Commerce official tours city factory where padding and training models are designed

Rick Wade, senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, toured the Ralph S. Alberts Co. in Montoursville during the Obama administration's Main Street tour and learned the family owned business has used diversification of its services and products to continue its success in a downtrodden economy.

"We have not been affected by what is going on in the economy. In fact, we just had one of our best first quarters ever. We specialize in low-level production and short-level production. We are diversified. So, when some things slow down, we see other things pick up. It has enabled us to grow and stay on a level playing field," said Seth E. Alberts, vice president of the company.

The 55,000 square foot facility employs 80 spread out between two shifts, according to Alberts.

The company began by making crash pads in a basement out of urethane foam.

"Hershey Park got word of that and approached us to see if we could do some seating devices for some of their flume rides down at their amusement park. Once that happened, the business just kind of took off," Alberts said.

Amusement park products make up about 50 percent of the company's business, with Disney and Universal Studios being two of the company's biggest customers, according to Alberts.

Two products offered at the facility are pipeline pigs, which are used to clean piping internally, especially with the gas industry, and amusement park seating and restraints for roller coasters and other park rides, according to Alberts.

The business also manufactures human-like simulators used in medical and military training with simulated blood and bodily fluids and "breath."

"What we do is make a lot of the outer skins and internal structural components. We send them down and they actually stuffed them full of electronics and computers. They actually sell the high-end ones for $250,000. They can bleed and have bodily fluids. They can actually stick the adult mannequin with an IV and it will react to whatever medicines you are giving them," Alberts said.

Recently, the company started working on a trachea simulator, which is a new military training device.

The military wanted it to be so visually disturbing that when put into a training simulation, a soldier would look at it and recognize immediately that he would need to go right for the trachea, according to Alberts.

To prepare for the product, the company received pictures of real war wounds and recreated a clay model from the photos and made a master pattern making mold around it to make the product, according to Alberts.

Over the years, the company has become so diversified that it houses about 8,000 to 10,000 different molds for its products.

The company is constantly evolving and working on new technologies every day, according to Alberts.