 Many players in the aluminum extrusion industry experienced a down year in 2007, according to President Dan Formsma of AACOA. But AACOA grew in double digits thanks to a diverse customer base.
"Most of the shrinkage in the industry was from the residential construction and transportation markets," Formsma says. "We, however, saw about a 10 percent growth last year, and that mainly had to do with a lot of diversification within our customer base. We're not heavily involved with any one major segment in the industry. We don't have a single segment that represents over 20 percent of our business.
"We're well diversified, and that allows us to weather the storm when a particular segment of the economy is down."
AACOA was founded in 1972 in Elkhart, Ind., as an aluminum anodizing job shop with eight employees. In 1991, AACOA designed and built a new $7.5 million, 117,000-square-foot aluminum anodizing plant in Elkhart, IN.
In 1998, the company built a 120,000-square-foot aluminum extrusion and fabrication facility in Niles, Mich., called AACOA Extrusions Inc. AACOA says it is one of the most technologically advanced aluminum extrusion and fabricating facilities in the world.
The company provides a "one-stop shop" for extrusions, fabrication, warehousing and anodizing for clients throughout Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee in the automotive, commercial architectural, marine, transportation industries as well as other durable goods industries.
"We try to concentrate on business segments that require high-precision extrusions and high surface quality requirements," Formsma says. "Equipment in both our plants is designed for providing high tolerances and minimal surface quality issues."
Taking on Challenges
With its slogan, "Customer focused, value driven," AACOA has never shied away from tough specifications put forth by a potential or existing client, according to Formsma.
"I think that the first inclination of some companies is to shy away from requests that require something out of the ordinary, they resist trying everything they can to satisfy them. We look at those requests as opportunities," he adds. "When we see a situation where a customer needs something out of the ordinary, we look at it as an opportunity to lock up a customer and take care of them where others are not willing to do that."
With these capabilities, Formsma admits AACOA is sometimes not the lowest priced supplier available. However, the company makes sure customers are getting the best value for their money through customer service, attention to details, and building relationships.
"There are a lot of people who offer a lower priced product than what we provide," Formsma says. "But I challenge anyone that says they can provide the value that AACOA can. Bringing value starts with answering the phone in person within the first two or three rings, and it trickles down from that point. We create an atmosphere where it is easy to do business with us."
Beating Offshore Competition
Formsma believes if his industry wants to stand up to pressures from overseas, it won't succeed purely on a cost basis. AACOA stays ahead of the competition by emphasizing quality, and willingness to do the "extras".
The type of business that is most susceptible to foreign competition is the "The big volume jobs that are very low priced", Formsma says. To fight this off AACOA provides as many value-added services as they can along with exceptional customer care. "We have already seen cases where customers who left us for the advantages of a lower foreign price, have come back because they recognized a better overall value with AACOA.
"Diversification and staying close to the customer is big. Companies that do those things are the ones that will survive." |
