If you were to Google ‘piano wire screens,’ the first search result you would see – and dozens after it – would be about Samscreen, Inc., the company considered to be for piano wire screens what Kleenex is for tissues or Hoover is for vacuums.
Samscreen, Inc. is a manufacturing business that creates screens, crusher parts and various sieve-like products, integral to companies in the mining, aggregate, recycling and other material processing industries.
The coolest part about Samscreen, Inc. though?
The business was started here in Broome County and manufactures their world-renown piano wire screen, as well as all their other products – typically used for sifting materials to make anything from trucks, to roads, to cell phones – right on the Broome Corporate Parkway.
Samscreen, Inc. was founded in 1994 by Davis and Fintan Fleming as a piano wire manufacturing company.
Originally from Ireland, Davis Fleming moved to the United States in the early ‘90’s to structure North American distribution channels for an Irish company he was working for at the time.
A year later, he joined a steel company in northeastern Pennsylvania, but while there, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a market for piano wire screen in the United States. And if done correctly, it could be big.
To make that feeling a reality, Davis’ boss at the time encouraged him to move to Binghamton and start Samscreen, Inc.
“I met with a Binghamton development officer who was very positive and very encouraging [about the future of our company here] and within two weeks, he had arranged the deals I needed to get it started,” Davis Fleming explained.
And just like that, Samscreen, Inc. was born.
In its 20+ years of business, Samscreen, Inc. has greatly expanded its product catalogue, now encompassing 14 different lines, varying in size, shape and purpose to cover the vast screening demands of their customers worldwide.
Samscreen, Inc. prides itself on manufacturing “a good American product” and has offered special service to this country.
“After the World Trade Center went down, all the material and rubble from that tragic event went over to a landfill on Staten Island and our customers there used our screens to sift through that material. It all went over Samscreen products,” said Fleming.
Since inception, Samscreen, Inc. has trained on quality and service, creating customizable products for each client.
“There’s lots of companies that can manufacture what we manufacture so in order to be competitive, we have to differentiate ourselves somehow [which we do] through our quality, service [and first-class products],” said Fleming.
“We’re trying to give intangibles through our products so our customers will recognize that there’s a value to dealing with Samscreen that’s different than dealing with a foreign supplier. We handle the issues when you call up and ask. We don’t give you a tracking number – we call you back and give you updates about your product. It’s all those little things that we try to do a little bit better,” Fleming went on.
This commitment to differentiating themselves from the competition has proved successful for Samscreen, Inc. given their vast client-base.
Samscreen, Inc.’s piano wire screens have been bought and sold in dozens of countries – from North, Central and South America, to Europe, to Asia and Australia!
Happening upon his company’s products in his travels is one of the most rewarding parts for Davis Fleming.
“When you’re out in the middle of North Dakota and you go into a sand and gravel pit, only to see a box with your screen in it – and you think that came out of Broome County? That’s pretty fulfilling,” Fleming said.
Like any business though, Samscreen, Inc. has faced struggles over the years, such as attracting qualified employees to fill open positions – whether shop floor workers or office administrators – maintaining the right balance/company culture and adjusting to the ever-fluctuating market demands of their various products.
Through it all though, Davis and Fintan Fleming have remained loyal to their company and its employees, as well as this “glorious area” as Davis termed it.
“We’ve considered moving, but we got our start here so there’s a loyalty to the area and our employees. We’ve had a lot of different employees over the years, but we still have employee #7. We started business in March 1995 and he joined us in July 1995. He’s been here as long as both Fintan and I have been,” Fleming began.
“It’s also rewarding to see some of the employees whose kids I knew as babies grow up and start their own careers…to know that their education and childhood was all financed by the job [their parents] got here [at our company],” he went on.
As for what’s next for Samscreen, Inc? The opportunities are limitless in Davis’ opinion.
“There’s so much opportunity for this company. With the material processing industry, the potential is huge. We’re just scratching the surface of our market – maybe not with the piano wire because we’ve kind of nailed that one – but on the rest of the product lines, there’s a huge amount of potential for us to grow.”
With that growth always coming back to the place where Samscreen, Inc. started and operates – Broome County.
Samscreen, Inc. is part of why #Broomeisgood and the #MadeinBroome program.