ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN IS TIME FOR GROWTH PLANNING FOR DECATUR FIRM

    DECATUR, Ala. -- While many companies are hunkered down in defensive positions hoping to minimize loss in the current ailing economy, Decatur, Ala.-based Automatic Screw Machine Products (Automatic SMP) is launching a full frontal offensive planning for growth and preparing itself for a solid future.
    On April 1, Automatic SMP is deploying a nationally recognized corporate growth program -- Eureka Winning Ways -- to create and sustain top-line sales through more effective marketing and the acquisition of new business segments. The company is allied in its mission with the Morgan County Economic Development Association and the Alabama Technology Network (ATN).
     “Eureka Winning Ways has helped companies like Nike, American Express, and Walt Disney to generate business-building ideas,” said David Mixson of the ATN center at Auburn University’s College of Business and one of two ATN Eureka Growth Coaches. “It has been largely unavailable to small and mid-sized companies, but through an agreement with the ATN’s federal umbrella agency – the Manufacturing Extension Partnership -- the program is made more affordable and accessible. It is a very powerful process for Alabama companies who need to create and execute measurably smarter choices for growth and build the growth leadership skills within their business.”
    Automatic SMP’s relationship with the ATN at AU goes back a number of years. ATN-AU Lean Specialist David Hicks has coached and trained Automatic SMP personnel in continuous improvement since fall of 2005.
     “We have been helping Automatic SMP very broadly in creating and implementing a company-pervasive continuous improvement system and a culture oriented toward improvement and problem solving,” Hicks said.  
     Automatic SMP has credited that work with both the creation of new jobs and the retention of jobs that otherwise might have been lost; increased sales to more than $143,000 annually; and maintenance and overhead reduction of some $50,000 annually.
     “ATN at Auburn has helped us to improve our processes, our quality, our overall performance, and equipment reliability,” said Automatic SMP President Mike Selby. “To join with them in implementing the Eureka Winning Ways program is one more of the milestones in our journey toward ‘world class’ and sustainable growth.”
     However, in a mature market like specialty machined products, attaining a highly reliable strategy for growth can be a daunting concept. Moreover, it is a challenge for which good support and solid resources are critical. Coming forward with that additional support is the Morgan County Economic Development Association.
     “We had been trying to find a growth program to assist our local industry, said MCEDA Vice President Mary Ila Ward. “We learned about Eureka Winning Ways at a seminar here in North Alabama at which Mitch Ham of the ATN center at Muscle Shoals was speaking.”
     According to Ward, when MCEDA learned that Automatic SMP already was working with ATN-AU, it led to a perfect match for the agency’s effort.
     “We knew that at least 50 percent of our industries in Morgan County are operating in an already mature market,” Ward said. “We were searching diligently for a way to assist them in attaining growth. Eureka Winning Ways looked like the solution.”
     With additional support from the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama and the Tennessee Valley Authority, MCEDA is providing a portion of the financial resources to support a Eureka Winning Ways pilot with Automatic SMP.
     “Our hope is that this pilot will become a program we can offer as a service to our industry here in Morgan County at least annually,” Ward said.
     For more information about Eureka Wining Ways and ATN-AU’s work with Automatic SMP, visit www.auburnworks.org. Visit the ATN web site at www.atn.org. Learn more about the Morgan County Economic Development Association at www.mceda.org.

    ATAC is an affiliate of the Alabama Technology Network and an Economic Development Administration University Center. As an arm of the Auburn University College of Business Outreach, ATAC provides business and technical assistance, customized training, and consultation in implementing value-added strategies to manufacturers and other businesses, not-for-profit organizations and government agencies in Alabama and the Southeast. 

CONTACT: Mitch Emmons, (334) 844-3881, emmonmb@auburn.edu.