An innovation journey.
In Jack Frost’s poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, the character describes a winter scene, traveling in a place where others are not, and he finds it a “lovely” place. The interpretations of this famous poem are many. The final line of the poem being the most recognized. “And miles to go before I sleep”, stated twice to make sure the deep truth sinks in with the reader.
Cimline, is a company that has been nestled in Minnesota for nearly 50 years. The Cimline team has a heritage of hard work ethic and creativity, and like Frost’s character is no stranger to woods, snow, and frozen lakes. This Minnesota team became the foundation for an industry changing strategic journey that began in 2017.
In late 2017 Cimline delivered the first Combination Patcher and Sealer of its kind, dubbed the C1. At the heart of the C1 is Cimline’s renowned crack sealing melter with Best in Class safety offering high visibility and low loading height ergonomics, as well as the lowest sound level in the industry to protect workers and minimize disruption to the public.
The C1’s most notable trait is that it can change from crack sealer, to on-demand mastic patch material in seconds. Not only is the dual functionality of this machine one of a kind, it’s also the first of its kind to produce mastic patch material on-demand without the need to use factory packaged materials.
The advantage of this is that it allows a repair team to create the mastic patch material with the sealant binder of their choice or spec and local aggregate of their design. The result is a mastic patch that meets local specifications at a cost usually at least 50% lower than factory packaged mastic. Lance Hartmann, Cimline’s VP of Product Development stated “Customers don’t think of the C1 as a budget cutting machine. In harsh cold climate states there are always more potholes than budgets allow. Customers who have bought the C1 recognized that when they cut the cost to solve pothole problems in half, they have the tool they need to eliminate twice as many potholes”.
The earliest C1 success stories originate from some of the harshest pothole states such as Wyoming and North Dakota. Brian Burky, Superintendent of Public Works in Worland, WY stated, “The C1 Combination machine is an attractive solution for a city of our size (just 5,500 residents) given its ability to perform pothole patching, street edge sealing and crack sealing operations. The savings in material and productivity make the C1 an economical decision for any size city faced with the need to crack seal and patch potholes.” The first repair work performed with the C1 in Worland has endured two Wyoming winters and the snowplows that accompanied them, with great success.
When the C1 launched, Cimline promised that it would deliver three industry-changing innovations in three years. The team at Cimline has been designing and testing their next concepts diligently to make good on this promise. The team at Cimline remains energized by the success with their latest innovation. So they, like Frost’s character, find themselves in a “lovely” place, understand they have promises to keep, and both figuratively and quite literally have miles to go before they sleep.
At Cimline, we design and manufacture equipment to preserve roadways throughout the world. With a drive for performance and innovation, Cimline continues to offer cutting edge technology through its worldwide network of distributors. We are headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with manufacturing plants in Minnesota and Mississippi. To learn more, visit Cimline.com or call us at (877) 841-0848
