After a most pleasant hospitality time, President Allan Lloyd called the meeting to order with thirty two members and guests attending. There being no significant business to transact, we proceeded to a delicious lunch.

As dessert was served, Allan introduced our speaker of the day, Guy Gruppie of Murchison & Cumming. Our society has been called litigious. Guy presented statistics that did nothing to dispel that notion. The United States has more lawyers per capita than any other industrialized nation. The U.S. has 1 lawyer for every 265 citizens,  the comparable figure for China is 1 in 8000.

Accordingly, it is almost inevitable that anyone in business will be involved a lawsuit (or several of them) somewhere along the line.

Further contributing to the abundance of legal actions is the U.S. contingency fee system, with the attorney taking a percentage of any recovery as their fee. Typically, the percentage is one third to one half. Also, unlike many countries, the U.S. has no system where the loser pays the costs of suit, contractual provisions lacking.

Closer to home, there are certain areas designated as “legal hellholes” due to the proliferation of lawsuits. Los Angeles County is number one on that list and Clark County Nevada is number 4. Some others are Cook County, Illinois and Southern Florida.

Guy meticulously outlined the steps to protect against suits and what to expect from your lawyer in preventing, preparing for and defending them.

Thanks, Guy for your work in preparing such an excellent program just for our group. Thanks also to your able staff, associate Marianne Zakarian and IT expert Bob Leon. Great job!

Lastly, we had our raffle for a terrific group of prizes provided by Brian Gaa of CED, Steve Grainer of Mitsubishi, Tim Hawkins, Ed Trudeau and Gordon Simpkins of GMS. Mary Thomsic, John and Doris Brannon, Allan Lloyd of Draka, Jack Lawson, Patricia Howard of Janus and Leslie Malloy of Westcoast Pads.  SEE’s provided some very nice fabric tote bags for all attendants.

The raffle prize winners included:

Harvey Ledesma, Jack Lawson, Mike Barnum, Gordon Simpkins, Andy Duzich, Leonard Patito, Jo Wheeler, Ray Miller, Elizabeth Courtney and Woody Wright. This month’s attendance prize, a Fifty dollar gift card for Bev-Mo, provided by the group, went to Ray Miller

NEXT MONTH – OUR GOLF TOURNMENT – FRIDAY, JUNE 19 – DETAILS ON OUR WEB SITE

After a pleasant period of conversation and libations, President Allan Lloyd called the meeting to order with thirty-two members and guests attending. Scott Dutton of CED announced that they will host a “one day” training seminar on May 7^th and 8^th covering installation, adjusting, troubleshooting, etc. for SMARTRISE control systems which are distributed by CED. One may attend either day and there is no charge, free Continental breakfast and lunch. The seminars will be held at the Holiday Inn, 2640 N. Lakewood Blvd. in Long Beach. Limited space is available each day, so contact Scott Dutton at (800) 266-0908 to reserve your seat.

 After self introductions, we enjoyed a very nice lunch, choosing from entrees of baked half chicken or Dover sole. As we began the dessert course, our program for this month commenced. Jeff Yeager, Regional Sales Manager for Motion Control Engineering (MCE) began by giving us a bit of background on MCE. The subject for this meeting was (so called) Machine Room Less (MRL) elevators. He explained that MRL’s are not a new thing to MCE, as they have furnished equipment for numerous installations. What is new is the availability of a complete MRL package, produced in concert with sister company Imperial Electric, long time producer of elevator machines. So, we have MCE controls, Imperial machines and other required components from a variety of sources making up a complete “package”. Jeff stated that the intent is to perpetuate and extend the basic MCE philosophy of systems available to and serviceable by all.

 Jeff then yielded to Emery Thran, Elevator Programs Manager for MCE, for some more technical details. Emery explained that their version of the MRL is highly conventional. The machine, located at the top of the hoistway, is supported by machine beams which in turn are supported by the building structure. All versions use conventional wire rope suspension and sheaves are cast steel. The machine proper is a permanent magnet gearless type, 2:1 underslung.  A remote set/reset governor is incorporated. A visual indicator which tells the position of the car in the hoistway is provided. This enables “drifting” of the car to a safe and convenient location for cycling the doors to remove passengers if technical problems prohibit normal operation.

The controller is installed in a “closet”, which preferably is located adjacent to the hoistway at the top floor, although there is considerable flexibility in that area.

A spirited discussion of “proprietary” equipment ensued as part of the question and answer period. Of course, that long standing dispute was not settled in our forum, but the discussion was interesting and informative.

Thanks to Jeff and Emery, and all who participated for a stimulating program.

We concluded with our raffle for a great group of prizes provided by:

Stan Schultz, Allan Lloyd of DRAKA, Jeff Yeager and Emery Thran of MCE, Mary Thomsic, Bernie Tillipman, Bill Adrian of REPUBLIC ELEVATOR, Jo Wheeler of WEST COAST PADS, Jack Lawson, Mark Keelan of SCHUNK GRAPHITE, Roy Miller of SEEs/DRAKA, Gerry Mckinnon, Tim Hawkins and Scott Dutton of CED.

And the winners were:

Dave Altman, Marilyn Look, Stan Schultz, Joe Gonzalez, Mark Keelan, Sam Farooqi, John Brannon, Nick Escamilla, Mike Corbo, Mary Thomsic, Bill Adrian and Bernie Tillipman. The “grand prize” (a $75 gift certificate), provided by the group, was won by Bill Adrian.

Next month should be an outstanding program, covering a subject we all know well (perhaps all too well): “How to avoid getting sued and how to defend yourself if it happens anyway”. The date is May 19. Mark it down now.

           Recap of Meeting of March 17, 2009

Forty one handsome lads and lovely colleens gathered on St. Patrick’s Day for our March meeting.  After everyone collected their lucky shamrock coin, we enjoyed a preliminary hospitality hour featuring green beer. President Allan O’Lloyd opened the meeting and called for self introductions. Alan said that next month’s program will be presented by Jeff Yaeger of MOTION CONTROL ENGINEERING. This presentation will cover the new line of “market” MRL elevators being produced in concert with sister company IMPERIAL ELECTRIC.

Allan read us the treasurer’s report, indicating that the group is still solvent. We then had a lovely lunch of either corned beef and cabbage or Dover sole, according to choice.

Next was a presentation by Dirk Schoffler of STINGL SYSTEMS. Dirk explained that STINGL SYSTEMS is a family owned company based in Germany. Their “MOBIL PANO” work platform was described in detail. It is a work platform that mounts against an entrance and is cantilevered into the hoistway. It does not touch the rear hoistway wall and can be used on any type of elevator at any landing. It is particularly well adapted for use with “MRL” elevators. Thanks Dirk, for a most informative presentation!

Mark Menke of ELEVATOR PRODUCTS CORPORATION (EPCO) gave us a Power Point about their fixture line, both the INCHLINE, which is their standard line, and their custom fixtures. EPCO states that they are currently the largest producer of custom elevator fixtures in the U.S., with sales of about $20 million, 93% of which are shipped on schedule. Mark also covered their emergency light package, which powers the regular cab lights (as opposed to a separate light fixture). Of course, they still make door gibs. Good job, Mark!

We concluded with our fabulous raffle, for prizes provided by Mary Thomsic of ALPS, Gerry McKinnon, Marilyn and Launis Look of LOOK STAIRCHAIRS, Stan Schultz, Steve Grainer of MITSUBISHI, Jack and Pat Parker, John and Doris Brannon, Leslie Malloy of WESTCOAST PADS, Bill Adrian of REPUBLIC ELEVATOR, Mike Shaw, Mike Farris of LERCH BATES, Carolyn Chavez of EECO, Sam Farooqi of PAR PAINT and Brian Gaa of CED.

And the winners were:

Joe Orrico, Marilyn Look, Mike Farris, Darla Abel, Andy Duzich, Janice Serrano, Jack Lawson. Allan Lloyd, Brian Gaa, Bill Adrian, Tom Brannon, Scott Southard, Iwan Nigg, Harvey Ledesma and Steve Grainer.