The Hope Group is Proud to Introduce Its Eighth Parker Store in North Haven CT

Donna Tibbetts
Operations & Services Mgr.


May 10, 2017 will mark the official Open House and Technology Seminar event celebrating the establishment of The Hope Group’s eighth Parker Store in New England. Each of these eight locations is a stocking branch office of The Hope Group and is co-located with a fully stocked Parker Store. Our customers have come to rely on the Parker Store for that “need it now” hose, fitting, or quick coupling. We offer a “while-you-wait” express hose assembly replacement service, which makes the Parker Store your first choice for emergency repairs.

For those customers of Connecticut Fluid Power who continue to rely on them now that they are part of The Hope Group, they will find the expanded product line of hydraulic, pneumatic, automation, and sealing products to be a real advantage. The sales engineers and customer service team can provide expert component selection service and assistance with designing and building sub-systems for a wide range of industrial purposes.

You can learn more about the Technology Seminars and the Open House by visiting the website.

Parker Hannifin Celebrates 100 Years of Providing Motion Control Technologies to the World

Donna Tibbetts
Operations & Services Mgr.

Parker Hannifin, a Fortune 250 global leader in motion control technologies, celebrated their 100th year anniversary on March 13, 2017. Originally called the Parker Appliance Company and founded by Arthur L. Parker, it began to develop and move forward with the help of his business partner Carl Klamm.

The first patent that Parker acquired specifies a hydraulic device which regulates the speed of electric generators. One hundred years later, they have been granted over 8,000 patents.

“Our success is founded on fair dealing, hard work, coordination of effort, and quality products.” – Art Parker

Parker’s technologies help hundreds of thousands of customers. They have more than 300 facilities, 13,000 independent distributors, over 3,000 retail stores, and employ over 58,000 people globally. They are one of the largest motion control companies in the world and provide technologies that include aerospace, climate control, electromechanical, filtration, fluid and gas handling, hydraulics, pneumatics, process control, and sealing.

Parker will celebrate their centennial with events throughout this year to honor distributors, customers, shareholders, and others that help Parker continue to be a motion control global leader.

To learn more about the history of Parker, visit their Centennial Website. For more information on one of our ParkerStores in New England, visit our Parker Store website.

By the way, if you haven’t visited HopeDirect to purchase Parker products quickly, you really should try it. In the past few months we have added thousands of new products.

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   www.TheParkerStore.com

New England Parker Stores Anticipate Spring 2017 Contractor Hose Special

Drew Swanton, Parker Store Mgr.
DSwanton@TheHopeGroup.com


It’s almost that time of year again when we offer our Spring Contractor Hose Special. This year we are featuring Jack Hammer Hose Assemblies and Black Premium Contractor's Water Hose at special pricing.


The Jack Hammer Hose Assemblies
Coupled with crimped universal type couplings on each end 300psi

• Temperature Range: -40ºF to +212ºF (-40ºC to +100ºC)
• Working Pressure: 300psi (1200psi Burst)
• Crimped-on Universal Couplings Each End
• RED EPDM Rubber - Stays Flexible In Temperature Extremes

Black Premium Contractor’s Water Hose

• Temperature Range: -40ºF to +180ºF (-40ºC to +82ºC)
• Working Pressure: 125psi (500psi Burst)
• Crimped-on Crush Resistant Nickel Plated Brass Ends
• Male x Female Garden Hose Threaded Couplings
• Black EPDM Rubber - Stays Flexible In Temperature Extremes

If you are interested in receiving more information about this special (or future Parker Store specials), contact me at 508-351-2706 or email me and I will send you the eNewsletter when the special pricing begins! (dswanton@thehopegroup.com)

Reducing Inventory of Parker Hydraulic Hose Maximizes Profitability and Safety

Drew Swanton, Parker Store Mgr.
DSwanton@TheHopeGroup.com

As companies continue to "Lean" out their operations, it has become increasingly important to minimize inventory. While this is a good technique for improving the bottom line, it does have its downsides. When it comes to fabricating hose assemblies, manufacturers and suppliers can’t perfectly predict which parts their customers will need and when. Solutions to this conundrum include methods like custom kitting and vendor managed inventory, both of which streamline the parts ordering process. However, these solutions don’t necessarily address the concerns of companies looking to maximize floor space and profitability in an increasingly challenging global marketplace.

By minimizing the number of parts in your inventory, you also minimize the number of dollars wasted on the parts you don’t use. Primarily developed as a cost-saving measure for its customers, Parker’s GlobalCore solution simplifies your hose inventory. The family of five hydraulic hoses covers diameters ¼” to 2” and working pressure ranges from 3,000 to 6,000 PSI, which—depending on hose diameter and working pressure—are compatible with either 43 Series or 77 Series fittings and exceed ISO 18752 performance specifications.

How Inventory Reduction Can Improve Safety

By reducing the number of parts in your inventory, the potential for errors when matching parts for hose assemblies goes down with it. If your engineering and production staff are not educated on why it’s absolutely critical to use the proper fitting for your hydraulic hose, then the incompatible hose/fitting pairing can leak, fail and even result fail in serious injury or even death.

Is Global Core the Right Solution For My Company?

The cost-savings benefits I mention previously makes it a smart move for many companies. If you are not sure, customer service representatives at The Hope Group’s Parker Store branch locations can help determine if transitioning to Global Core is the right choice for you.

In preparation for our customers making the transition to Parker’s Global Core, all of The Hope Group's Parker Store locations currently stock 797-TC hydraulic hose, which delivers 6,000 PSI constant working pressure. The outside diameter is nearly 30% smaller than SAE spiral and twice the impulse life. It can be purchased at the Parker Store branch location closest to you or ordered online through the Hope Direct website. View more information on our Hydraulic Hoses.

Unexpected Visit Is Just What the Customer Ordered

Joe Kelly

Fluid Connector Specialist

Parker Hannifin

This week was an exciting week for me. I got my first order. It feels great to finally be in the field, and being productive for the company.  It has been a wonderful experience to train with Parker, but I’m really glad to finally have some more responsibilities, and a way to contribute.

One of the accounts that was given to me was a National Grid location, I have been trying to get in to see them, but I was having trouble coordinating a date with them. Eventually, after not being able to work something out I decided I would just drop in one day, and see if they happened to have time. As I pulled into the parking lot it was pouring rain. I parked the car, and reviewed all of the information I had available about the account, including sales history, contacts, & past activities. When I was satisfied that I knew what I needed to know I ran through the rain to the front door, and it was out of order. Luckily, a man who worked in the building was able to lead me around to the side door to let me in. As I stood there dripping in the hallway, he asked who I needed to see, and led me back to the garage to find him.

When I got to the garage I introduced myself, and told him why I was there I almost expected him to be annoyed that I didn’t give him more notice, and how busy he always seemed on the phone. Fortunately for me he turned out to have some time, and was actually happy to see someone from The Hope Group, because their fitting inventory had been running low recently.

He introduced me to his staff, and gave me a tour of their facility. They have Parflex Division and Hose Products Division hose and fittings, some quick couplers, and TFD adapters. They also have two Crimpers: a Parkrimp 1 that they used in the garage, and a Minikrimp that they used on their service vehicle. I noticed that they had plenty of hose so after they showed me around, I was able to take a closer look at their fitting and adapter inventory, and find out what they needed to restock. One of their mechanics, and I went through item by item, and decided what quantities they needed. After that we scheduled a time for me to train them on the crimping systems to ensure everyone in the facility is safely operating the equipment, and fabricating safe hose assemblies. Afterward I worked with Jim Wilson to get a quote to them, and then they responded with a purchase order. Finally, I put the order in with customer service.

It was really exciting to get my first order, and it has been exciting in general to be in the field. I’ve had to rely on myself to ask the right questions, and give people the correct information for the first time since I started working for Parker. It’s going to be a long journey to gain the level of knowledge & competence of The Hope Group's sales team has, but that’s the goal, and I’m on my way.

Editor’s Note: Since all good things must come to an end, this article will be Joe Kelly’s final blog for The Hope Group’s Parker Stores. During his time at The Hope Group, Joe received the hands-on experience he will need to grow and succeed during his career at Parker. Everyone here at The Hope Group congratulates Joe and wishes him the best in his upcoming assignment with Parker.

Adventures in Crimper Training

Joe Kelly

Fluid Connector Specialist

Parker Hannifin

This past week brought another first for me. I have officially provided my first crimper training. Luckily, thanks to the training I received at Hose Products Division, the tools and information local Connector Territory Manager, Bob Parent covered with me, and help from the Hope Group Connector sales team I was well prepared to do the job.

I opened the training with the Safety Works slideshow, and tried to make it clear that the goal of the training is to ensure that everyone leaves with the knowledge necessary to fabricate safe hose assemblies. People had warned me that the guys may not take it seriously, but luckily everyone seemed to pay attention & take the training seriously.

After the presentation I walked everyone through the catalog, explained the meanings behind lay line information, broke down the fitting part numbers and explained how each piece of the part # identifies a detail of the fitting. Bob provided me with 10643-4-6 so I could draw attention to the jump size and explain that the last two numbers are dash sizes and the port side is always listed first. 

After that we went on to the actual demonstration, and everything went well. I was concerned that their bowl or dies may have been worn because the bowl was bone dry. So, before we started I put some lithium grease on it, and I checked the crimps with my calipers. They all came out within spec.

Training customers in the safe and proper use of a crimper was very satisfying. I hope to do a lot more training sessions.

Putting Thread ID Knowledge to Work

Joe Kelly

Fluid Connector Specialist

Parker Hannifin

A few weeks ago I unexpectedly had the opportunity to test my thread knowledge. I had set up a call with an account that Randy Marceau had asked me to see. My contact at the account explained to me when I arrived that one of his maintenance employees was working on a leak that was up in the ceiling. While he was up there making the repair, the battery had died on their Scissor lift.  He was able to safely return to the ground, but he had no way of moving the lift out of the walkway because of the dead battery. What he decided to do next is where the trouble started.

            Since he couldn’t drive the lift under its own power he decided to push it with a fork truck, and it worked. He managed to get the lift out of the walkway and push it all the way back to its storage room. The problem is that as he was pushing the lift along, one of the forks slipped underneath the lift where some hoses were routed. As the fork passed under the platform it crashed directly into a 90 degree swivel sheering off the port end and rendering the machine unusable.

The customer pulled the fitting off and it turned out to be a Parker Swivel from the Quick Coupling Division like the one pictured below. These swivels allow the hose to swivel in applications where the hose moves back and forth on a single plane in order to minimize stress on the hose.

            I had brought along my thread ID kit. The housing end of the fitting was clearly JIC 37⁰ flare. The other end turned out to be 3/8 NPT. The only thing that was left to find out was the size. I had some JIC hose fittings in the car so I went out to grab them, and I discovered that the Swivel was -6.

Parker and the Hope Group have specialists who can do this type of identification for you, but they also offer training which could help you or your employees learn how to identify fittings and threads on their own.

In the training class you will learn the 4 critical steps to identifying threads:

1 – Determine if the thread is tapered or parallel

2 – Determine the pitch

3 – Determine the size

4 – Designate the thread

            Finally the training teaches you to pull all of that information together in step 4, in order to identify almost any thread you will come across. If you are interested in this training, you may register online for the seminar taking place from 8:30AM to 12:30PM on June 15, 2016 at The Hope Group's Parker Store in Fitchburg, Mass.  It will be led by experts from Parker in a hands-on training that covers inch and metric threads. Space is limited so be sure to register early!