As things settle into place for our dry ice business, we wanted to take the opportunity to talk about one of our key suppliers, ASCO C02, the manufacturer of the BP420i.
After our initial request for information on the machine, we were contacted by Thomas Bearden who was able to answer all of our questions concerns. He answered all of our questions and addressed all of our concerns with accuracy and honesty. Thomas was a great representative for their brand, and with the information he provided, he gave us the comfort to make an investment in the BP420i.
Once the BP420i arrived at our production facility in Abbotsford BC, we were excited to uncrate it and get it together. Upon assembly, we were eager to inspect the machine; we also had several of our contractors review it with us. What we learned from the inspection is that the BP420 was exactly what Thomas and ASCO C02 had told us it would be. It was engineered with high quality components and it was clear to us a lot of time, effort, care, and pride went into manufacturing the BP420i.
While preparing to launch the machine, we were in constant communication with the General Manager Jason Beasley, and their team of technicians and engineers. They made sure we were ready, and pointed out a couple items we had overlooked.
We opted to have the ASCO C02 team come and provide us in person training and to commission the BP420i. ASCO sent one team member from Florida (Ronald Berry), and another from France (Stephane Nimetz). We were impressed by these two gentlemen. Combined, they knew the machine inside and out and ensured it was running to the best of its ability during their week-long visit. They ensured we were trained in all aspects of running and troubleshooting the machine. The machine is able to switch from various dry ice pellets sizes and slices at the click of a button. They made sure all of our questions and concerns were addressed before departing.
Once Ron and Stephane had optimized the machine, we were left to start producing dry ice. During this startup phase, we made some errors in operating the machine and were required to seek assistance from Jason, Ronald, Stephane, and the rest of the ASCO team. ASCO was able to remotely log into the BP420i machine via their i-series technology, and assist us with adjustments to the machine. During the initial weeks, the times we seemed to run into issues were typically over weekend production runs. If we would not have been able to solve our issues quickly, we would not have been able to fulfill our orders for Monday morning. However, the ASCO team, made themselves available to assist and give support even on the weekend. We were relieved they knew exactly what the issues were so quickly to allow us to get back up and running immediately. The BP420 has been able to keep up with our production as we grow in the dry ice slices and pellet market in British Columbia. Our current BP420 produces hundreds of thousands of pounds of dry ice with no down time, and ensures we can consistently meet our customers’ demands as we continue to grow.
We honestly cannot say enough good things about this Company. ASCO’s BP420, their sales cycle, installation, and training, and the follow up support are more then we could have asked for. We are not confident that if we had partnered with anyone else, we would have been as successful as we have been. ASCO deliver on their promises and we are proud to be partnered with them and their team and we are looking forward to adding our second BP420i soon.