When Joe Zeno took control of ACS Industries in 1974, it was a losing venture. The attachments and coupler manufacturer had steadily lost money since its inception in 1968 — ACS had a negative net worth of $1 million on revenue of $450,000 with bank debt of $300,000 — and Zeno’s takeover brought with it new hope.
Two years later, with a concentrated focus on innovation, ACS turned its first profit. Today, Zeno leads a healthy, growing manufacturer that has posted 30 consecutive years of profitability.
Zeno, who considers himself an entrepreneurial risk taker, developed proprietary technology that permits construction equipment attachment changeover in less than 10 seconds by a single operator from the cab on any terrain.
He’s also demonstrated the ability to gauge future needs of his industry and determine innovative methods to provide for those needs.
During a recent economic slump from 2001 to 2003, ACS faced cost pressure from rising prices of steel, energy, transportation and benefits. While maintaining profitability, Zeno undertook an internal analysis of his company and the industry by visiting customers, competitors and end users.
He concluded that the attachment market was too complex with many suppliers and dealers subsequently weren’t motivated to understand the business. As a result, there was a substantial lack of information available to customers and often they received attachments that weren’t designed to work with each other and were potentially unsafe.
Zeno realized that if there were a single business partner that could supply the right attachment package and connect clients to the right equipment on time and for a good price, ACS would create a significant business advantage over his competitors.
As a result, Zeno invested in the development of an ERP-based, Web-enabled order configurator software program that provides functionality and information to assist dealers in selecting the correct combinations of attachments and controls for applications from 44,000 possible configurations.
This change has been so successful that Zeno estimates more than doubling the company’s size by 2009.
How to reach: ACS Industries Inc., (330) 678-2511 or www.acs-coupler.com