Flex Craft is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The manufacturing company has been in business since 2006, starting in Wabasha, Minn., before relocating to Houston, Minn., in 2008.
The company was started by the husband-and-wife team of Doug and Terri Sparks, originally from Beloit, Wis. Flex Craft began in humble surroundings, operating out of a high school principal’s office in an old school building in Wabasha before moving into Wabasha’s industrial park.
The Sparks family chose Houston in part for its natural setting. After moving to Houston, Flex Craft first operated out of the building next door before constructing its current facility in 2012.
Doug, the company’s president and lead inventor, developed many of the products that power Flex Craft today. Terri took on a wide range of roles in the early years, including assisting with sales, handling accounting, coordinating shipping, and handling administrative tasks.
Today, the couple’s sons, Jake and Chris Sparks, serve as co-general managers.
Flex Craft currently employs 19 people. Altogether, employees represent about 150 years of combined service with the company.
“After 20 years, we are in awe and inspired and forever grateful that our staff has been able to not only grow our company through adversities such as pandemics, economics, fires, and other challenges, but that we are still growing today. Our staff has been a guiding light, and they keep us successful,” said Doug and Terri Sparks.
Doug’s background helped shape the company’s innovative approach. He previously worked as a lean corporate trainer for a Fortune 400 company, and around that time he used systems very similar to those at Flex Craft. Eventually, he became a lean consultant. He works with manufacturers to help them develop ways to eliminate waste throughout their manufacturing process using Lean Manufacturing Ideology.
During that time, he came up with Flex Craft and started a material-handling business out of it, too. He developed the patented universal joint and then invented the patented direct bolt.
“From using competitor products and seeing that there was a need for a better mousetrap,” Jake said of his father’s inspiration.
Flex Craft makes a 1” x 1” and 1” x 2” steel tube with holes punched in it, making it extremely flexible and usable for almost anything you can think of such as light-duty forklifts, scissor-lift cars, and a spiral staircase. The tube comes in a variety of colors including blue, black, gray, red, white, orange, yellow and green. Custom colors such as purple, lime green, sky blue, sea foam, and pink are also available.
Flex Craft works with well-known manufacturers, such as Miken Sports, Trane, Arctic Cat, Toro, General Electric, and TRW.
“Flex Craft is starting to work with direct consumers. People are building things out of their garages – whether it’s just a cart or a table,” said Jake. “I’ve seen all sorts of really creative things. There’s a guy who built a 20-foot-tall pumpkin for a Halloween display that he hung off the side of his house.” Other projects have included a four-sided Christmas tree and a college dorm room lofted bed.
Flex Craft’s mission is to “supply the world with imaginative material handling solutions, which inspire unlimited innovation, made possible by relentless commitment to Team Members and systems, that foster lifetime collaborative relationships with our customers.”
Flex Craft follows the philosophy of “Kaizen,” a Japanese term meaning “change for the better.” Continuous improvement is a key part of the company’s culture.
The company is also active in the local community, supporting the Houston School’s robotics team, donating to the food shelf, participating in Trunk or Treat, supporting trap shooting teams, sponsoring softball teams, and participating in the polar plunge.
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Flex Craft will host a free community dinner on June 11 at the Houston City Park East Pavilion from 5 p.m. until the food is gone. The public is invited to attend.
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