SIDNEY — It is no secret that US manufacturing faced unprecedented challenges in 2020 as a result of the global pandemic and the company is happy to report that Electro Controls has stayed the course and faced those challenges head on.
Kevin Geise, co-owner and president, commented “Electro Controls was deemed an essential business from the very beginning because of the work we do in certain critical industries, including food and beverage, water and waste water, agriculture, energy, heating and ventilating, construction, transportation, and manufacturing equipment. Our number one focus was employee safety and it remains so today. This is nothing new, our priorities have always been safety first, quality second, and production third. This is the cornerstone for long term success. From a financial standpoint, it was a tough year, there is no way to sugarcoat it. With an eye on the future, we had to figure out a way to survive and continue to meet our client expectations while absorbing all the extra expenses and time spent on the pandemic issues. Our team is built for flexibility and I am really pleased how everyone adapted and responded in such adversity.”
The other co-owners, brothers Chris and Jason Geise, agreed together that “Electro Controls is anchored by our employees, we have a team who knows how to work together and solve problems. It takes dedication and sacrifice and we are extremely grateful for that, especially in a year like 2020.”
The owners’ report follows:
Our 2020 sales volume contracted significantly, and we finished the year down 18% from 2019. Even though our food and beverage clients were off as much as 25%, that market continued to provide our largest revenue stream in aggregate. Our manufacturing equipment and recreational vehicle clients both had decent years for us, and our agriculture and water and wastewater clients remained steady. The solar market continued to expand for us, and we are excited about the future in that industry.
With the pandemic in full swing, we made concerted efforts to take great care of the orders we did have and to closely study and improve our internal processes in order to maximize efficiencies and streamline our business while maintaining and further developing our resources. Although we were forced to navigate thru a few periods of reduced production hours, we are currently at full strength and finished the year with 88 employees and we have 75,000 square feet of operating space. Our outlook for 2021 is for a strong rebound of the food and beverage market and our overall sales budget is set for double digit growth.
Looking to the midterm, the ownership remains committed to investment in facilities, equipment, and employee development. The company invested in a new highly automated wire processing machine and two new ultrasonic wire welders in 2020. This equipment is critical to our wire harness production division as that group continues to experience a nice growth curve. The company also revamped our material planning system to enhance our purchasing algorithms and streamline our inventory management processes. Finally, our employee development this year has been centered around customer service management practices in an environment where traditional face-to-face meetings have been very limited. These efforts have taken us down new and exciting paths of creativity and have been instrumental in keeping us connected with our clients and relevant in our industry.
We are ready for the future and we pledge to offer best-in-class solutions for automation systems, control panels, wire harnesses, and solar renewables. We are proud to be serving a wide range of clients and industries across North America from Sidney, OH and we are grateful to all our stakeholders including employees, clients, suppliers, and our community.
