-A-T like any other… we demonstrated the functionality of the new, custom, dry material handling blender as the client looked on. We walked them through every step of its operation and answered their question, and the meeting ended with a successful test. Except…
There are hints of lifting devices dating back to the time of Archimedes. Leonardo da Vinci, our kindred Renaissance spirit, drew up elevator designs. Steam-powered elevators would haul lumber and coal in the 19th century. It would be years before people thought about hoisting people in these machines…and this kind
“PPE has gone up 1000% in price across the board. Companies are calling us and saying ‘Here’s the situation, do you have any options?’” Angelo Rubino, Business Development Specialist PPE has been a common term for people in hospitals, factories, and other potentially hazardous workplaces. With the onset of COVID-19,
As you may have noticed, Leonardo da Vinci is on our Mt. Rushmore here at CPS and ICS. He embraced the constraints that faced him, saw patterns and connections others never could, and unlike most of the mere mortals of his time or any other—to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw—dreamt things
It’s no big secret that engineers are particularly obsessive dedicated to their hobbies outside of work. Whether it’s pinball machines or, in this case, woodworking, our engineers get the most out of their natural gifts and talents… Russell Motes is one of our engineers here at Custom Powder Systems. The
During World War II as all the “boys” were off to war, women stepped in and took up factory jobs. American women were working around the clock to make sure our troops had the tanks, jeeps, airplanes, and artillery needed to get the job done. Post-war America saw more and
It once seemed outrageous to think a ship made of heavy steel could ever float on water. Imagine the reaction if a painter told you a contraption of wood could let you toss yourself from any height and drift safely to earth. The parachute was one of the many inventions from
We are an idea company. When we first meet customers, they are always a bit baffled…perplexed…flummoxed even. Our job is to take their (seemingly) impossible challenge and come up with the best way to solve it. We love love love being asked to do the things that haven’t been done before. We’ve been
Necessity is the mother of invention, but when three million gallons of liquid hydrocarbon explodes in front of you, waiting for mother to call isn’t an option. While the event was cataclysmic, it inspired the invention of the variable flow fire nozzle now used by fire departments around the world. Volunteer