Manufacturing Revival Radio
Manufacturing Revival Radio is a podcast celebrating the resurgence and innovation of manufacturing. Hosted by Todd Schnick and Todd Youngblood, it features the companies, the leaders, the innovators leading the charge. Driving the innovation.
Dave and Karen Pilliod of Advanced Control Solutions
Tough times for the industrial sector? Not according to Dave and Karen Pilliod, respectively the president and CFO of Advanced Control Solutions in Marietta, Ga. They’re just about ready to move into a new, larger, higher-tech, greater-value-to-their-customers facility. Why such success in the face of a tough, tough economy?
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Success requires a combination of well-executed strategies
One strategy that has worked well for ACS is to absolutely nail a tightly focused project for a large company committed to using automation on a global basis. Like using a sophisticated machine vision system to match ice cream containers with ice cream lids. (Oh, by the way, at a pace of 350 per minute!) The ice cream manufacturer simply cannot afford to sell a lid that says “nut-free” on a container full of Rocky Road to someone with a nut allergy. A win on that first project leads to contracts for similar projects at other customer locations.
Another strategy is intelligent leveraging of AHTD, the Association For High Technology Distribution. Karen described the networking with peers, keynote speakers, group discussions and workshops that were and continue to be vital to sustained, profitable growth at ACS.
Both Pilliods stressed the importance of “growing within your means” and diversifying. Maybe they could have bought the new building a year or two ago, but waiting made their financial position that much stronger. Maybe component sales dipped in 2008 and 2009, but services provided by the ACS Engineering Department more than made up for it. And then there’s also all the for-fee technical training. “If you’re selling technical products, and you train your customers on your technical products, they feel more comfortable buying those products from you,” says Dave.
Fear of losing manufacturing business to China? Not for this pair. Listen to this episode right now! You don’t want to miss the perspective on how a new plant in South Carolina is cheaper than one over there! (pssst… It’s all about efficiency…)
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INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The March/April issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Joyce Lansdale and Vallen. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dirk Beveridge, Frank Hurtte, and David Kahle, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
