Written by JOE COGLIANO and originally published in the Dayton Business Journal. Visit the original article at http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2015/05/26/exclusive-manufacturer-investing-1m-into-new.html.
A local equipment manufacturer is investing $1 million to launch its own line of machines with plans to double revenue in three years.
Miamisburg-based Advanced Industrial Measurement Systems will begin taking orders this fall for the first several models of its own brand of coordinate measurement machines. Also known as CMMs, the machines are used for measurement and inspection by the manufacturing industry.Advanced Industrial Measurement currently sells machines with hardware and frames made in Italy and the probes, software and controls from England. It then assembles the machines and sells them across the country. The new machines — most of which will be built here — will be sold under the Advanced Industrial Measurement label to replace existing product existing lines.
Dave Delph, pictured above, president and co-owner, told me his company is on track to post $5 million in revenue this year, up from $3.5 million in 2014. He expects the new, in-house made products to drive $10 million in revenue once they all hit the market in three years.
“That’s very doable,” Delph said.
Advanced Industrial Measurement, which has 17 local employees and two people at a Michigan sales office, is in the process of hiring two service engineers. Delph said once the new product line is ready to roll this fall, he expects to hire four people including tool makers and precision equipment assemblers. The jobs will pay an average of $28 an hour.
The new product lines will bring down costs and lead times for the company and allow it to tout the machines as being made almost entirely in the Dayton area. Delph said the frames will be built in northern Ohio and much of the hardware and other components will be made by local suppliers or internally. He still plans to use probes, software and controls from UK-based Renishaw because that company has a great global reputation.
The new machines — which will be touted as more mobile than most competitor models — will be unveiled in October both at the annual Dayton Region Manufacturers Association show in Dayton and a trade show in Chicago.
Currently, Advanced Industrial Measurement only sells in North America, but Delph plans to grow revenue with exports once all the new models are being produced. He looks to grab a big share of the market from global competitor Hexagon Metrology Services Ltd. of Great Britain.
Advanced Industrial Measurement moved from Beavercreek to 18,000 square feet in Miamisburg about 18 months ago and has room internally to expand for producing the new machines.
More detail
Delph launched the business about five years ago with Mark Gearding, who is still a co-owner. The two had been working for the Dayton office of a big competitor.
Advanced Industrial Measurement was started with a laptop and printer, and those two writing quotes to sell vision systems. About a year later, Delph got the opportunity for a meeting in Detroit with the president of Italy-based Coord3.
“We had two beers and a handshake and he had four machines headed my way,” Delph said.
Coord3 still supplies much of the frames he uses for MCCs.
Building a solid reputation — much of which involves having the good employees in the right positions — has been a big key to the company’s success, Delph said. That’s because the machines are a big purchase, and hence, a tough sell.
Providing a better quality product than most exports, as well as the best possible experience for customers, is the key to getting multiple orders from clients and landing sales through references.
“That’s the only way we can be successful; we can’t keep running around, getting one order here, one order there,” Delph said.
