Not too long ago, Patrick Brinkerhoff, director of ride engineering for the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, was tasked with removing the roller coaster, the High Roller, from atop the Stratosphere Tower. For those of you who don't know, the Stratosphere is the tallest structure west of the Mississippi river and the tallest freestanding observation tower in the U.S.

At its top, four rides offer the thrills of an amusement park, with the added attraction of being 900 feet in the air. The High Roller, which had ringed the Tower since the Stratosphere opened, was the tamest of the rides and was due for a major facelift. Stratosphere management decided to remove it.

The track needed to be cut into pieces small enough to fit into the elevator. Patrick and crew would have to work in the early morning hours when the Tower was closed to visitors, meaning his ride maintenance staff would be working on overtime. An oxy-acetylene torch was already part of his arsenal and could have been used for the jobbut Patrick questioned whether there wasn't a better tool available. In his case, safety, more than time or money was the primary consideration.

He started his research by talking to others in the industry, and then he turned to the Web, coming to the MillerWelds.com site where he read about products in action  not merely about product features -- but about how the products benefited others with concerns similar to his own.

"It allowed me to associate products with what I need to do," Patrick says.

His research led him to purchase a Miller Spectrum plasma cutter, eliminating the dangerous and costly transportation of acetylene in the Tower. Almost as a side benefit, it sliced his cutting time in half, and allowed more of his crew to use the plasma cutter since it required less training. The new machine easily paid for itself.