Lifetime Products
Overview
Lifetime Products uses polyethylene blow molding and metal forming technology to create a variety of consumer and industrial products. Lifetime has the largest single-point blow molded plastics facility in North America, occupying 2,200,000 square feet (204,000 m2), and employs over 1500 people worldwide. Lifetime Products produces the only folding chair to comply with the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA), which defines durability standards testing of commercial-grade chairs. Lifetime also complies with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and their basketball systems are evaluated by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
Lifetime is headquartered in the Freeport Center in Clearfield, Utah, United States. Vertically integrated manufacturing facilities also reside in Clearfield, with international facilities in Monterrey, Mexico and Xiamen, China.
Lifetime products are available in more than 50 countries. In the United States, Lifetime basketball systems are in sporting goods stores such as Sports Authority, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy Sports and Outdoors, MC Sports and Modell, as well as retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, and in warehouse clubs such as Sam’s Club, Costco, BJ, and in regional stores. Lifetime tables and chairs are available at stores including Sam’s Club, Costco, Wal-Mart,Home Depot, and Lowe’s.
History
In 1972, Lifetime Product founder, Barry Mower, set out to make a sturdier basketball pole for his backyard. He purchased a small length of heavy-duty used pipe, a piece of plywood, and a basketball rim, and built his own basketball standard. Seeing the potential in what he had constructed, he placed an ad in the local classifieds and made his first sale.
His backyard business eventually became a modest sporting goods store, and in March 1986, became Lifetime Products, a name inspired by the goal of building durable and lasting products. Shortly after, the research and design staff created the “Quick Adjust” basketball system. The concept of adjustable basketball systems transformed the market, making non-adjustable systems obsolete in mass-merchant chains. Shortly after, Lifetime Products became the second largest manufacturer of residential basketball equipment[citation needed].
Lifetime Products was the first company to provide a complete basketball system in one package[citation needed], allowing retailers to conveniently stock, display and sell basketball equipment. The complete package concept now dominates the market. After expanding quickly in the first year, Lifetime began to focus on producing more durable basketball rims, and consequently developed a hoop that withstood twice the load of the nearest competitor rim[citation needed].
In the first three years, the company grew to 167 employees and occupied 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of manufacturing, office and warehouse space. New equipment, including an electrostatic powder coating operation and a robotic rim welding system were installed to keep up with demand. A metal fabrication department was also formed to constantly update and improve presses and dies.
Lifetime went on to introduce a blow molded folding picnic table in 1995, a folding banquet table in 1998, a steel reinforced blow molded outdoor storage building in 2005, and the first of its kind fold-in-half trailer (folding to 29 inches (740 mm) wide) in January 2007. They continue to develop portable basketball systems, height adjustments, tables, chairs, outdoor storage sheds, lawn and garden equipment such a wheelbarrows, carts, and revolving compost bins, and utility and camping trailers.
Lifetime Products is still led by its original founder.
Products Manufactured
Tables and chairs
Folding Chair
Stacking Chair
Folding tables
Round tables
Personal tables
Picnic tables
Camp and sport tables
Basketball Systems
Portable Residential Basketball Systems
In-ground Residential Basketball Systems
Bolt-down Residential Basketball Systems
Adjustable-Height Basketball Systems (portable, in-ground, and bolt-down)
Rim and Backboard Stationary Combinations
Sheds
Storage buildings
Storage sheds
Garden sheds
Extension kits and accessories
Lawn and Garden
Yard cart
Wheel barrow
Revolving compost bin
Glider bench
Deck box
Trailers
Fold-up trailer
Utility trailer
Jumping Jack tent trailers
Playground equipment
Outdoor playsets
Commercial play systems
Teeter totters
Dome climbers
Swing sets
Tetherball set
EcoHouse
Lifetime is currently developing the inexpensive and low maintenance EcoHouse. The EcoHouse is an 11-foot (3.4 m) by 38-foot (12 m) fabricated house made from plastic reinforced with steel. It can be set up quickly, and will be used for impoverished areas, along with providing quick shelter during emergency management and disaster-relief operations.
The EcoHouse uses minimal resources to construct, which results in a smaller carbon footprint than other housing. The homes can be configured to be fully self-sustaining, using solar panels, bio-digester systems, and water tanks.
Lifetime Metals
Lifetime Metals produces processed steel items for both Lifetime Products, and for other manufacturers in the region. Services provided include coil slitting and leveling, shearing, stamping with Minster machine presses, tube mill operations, roll forming, and other processes.
Backyards Inc.
Lifetime owns the retail chain Backyards Inc., with several locations in Utah.
Lifetime Products’ History of Patents and Innovations
1986 – Introduced and patented the first adjustable basketball pole on the market
1992 – Introduced its line of portable basketball systems
1992 – Invented and patented the friction weld joint for basketball poles
1993 – Invented a blow-molded base that is airtight and watertight
1995 – Invented blow molded polyethylene tabletops
1995 – Invented a fully-assembled, folding picnic table
1996 – Invented the Power Lift, the first one-hand, pneumatic height adjustment mechanism
1998 – Introduced blow-molded polyethylene folding banquet tables
2000 – Introduced the only folding chair to meet or exceed BIFMA standards
2001 – Introduced Mammoth Basketball Equipment, a line of professional-quality home basketball systems
2004 – Introduced the Shatter Proof Backboard, the first virtually unbreakable backboard made with Makrolon polycarbonate
2004 – Introduced a line of officially licensed NCAA tables
2005 – Introduced its multi-branded line of outdoor storage sheds
2006 – Introduced an innovative new line of steel utility trailers
2007 – Introduced the first fold-in-half trailer
External links
www.Lifetime.com, corporate website
www.BuyLifetime.com, online sales division
www.LifetimeMetals.com, metals division
Lifetime365, Corporate Weblog
Backyards Inc., retail stores
References
^ a b c d e “Clearfield company opens China plant”, The Standard Examiner, 22 Jan 2010
^ “EcoHousing: Utah company makes temporary homes for distaster survivors.” The Deseret News, 8 Feb 2010
^ BIFMA Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association
^ American National Standards Institute
^ ASTM International
^ KSL News
^ “Tough economy has Utah manufacturers going lean.” The Deseret News, 12 Nov 2009
^ Lifetime Metals
^ Backyards Inc. website
Categories: Privately held companies of the United States | Companies established in 1986 | Companies based in Clearfield, Utah | Manufacturing companies of Utah | Companies based in Utah | BackyardsHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from February 2008
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