IMET President Credits 400% Increase in Sales to Broadened Capabilities & Exceptional Equipment
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It’s a certainty that not many chief executives can claim their company’s sales have quadrupled over the past four years. One of the select few that can is Tom Krol, president of IMET Corporation, a multi-faceted electronics design and production firm in Southampton, PA.
What makes this 13-year-old company’s sizeable increase all the more remarkable is that it occurred during the depths of the current recession. Starting in ’08, while numerous businesses struggled to stay alive, IMET expanded – more than tripling its staff – and as if to assure that Mr. Krol’s confidence in America’s and his own company’s future remains undiminished, IMET recently purchased a 15,000 sq. ft. building in suburban Philadelphia, and expects to have it filled to capacity within three years after move-in last March.
Fueling that positive outlook is the wide range of a la carte outsourcing services that IMET provides for its growing roster of OEM clients. Starting with product conceptualization by their industrial designer, the mechanical and electrical engineering team then advances the product to prototyping and preproduction stages. With automated printed circuit board assembly and even manufacturing available, the company can be a total or partial contract resource from design to full production of the end product.
“All of these much-needed services are propelling our growth,” says the president, “because American companies are now coming back home – disillusioned after negative experiences with outsourcing in China. But many of those OEMs refuse to get involved with in-house assembly. Instead they have IMET as their single-source provider while they concentrate on marketing and sales.”
Mr. Krol regards IMET as an “incubator” for new products by established companies as well as those from future entrepreneurs. Many of the latter seek government grants that fund new products with possible sociological benefits that could also contribute to economic recovery. One successful example is “StreetLight™” – a cane with a powerful built-in LED bulb that lights the way for visually impaired pedestrians and seniors who have a tendency to fall.
Products that owe their birthright to IMET include complex medical and automotive devices as well as electronic toys and games. One of the most promising creations in the latter category is a groundbreaking new pinball machine based on the iconic 1930’s movie, “Wizard of Oz®”. IMET is assembling the complex circuitry for this action-packed game which features custom animation, music and actual clips from the original film. The manufacturer, Jersey Jack Pinball, Inc., Lakewood, NJ, reports that the initial run of 1,000 machines has already been presold.
Another notable example is “me-ality” – a body scanner that “sizes up” anyone for correctly fitting clothing. Installed in upscale shopping mall kiosks, this device also names and locates all the stores in the mall that stock the sizes specified.
The CEO credits much of IMET’s success to his company’s ability to migrate from design to contract manufacturing – made possible by an employee team with diverse skills and an affiliation with vendors that deliver what they promise. A second high-speed line with an automatic stencil printer, 4-head pick and place with 10,500 cph throughput and an 8-zone lead-free reflow oven.
Contact:
Mike Schwartz
mschwartz@imetcorporation.com
866-435-4907
267-288-5330
