Seven Decades of Tower Manufacturing Leads To a “Smart Tower”

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ROHN was founded in 1948 by Dwight Rohn, who owned an appliance store in Illinois that sold TVs, among other things. Mr. Rohn saw the need for better reception through antennas and the business opportunity it presented, so he started ROHN to manufacture small television towers to serve his clientele. Over the past nearly seven decades, the company has expanded to meet the evolving needs of the communications industry and has become a known player around the world, focusing on tower and pole design and manufacturing.

Since its inception, the company has been in Peoria, Illinois. ROHN maintains one of the largest manufacturing and staging facilities in the tower industry and puts a major focus on quality. According to Tim Rohn, Sales Manager and third-generation family employee at ROHN, “We always try to be the best at whatever we do. We make sure that our employees are putting their best foot forward and producing a superior product. We’re dedicated to continuously improving to satisfy the needs of our customers. We see many customer structures that are over 50 years old, a testament to the quality.”

With this dedication to excellence, the company only uses the highest quality steel for tower fabrication. ROHN’s facility has even been awarded the Certification by the American Institute of Steel Construction. They have also been approved by the City of Los Angeles, CA and Clark County, NV as a certified fabricator.   

ROHN serves several market segments, including, wireless, broadband, electric utility, transportation, sports lighting, and wind industries. The company also offers services in construction, structural analysis, and documentation. ROHN works with companies both domestically and internationally, having completed many projects globally.

ROHN is innovating a new product called Smart Tower. Based on how the tower moves with the elements – storms, wind, rain – the Smart Tower technology can detect which infrastructure components require maintenance first. This will help maintenance technicians prioritize and service those towers in order of importance. “ROHN is fully committed to ingenuity and leading-edge technology in tower design and construction, always looking to solve client challenges and provide unique solutions,” according to Mark Allen, Vice President of ROHN.

As for the future of ROHN and the industry, Tim Rohn commented, “Right now the specifics around FirstNet and 5G are still up in the air. We’re in the process of figuring out how 5G will impact antenna design and I’m excited about the possibilities. It’s our job to develop a product that will work with the changing environment. With the onset of new technology, there will be more infrastructure needed, so there will definitely be opportunities out there and we’ll be ready to serve!”

For more information about ROHN Products LLC or to contact the company, visit http://www.rohnnet.com

By Keara M. Piekanski, Inside Towers

October 4, 2017                 

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