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Couch v. Astec Industries6/19/2002
In the present case, the policy reasons relied on by these courts are inapplicable. Here, there is no question that the technology of pull cords existed and was in use at the time Defendant manufactured the plant in question. In fact, standards issued by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1988 and 1989 required that conveyors in remote locations be "furnished with emergency stop buttons, pull cords, limit switches or similar emergency stop devices." A remote location was defined as "any location with respect to the conveyor from which the presence or position of personnel relative to the conveyor cannot be readily determined from the operator[`]s station." Although Defendant argued that the conveyor on this plant was not in a remote location and that it chose not to equip the plant with pull cords at the time of manufacture because of a potentially greater risk of fire in the event of accidental tripping of the cords, the fact remains that pull cord technology was well established when Defendant sold this plant to Employer.
Defendant argued at trial that the technology of the plant's mixing mechanism changed after the sale of this plant and thus, it would be unreasonable to require Defendant to retroactively bring all its previously manufactured plants up to the later-developed state of the art. Defendant's vice president of engineering testified that Employer's plant was a "parallel flow center recycle entry type plant" that could overheat and possibly cause a fire if the accidental tripping of a pull cord cut off power. Plants developed some years later were not subject to the same risk of overheating. It can be inferred from the verdict that the jury did not credit this testimony. Even assuming its accuracy, however, we are not persuaded that this development in technology militates against recognizing a post-sale duty. The critical technology here related to pull cords. ANSI standards required the installation of pull cords on certain conveyor-equipped machinery at the time this plant was manufactured, which establishes that pull cords were state of the art at the time.
Moreover, the evidence established that the parties' relationship extended past the point when Employer purchased the recycle plant from Defendant. Defendant sets up and tests each plant that it manufactures. In addition, Defendant was available by telephone or personal visit to assist Employer to relieve clogging in the recycle bin. Employer could contact Defendant's service personnel twenty-four hours a day by phone to ask questions and set up service calls, and Defendant provided its customers with the opportunity to attend an annual school to discuss, among other things, safety issues. The record further indicates that Defendant's principals try to have contact with at least five customers a day, sometimes traveling to plant sites to view the equipment, address potential problems, or help customers with concerns. Defendant's service technicians are out on sites "most of the time," available by phone day and night, and actively involved in the maintenance of plants. For example, when Defendant learned about problems with a faulty gas valve on its plants, it sent out three groups of service personnel to change the valves.
In addition, Defendant's president testified that Defendant has a policy of investigating accidents involving its equipment and remedying any safety issues discovered in the process. " ur number one concern is to make sure if we've made a mistake, that we correct it and it's not going to happen again. . . . f we saw something that would be unsafe that we could guard by a design or guard by a guard or something, that would be done." Because of these post-sale activitie
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