Winner
Technology
Bob Fritz has brought many new ways of thinking to Avtron Aerospace Inc. as the CEO turned a complacent family company into a high-technology growth company, then sold it — along with Avtron LoadBank Inc. and Avtron Industrial Automation Inc. — to a private equipment firm in 2007.
The company started as a designer and manufacturer of aircraft test equipment but then began developing products for various industries. Initially, upon his arrival at Avtron, Fritz reorganized the sales department and strengthened product development.
Then, beginning in the late 1990s, Fritz dropped some products and reorganized the company into three divisions, each with its own sales, engineering and field services department, and each run by a single manager. That allowed for better focus on customer industries, including a better understanding of customer needs, more informed selling, and more targeted product development.
When the divisions became subsidiary companies, they attained a sharper focus on customers and product development, spurring growth.
In addition, Fritz and his leadership team set out to develop a world-class work force. Avtron’s leaders benchmarked the company’s pay against that of larger firms and gradually eliminated the differences. As a result, as various industries declined in the last decade, Avtron was able to hire impact employees, including engineers with a reputation for completing projects with the company’s customers.
Avtron’s products rely on technology, and over the years, the biggest challenge has been competing with larger companies. To do so, Avtron developed a strategy that emphasizes the connections between employees and customers. Its representatives listen closely to customers and identify niches where larger companies are less effective. As a result, Avtron is often awarded the most difficult projects, which Fritz and his staff use to win new business and go after more mainstream projects in customers’ industries.
Today, Avtron’s products include automatic test systems to ensure the safety of airline components, test equipment for standby power generators and digital industrial controls for the paper, steel, mining and dockside crane industries.
How to reach: Avtron Aerospace Inc., (216) 642-1230 or www.avtron.com
