A company saying they want to continuously make improvements for their customers isn’t anything new. Making continuous improvement promises as part of a sales pitch is one of the oldest sales tactics in the book — but what’s different about Swiss-Tech is ours isn’t a tactic, it’s an actual promise that we delivered on in 2019 and will continue that vision in 2020. And not only did we do what we said we were going to do – we did better than that.
With the BERKS Group’s acquisition of Swiss-Tech, 2019 was our year to prove that the partnership provides greater stability to our success as a precision component manufacturer.
The partnership provides long term resources necessary to provide our high-end customers with world-class service, quality and manufacturing expertise.
“Customers are looking for the continuity of being owned by a group that is committed to investing in quality and growth. That’s what our partnership with the BERKS Group does,” said Frank Meiland, Swiss-Tech CEO and President.
2019 Goals
Our goals for 2019 were business growth and improvement to provide customers with more resources and better support while offering internal team members a secure work environment.
In 2019, we invested 8.5 percent of our revenues back into capital equipment. We added six CNC machines and retired some older pieces of equipment, which allowed us to increase our machining capabilities with newer machines that can make better and more complicated parts faster.
“We can do things today we couldn’t do a year ago. [The machines] are faster. They can do more complex parts, while holding tighter tolerances,” said Jay Longbottom, Operating Partner for the BERKS Group.
We put a heavy focus in 2019 on monitoring quality assurance. “Customers know they want perfect quality and they know the best way you get that is with quality at the source,” Longbottom said.
We decentralized inspecting materials and put the inspection process right at the machines. We’re controlling the part quality from the beginning to the end of the production process rather than waiting until after the part is finished.
2020 Vision
In 2020, Swiss-Tech leadership and the BERKS Group are continuing to drive a strategic plan based on the products our customers need and the excellence they demand.
“We want to leverage the new capabilities we developed in 2019 and take our operational excellence initiatives to the next level in 2020,” Longbottom said.
We’re excited for 2020 and the opportunity to continue making capital investments and emphasizing process improvements to significantly increase our capabilities for current and future business. If you want to be part of our 2020 vision, give us a call.