Spotlight’s On Antonio Beniquez

Who am I?

Antonio Beniquez, Engineering Manager

What do I do?

In my position I manage workload distributing among the engineering team of two designers and two quoters. I also hold the position of senior product designer, am involved in new product development and R&D, conduct weight load testing, and sometimes, due to my creative nature, help with Mighty Hook’s graphic design (web, adding images, creating graphics, and more).

Previous Experience

Mighty Hook was my first engineering job, and I’ve been happy enough here to stick around for 12 years so far. Before Mighty Hook I worked hands on with the mechanics of cars with my father. When I came to Mighty Hook, I started as an applications engineer, designing mechanical components and rubber molded products. Eventually, I moved on to bigger items, intricate mechanical devices, material handling products, and more complex integrated masking products. My hands on automotive mechanical background helped me to understand the mechanics of other products. It was a natural fit for me.

Outside of Mighty Hook

When I’m not working as engineering manager at Mighty Hook, I am a gallery represented street artist in Chicago. I am known for murals on sides of several Chicago buildings and buildings in various other cities. I think this outside work really helps keep the creative juices flowing, on and off the job. Whether I’m metal fabricating or using a spray can to create a design, I stay sharp through consistent creative work, exercising both sides of my brain. I use my creativity as well when helping Mighty Hook get photographs for the website or advertisements, as well as shoot video for YouTube.

Artwork created by Mighty Hook's Maryann Michaels

Why Mighty Hook?

The people at Mighty Hook have become my family. Most of the people who were here when I started are still here today and have created a unique familial culture. Sometimes, we get along well but fight like a family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We get the work done, and are constantly trying to do better. We’re never micromanaged, and Scott is sure to allow us to be creative in our own right. This helps the business grow, because we are never held back. Great ideas are always on the horizon. We’ve really established a good culture.

Memorable moments

I’ll never forget seeing a product I had designed come to life and be purchased by a customer for the first time. It was great to see the product I had the idea for come to fruition. In general, the ability to have input that people deem valuable is exciting. Becoming the Engineering Manager showed that the company had a level of trust in me and saw the strength of my abilities. It is always gratifying to be able to see the fruits of your labor. I always find it so interesting to see that people will invest in the ideas of others. That’s truly what I love about my job.

Upcoming Spotlight

Antonio is going to be highlighted as one to watch in Products Finishing Magazine’s “Class of 2018 40 Under 40”. Look out for this awesome feature. It is a highly significant recognition in the industry.

FABTECH 2018 in US and Canada!

We can’t wait to appear at our first Fabtech Canada show in Toronto from June 12th to 14th. Fabtech Canada is Canada’s leading exclusive Metal Forming, Fabrication, Welding, and Finishing event. There, you can network with those within the industry and discuss the newest finishing solutions. We are excited to expand our reach to this new demographic and to showcase a brand-new tradeshow booth. We will also be attending the US Fabtech show from November 6th to the 8th.

Come by our booth at either show to see our newly updated backdrop and an example conveyor line with Angle Pivot technology! The Angle Pivot technology automatically rotates parts or racks mechanically on inclines and declines, which allows close spacing of racks or parts. Among many advantages, the tooling increases production rates and increases the throughput capacity by 20-50%.

Manufacturing Today Feature

Mighty Hook was recently featured on Manufacturing Today's website! The article discusses how Mighty Hook continuously looks for ways to satisfy customers’ needs, and the growth of Mighty Hook's business due to industry changes.

Article snippet:

“Founder Lee Cullen started Mighty Hook in 1991, after forming one of the first job-shop powder coating companies in Chicago. ‘It was a source for his own needs as well as other companies [that] were lacking in a source of supply of hangers or hooking systems,’ Rempala says.

Mighty Hook’s partnership with the coating firm enabled it to rapidly develop products. For the first 10 years, the company specialized in selling in-stock products.

However, ‘We realized that the company was heading down the commodity track,’ Rempala recalls. ‘We looked to our customers and where we could find additional value that they needed.’”

Read more at the full article, here.

How to Limit Rack and Twisting in a Coating Line

In April, we were featured in Products Finishing magazine in the "Rack" section. Scott Rempala gave his response to this pressing racking question from a coater:

"Our team believes that we typically have good rack density, but the racks sometimes twist a little in on our coating line, which creates coverage problems. Can you suggest how we might limit this problem?"

Below is a sneak peek of Scott's knowledgeable answer. To read the full article, click here.

"The issue you are describing is not uncommon. Rack tracking, as our engineering team likes to call it, is as important to coating quality and efficiency as rack density. For this discussion, I will use the term 'tracking,' as the same concepts apply whether you are using a rack, hook or other hanging method. Tracking is an essential element of part presentation, which is the method of presenting the part to the coating equipment, where it will receive the maximum uniform coverage on critical surfaces without pooling pretreatment solutions or accumulating debris. Additionally, proper tracking will improve pretreatment quality and reduce the possibility of 'hang-ups' or crashes in your system due to out-of-plane hangers contacting elements of the coating operation.

According to most equipment suppliers, your parts should be equal to or less than 5 degrees parallel to the guns, if coating with automatic guns or by robotic sprayers. This can be difficult to accomplish if your hangers are not consistently presenting the part due to instability of the hanger-to-line attachment. Swaying or twisting of the hanger through the coating booth can also present challenges to manual sprayers, as they will have to constantly adjust to inconsistent part patterns..."

Welcome to the New MightyHook.com

Welcome to the NEW Mighty Hook website! We look forward to being your #1 provider in hanging and masking solutions. You may be asking yourself, “What’s new?” While we continue to offer the same wide selection of hooks, racks, and masking to suit your coating needs, we now have several updated features that will make the transition from online checkout to product delivery lightning fast!

• Tired of shipping on someone else’s account? Mighty Hook’s new checkout offers more shipping options and allows you to use your own collect account for FedEx or UPS Parcel shipments.
• Save yourself the gamble on wondering when you’ll get your parts. You are now able to see whether the items you order are in stock or backordered. If you see an item is out of stock, give us a call and we’ll give you an update on how quickly your order will be out the door and at your doorstep. Otherwise, we will send you an email confirmation of expected delivery as soon as your order is processed.
• Want to place an order on your Terms? If you are already set up on Terms, give us a one-time call and we will update your online account to give you the option to place orders by credit card or on your Terms at any time.

As awesome as our new website is, if you haven’t ordered online since we transitioned out of our old website, you will need to create a new customer account. We will not be able to transfer over your old account automatically, but we can help you to make sure all your contact and payment information are correct and up-to-date.

We hope you will enjoy using our updated website. As always, custom items need to be called or emailed in. All quote requests may be sent to quoting@mightyhook.com, and all product inquiries to sales@mightyhook.com. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or kind words, Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm, at (773) 378-1909. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

“Hang In There!”

Coming Soon

• How-To Videos!
• Product Demos!
• Employee Highlights!