Elliott Equipment Company’ s Jim Glazer is Driving the Development of Products That Meet Industry Needs
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
Customer-Focused
Elliott Equipment Company’ s Jim Glazer is Driving the Development of Products That Meet Industry Needs
By Seth Skydel
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Jim Glazer, president & CEO, has led Elliott Equipment Company— a manufacturer of truck-mounted aerial work platforms, cranes and digger derricks for the utility and construction industries— since 2000. Decades of experience have given him a unique perspective on the challenges facing the industry and, more importantly, how a customer-focused approach leads to the development of effective products and services.
“ One thing that is currently driving product and technology development initiatives across the utility industry is that poles are getting taller and heavier in response to electric grid capacity and reliability upgrades,” Glazer said.“ As a manufacturer, we’ ve responded by developing new aerials and diggers with more power, reach and lifting capabilities.”
As an example, Glazer pointed to Elliott’ s new D100i, a 100-foot digger derrick with a fully insulated, powered, four-section boom. At a 30-foot radius, he noted, the machine can lift more than 10,000 pounds— important for setting larger transmission poles— and it can lift up to 36,000 pounds at a 10-foot radius.
While Elliott has a full slate of products in development, Glazer noted that recent supply chain challenges also had to be addressed.“ Lead times were longer than two years at one point, and due to component availability issues truck chassis manufacturers were forced to allocate supply, effectively putting an additional constraint on the market,” he said.
“ With a fluid supply chain, complicated by pent-up demand to replace
Telecom & Utility Construction | Spring 2025
E-Line material-handling aerial work platforms from Elliott feature working heights from 120 to 240 feet. The manufacturer also offers HiReach truck-mounted aerials that can operate at heights ranging from 45 to 140 feet.
Jim Glazer, president & CEO, Elliott Equipment Company
aging fleets, and the whole industry shipping at less than a standard rate, there was a sizable imbalance between supply and demand,” Glazer continued.“ It took a while to clear, but our team has done several things over the past few years to improve our efficiency and position Elliott for further growth.
“ We reconfigured many of our manufacturing processes to improve our execution,” Glazer explained further.“ That’ s helped shorten and make lead times more manageable for our customers.”
Making a Difference Glazer also pointed out that strong partnerships with chassis manufacturers make a significant difference for fleets.“ It means the industry can deliver equipment that is optimized for a given chassis, and it also ensures we stay informed about evolving programming changes from the chassis OEMs( Original Equipment Manufacturers),” he said.
“ These relationships also provide the flexibility to customize setups, so customers get exactly what they need,” Glazer added.“ And if something does go wrong, having that connection means faster support and service, which keeps downtime to a minimum.”
Glazer cited other issues for manufacturers, dealers and customers. Higher costs associated with tariffs