Blower
builder uses LCD to build competitive advantage
How can a long-established
midwestern manufacturing firm prosper in today’s globally competitive
environment?
 One
way, according to Jim McGrath, vice president of New York Blower, a
Chicago-based manufacturer of industrial fans founded in 1889, is to
adopt modern presentation technology and use it to help build partnerships
with customers.
The fan and blower industry
today is mature and very competitive, with its industrial market segments
shared among 30 manufacturers. While it might not be an industry an
outsider would think of as high-tech, "we’ve moved into the computer
age," says McGrath, who told me the firm has developed an internet site
and an electronic catalog. Good presentations are critical, given the
competitive climate, and management has emphasized the informational
and educational side of customer communications. "We’ve gotten into
video production," says McGrath, "where we’ve done videos on fan maintenance,
sound, and how systems affect the performance of fans. Our salesmen
give seminars to the engineering staff of their customers. We’ve been
doing more and more training."
LCD projection was a natural
for the company’s program. "A few of us saw this type of projector and
it seemed terrific for our purposes," McGrath says, and he came to United
Visual’s Brian Sheridan for advice. "Brian was very helpful when we
needed to decide which one to buy. He showed us the Philips and it was
just what we wanted."
McGrath says the firm is
using their new projector for sales training, staff and shareholder
meetings, and sales conferences, as well as client presentations and
seminars. "It’s so easy to work with it and so professional." He chose
a Philips 4600. "It was a bit lower in price than the other projector
we had considered, but we liked its features better." Once purchased,
he says his main problem has been sharing the projector among the large
number of people who want to use it.
McGrath says he was glad
he bought the unit from United. "Brian has just been great," says McGrath.
"He was very prompt at returning calls, at getting out here when we
needed a demo, and, after we purchased, coming out to show us how something
works. He makes it very easy to work with him."
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