Thank you. What you helped us build

I can remember exactly where I was standing, behind my front door on my way to work. My wife, Cindy, was sending me off “to conquer” the business world as she had for decades. A wave of shame and dread came over me. I had to tell Cindy, “We are going to lose everything.”

Mark and Cindy smiling in front of a dark Bean teardrop trailer, snowy mountains behind — Mark and Cindy with a Bean in the mountains.

That was about ten years ago. I have been thinking about it lately as we approach a decade of building Bean trailers, and about the positive impact Bean has had on our company, Sterling ATM. Sterling is a well-respected company that designs and builds signage and branding fixtures for automated teller machines (ATMs). Sterling grew into a multimillion-dollar company with more than 100 employees specializing in bank ATM branding conversions, which is a very up-and-down business. The peaks-and-valleys nature of that business makes it very hard to keep our employees and facility busy when work is slow. Those volume fluctuations were threatening everything we had built.

An engineer at a desk with a 3D CAD model of a Bean trailer on the monitor — Designing a Bean in CAD.

Bean fixed the problem. Bean gave us a trailer we could plug into production when ATM work was slow and allowed us to keep our talented employees and our plant busy. In other words, it leveled out the peaks and valleys of project-based ATM volume, which could result in huge periodic losses.

A welder in a green jacket and helmet welding a steel frame, sparks flying — Welding in our Salt Lake City plant.

A technician in white coveralls painting a blue fiberglass shell in the paint booth — Welding in our Salt Lake City plant.

Four Bean team members in masks giving a thumbs up around a steel work table in the plant — Our team in the plant.

Bean team members gathered around a whiteboard on the plant floor — Our team in the plant.

A stand-alone trailer manufacturer must support its entire operation through trailer sales. Bean shares its manufacturing foundation with Sterling ATM: skilled employees, equipment, facilities, and decades of manufacturing experience. That gives us two sources of demand, spreads our overhead, and makes us less dependent on the ups and downs of any one market. We have been profitable every year since we added Bean to our production.

Shared Manufacturing Facilities | Sterling ATM x Bean Trailer, from Sterling ATM.

Mark and Brian beside a technician sanding a white fiberglass shell in the plant — Mark and Brian with a technician finishing a fiberglass shell.

Several team members lifting a blue fiberglass Bean shell in the plant — Mark and Brian with a technician finishing a fiberglass shell.

Win-Win!

When you buy a trailer, you’re also choosing the company you’ll depend on for service, parts, and warranty support in the years ahead. How that company is built matters.

Three Bean team members beside a Bean at the Utah Manufacturers Association Coolest Thing Made in Utah stand — Coolest Thing Made in Utah, from the Utah Manufacturers Association, 2019.

Bean trailers inside the Bean building beneath a banner reading Winner of the 2020 Manufacturer of the Year Award — Coolest Thing Made in Utah, from the Utah Manufacturers Association, 2019.

Sterling/Bean Trailer get steady production volume that keeps our employees and plant busy when ATM work is slow. Bean customers get a quality molded fiberglass trailer at a lower price than we could offer as a stand-alone company.

Brian, Cindy and Mark sitting on a Bean in front of other Bean trailers and a colorful wall — Brian, Cindy and Mark with the Bean lineup.

A long row of finished Bean trailers lined up on the lot — Brian, Cindy and Mark with the Bean lineup.

What we did not see coming

What we did not anticipate was the huge Bean family that it created and the joy and satisfaction associated with it. You have been very generous in sharing hundreds of examples of your Bean experiences, and we post them in our plant for our employees to read. I cannot express how happy it makes me feel when I go around the country and get to meet you and see how you use your Bean. I’ll let you speculate on how my satisfaction discussing your Bean Trailer adventures compares to discussing ATM signage. Thank you, Bean customers. You make us strong, stable, and fulfilled.

From,

Mark Harling, CEO

Mark and Cindy at the open galley hatch of a gray Bean teardrop on a snowy hillside — Mark and Cindy at the galley of a Bean.

Mark, Cindy and Brian standing together beneath the lit Bean Trailer sign — Mark and Cindy at the galley of a Bean.

Mark Harling

Cindy and I love mountain biking and wanted a small trailer we could take to our favorite trails. After searching, we determined we could design and build a better trailer than anything on the market. Now we have the pleasure of enjoying Bean on multiple adventures from short weekend excursions to epic trips ranging from Canada to Baja, Mexico.