Some people say Andy Cilona took too much of a risk to start his company. That’s because he gave up the security of a paycheck and bet his entire future on little more than an emerging trend.
Up until two years ago, Cilona worked in the human resources department of a plastics manufacturing firm in Bolivar.
“The company I worked for just wanted to make the parts, but most of the companies we did jobs for said, ‘You can’t have the job unless you assemble and package it for us, too.’ We didn’t have the manpower to assemble and package, so it was always a thorn in our side,” he says.
Curious, Cilona started calling other companies and learned that more and more manufacturers were seeking outside help for assembly and packaging requirements.
“Companies are having a hard time finding people that will do manual labor, so a lot of them use temporary help,” he says. “But they’re not real happy with that because it’s not consistent labor, and they constantly have to retrain different people how to do a job.”
That’s when Cilona decided to take a big risk, relying on an ace up his sleeve.
Confident that he could bet his future on the outsourcing trend, he borrowed $200,000 to buy a 15,000-square-foot warehouse on a three acre plot in Waynesburg, seven miles south of Canton.
After making building improvements, such as an upgraded heating system and a loading dock, and investing in a tow motor and other equipment, Cilona opened for business in February 1999, doing business as Ace Assembly & Packaging Inc.
Only in America
“I came to America from Sicily in 1958, when I was 5 years old, and my father always taught me that if you’re determined to do something, you can do it here if you’re persistent,” says Cilona.
In 1998, Cilona decided he’d had enough of the corporate life.
“I was traveling all the time, recruiting for my company, and the corporate life isn’t all that glamorous when you’re sitting in airports, spending your evenings in a hotel, eating your dinners alone and missing your children’s school activities. I just didn’t want to be away from home that much,” he says.
Contemplating the possibilities of the outsourcing trend, Cilona started scanning the classifieds on Sunday afternoons to determine what manufacturing firms needed laborers and assemblers. During the week, he would call those companies to ask if they’d use an outsourcing firm.
He also performed several time-study analyses to provide cost quotes.
“I’d take the pieces they wanted to have assembled and packaged, and time myself to find out how many I could do in a certain period of time, and to figure out how many employees I would need to complete a job on time,” he says.
Spurred by his faith in The Great American Dream, Cilona decided to take the entrepreneurial plunge. In contrast to the bold endeavor of buying an entire warehouse, Cilona started small, with only one employee.
Crazy or clairvoyant?
Many entrepreneurs can identify with Cilona’s quest. But most would consider it unthinkable to start a new business without a solid client base.
When he launched his company, Cilona had only two jobs lined up: one affixing labels to dog bowls for U.S. Technology Corp. in Canton, the other assembling vacuum cleaner hose fittings for Drossbach USA in Aurora.
In addition, he started doing business on nothing more than a handshake. He had no written contracts for the jobs.
“It was a very big risk and I admit I was scared. But I just believed it was something worth doing, and I knew the business was there,” he says.
He was right. Within six months, Ace Assembly was performing jobs for an automotive parts manufacturer, a printing firm, a cassette case manufacturer, a toy company and a couple of plastics and rubber manufacturers.
But even today, with 20 employees, Cilona still does business without a net.
“I get a lot of promises and I never had a contract — not even now, because the demand is there,” he declares.
Some of Cilona’s customers are amazed when they learn how he started his company.
“Starting any business, it takes a lot of courage to work for yourself, and for him to start out, not having anything on paper, was a very high risk. But he’s worked himself up to a nice little business,” says Ray Strausser, contract coordinator for U.S. Chemical and Plastics Inc. in Massillon — an Ace Assembly customer since September 1999.
“What Andy did was pretty gutsy, but in almost all your manufacturing businesses right now, there is a growing demand for work like that,” says Jim Farrell, a scheduling manager for Alpha Security Products Inc. in Canton.
Sensible solution
Farrell says that when another manufacturing firm recommended Cilona, he saw Ace Assembly as a cost-effective solution for Alpha Security Products.
“Since he’s only 20 miles from us, it’s just more feasible for us to send our business to him instead of taking it up to East Cleveland,” he says. “He’s also very competitive with his pricing, and to him, no job’s too big or too small.”
Farrell notes that in the 14 months since he started doing business with Ace, Cilona has never missed a deadline.
“Most times, I’ll take stuff to him in the morning and he’ll get it done in the same day,” he says.
Those are just a few of the benefits of doing business with Ace, says Cilona.
“It’s more cost-effective and efficient for companies to outsource than do to these jobs in house, because they don’t have to pay workers’ compensation or unemployment insurance, and they don’t have to worry about people showing up every day to get the job out by deadline,” he says.
Farrell adds that often, manufacturing firms receive small, specialized orders that don’t justify hiring 20 people for just a couple of months. Strausser says U.S. Chemical’s seasonal work is another reason the company relies on Ace for quick turnarounds.
Cilona says his low overhead also affords low prices for his customers, and the systems and processes he’s implemented in his shop ensure efficiency and a streamlined workflow.
Perseverence pays
Many of the initial challenges Cilona encountered were the same hurdles every entrepreneur faces, such as convincing customers to give him a chance to prove himself.
But when Cilona lost his first account six months after he started his company, it was “devastating.”
“When U.S. Technology stopped producing the dog bowls, that really hurt. Of course, you don’t want to lose any business when you’re just starting out. It was devastating to me because U.S. Technology was a third of my business at that time,” he reveals.
Fortunately, Cilona had started to build a favorable reputation within the manufacturing community.
“Different companies were calling and I was starting to pick up more business. I also started knocking on more doors and making more calls to pick up the revenue we lost. So that made a difference.”
Despite the odds, Cilona says he’s never regretted the risk he took by betting his future on a trend.
“I believed in this, and it’s paid off,” he says. “It’s been so satisfying to see a company that you start on a prayer, with one employee and one customer, grow to the size of one with 20 employees, serving a variety of companies.
“And based on the demand for new business from other companies, I think Ace Assembly is going to double in size within the next year.” How to reach: Ace Assembly & Packaging Inc., (330) 866-9117
