Unique Trailers from MGS Create Pizzas on the Run
Nothing tastes quite like a pizza cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven. A company called MGS Incorporated has helped bring this concept to the street by manufacturing wood-fired pizza ovens. Capable of cooking a pizza in as little as 90 seconds, it’s no surprise the ovens have become a hot item at farmers’ markets, music festivals, tailgate events and the like.
Headquartered in Denver, Pa., MGS is a leading manufacturer of light- and medium-duty trailers, specialty equipment carriers, snow grooming equipment and UL fuel tanks. The company’s Colorado facility began producing mobile pizza ovens when it formed a partnership with a local enterprise called The Fire Within, the official brand under which the ovens are sold.
“We’re very proud to work with an organization like The Fire Within,” explains Carl Maxey, MGS corporate vice president, western region general manager. “They do a tremendous job promoting the ovens while helping existing customers achieve great success. It’s a commitment that continues well beyond the initial transaction.”
With years of experience in custom trailer and metal fabrication, MGS constructs the trailer and the oven base portions of each mobile unit. Once this phase is complete, they prime and paint the trailer before sending it to The Fire Within’s masonry shop, where the oven’s brick dome is built.
For MGS, the coating system of choice is PPG’s DELFLEET ESSENTIAL® Single-Stage Polyurethane Enamel over an epoxy primer. “The Fire Within demands a paint with high gloss retention as well as durability and corrosion protection over the long haul,” says MGS Manufacturing Engineer Jason Myer. “The combination of Delfleet Essential topcoat and PPG epoxy primer delivers these qualities and more.”
Another factor in MGS’ primer/top coat selection involves the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM). Meyer adds, “Our facility uses a number of different PPG products. The way we select a particular paint is often related to NATM standards. Basically, they put out information that helps us identify certain types of testing results and their relation to a specific level of durability and corrosion resistance. Using this knowledge and incorporating our client’s requirements for a coating, we can determine which paint system will work best.”
As far as The Fire Within is concerned, MGS hit the nail right on the head with the Delfleet Essential topcoat system. “When you’re at an event with a large number of food vendors, image and brand are crucial,” says Ajith Dharma, principal, The Fire Within. “I’m grateful the high-quality PPG coating on our ovens is also the most attractive finish on the road today. When people see a beautiful, well-constructed mobile pizza oven, they can’t help but feel the same commitment to excellence goes into their pizza.”
Available in 13 models, the wood-fired ovens range from the traditional open-air variety to high-volume, fully customizable enclosed trailers. Customers can select from ten standard finishes, although special requests are always welcomed. MGS Painter Pat Crockett explains, “There are times when we are asked to match the color of the mobile pizza oven with the truck that will pull it. Between PPG’s RAPIDMATCH™ spectrophotometer and the Delfleet Essential color selector, we’ve never had a problem matching.”
The ability to meet customer needs is one of the reasons the MGS/The Fire Within partnership has been so successful. In fact, The Fire Within is planning an expansion to the East Coast, with pizza oven production through MGS’ main facility in Pennsylvania.
Given the East Coast’s reputation for pizza superiority, breaking into this market could be quite a challenge. But not to worry, according to The Fire Within’s Dharma. “We’re coming in with the industry’s best mobile oven—one that delivers the unmatched taste of a wood-fired pizza. For pizza makers and pizza lovers, what’s not to love?”
