16 minute read
Springmaker Spotlight
Pictured (l-to-r): Tom Little and Dennis Bhaskaran
Partnership:
A Profile of Apex Spring and Stamping Company
By Gary McCoy, Managing Editor W hen you walk through the expansive manufacturing and warehouse space at Apex Spring and Stamping Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, you immediately notice the bright lighting and clean workspace. It is also quite evident that the smiling faces of employees point to a positive working environment and a commitment to the phrase “partnership.”
In addition to a partnership with its employees, the management of Apex carries that same pledge to the way it interacts with customers.
“Today’s customer demands and expects a high level of service and a commitment to their particular business,” according to Tom Little, Apex engineering/sales manager.
Ted Tenbrink, Spring Department
In describing the company’s business philosophy, Little cited the phrases “a servant’s attitude” and “partnership in a customer’s business.”
“We succeed when our customer succeeds, and we fail when our customer fails,” explained Little.
“The first thing we ask all our customers is: ‘How can we help?’ We really don’t look for transactional partnerships, but those that consist of us basically becoming an integral part of our customer’s team with the goal to know their business as good or better than they do.”
Regarding customers, Dennis Bhaskaran, the CEO/COO of Apex and one of the company’s co-owners, says it is always the company’s goal to get prospective customers and current customers inside the shop, “so they can see how we care for our people.” In addition, Bhaskaran says if Apex can do one job for a customer that “the rest is history; because they are going to see what we can do for them.”
In addition, he says the company has a culture of cleanliness that goes back to its founder Wayne Nash, who left active management of the company in 2012. Nash’s son, Ben Nash, remains as one of the company’s co-owners.
“We want employees to have a great place to work that’s clean,” said Bhaskaran. In addition, Bhaskaran says he wants customers to know that the money they have invested in things like tooling is going toward a clean workspace and not one that is dirty, oily, or greasy.
40 Plus Years and Growing
Apex started in 1977 out of a small rental building in Standale, Michigan by Wayne Nash and two other employees with three fourslide machines. According to Little, “Wayne had been working at another local spring company that closed at the end of 1976, and he figured it was time to start his own adventure into the spring world.”
Bhaskaran later came on the scene. He graduated from the Michigan State University accounting program in 1987 and became a CPA in 1989. Bhaskaran initially met Nash in 1990 as a client in his work with the accounting firm Crowe. “Wayne and I really hit off well,” recalled Bhaskaran.
Bhaskaran said Nash would frequently call him to get advice about buying equipment and inventory issues. “We ended up meeting three or four times. At that time, Apex had about 10 or 11 employees and about one million in sales,” recalled Bhaskaran. Regarding the potential he saw at Apex, Bhaskaran remembers feeling like “a kid in a candy store.”
Eventually, Bhaskaran left the accounting world and joined the management team at Apex in 1994. After staying at around one million in sales during the company’s first 17 years, Bhaskaran said his accounting background and Little’s work in opening up new accounts were among several factors that helped the company blast through that threshold.
Pre-COVID, the company recorded sales of $23 million. The sales have since returned to pre-COVID levels and Bhaskaran says they are on their way to even greater growth.
Little joined the company in 1986, after working at Mid-West Spring for two years as the company’s Michigan representative. Before that, he was pursuing a career in golf as a 1983 graduate of the professional golf management program (PGM) at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.
Little admits he became disillusioned with the business side of the golf industry, and in a fortuitous meeting he was hired out of the golf shop at Spring Lake (Michigan) Country Club by Fred Hohman at Mid-West Spring.
“What a blessing it was that Fred saw something and took a chance on a 23-year-old kid, who had no knowledge or experience in the spring industry or about selling,” said Little.
Leaning Forward
Apex provides a steady stable of products for its customers with stampings (progressive dies), fourslide and multislide parts, and a number of springs, including compression, extension, torsion, and double torsion for many industries such as automotive, office furniture, medical and appliance. Recent growth areas include value-added assembly and 3D wireforming and assembly.
The company now has a workforce of approximately 70 direct employees spread over three facilities, two in Grand Rapids (its main office and manufacturing facility and a separate warehouse across the street) and an assembly facility in Howard City, Michigan.
Bhaskaran said he brought lean management principles to the company and helped it transition to the computer age. “One time, we bought an ERP system, and I didn’t like it and we ended up writing our own program here,” explained Bhaskaran.
Apex hired a computer programmer, and it took the company about five years to write its own custom software. “And to this day, it is still being used,” said Bhaskaran.
He says having their own computer system provides Apex with the flexibility to quickly adjust and make changes.
After being exclusively a fourslide company for its first 17 years, Apex bought its first stamping press in 1994 and now boasts more than 15. They also have nearly 60 torsion machines, numerous coiling machines, and most recently added 3D wire rendering machines.
In a recent blog post on the Apex website, Ben Nash said that the concept of continuous improvement is simple, but that implementing it within an organization requires commitment, discipline, and resolve for it to be successful.
“At Apex, we view continuous improvement as an opportunity to improve every process by focusing on enhancing the activities that generate the most value for our customers, while removing as much waste as possible.”
Despite recent COVID disruptions, Bhaskaran has restarted the quarterly meetings with employees to spark continuous improvement in the company.
One memorable meeting occurred toward the end of 2017, when Bhaskaran showed a video by Stanford professor Tony Seba about the coming disruption in the auto industry. “He (Seba) said that the whole industry was going to be electric vehicles, and solar would be the power behind the electric and autonomous vehicles would emerge,” explained Bhaskaran. “He said when those three things are in place, it would destroy the internal combustion engine (ICE).”
A dramatic point in the video is a 1900 photo of New York City. You can see nearly
Patrick Stuart, Fourslide Department
Rhonda Koscielak, Purchasing/Shipping/Logistics
500 horses and buggies and only one car. Seba showed a photo of the same street in New York thirteen years later where there was now only one horse and buggy and hundreds of cars on the street.
Similar to how the automotive industry quickly changed society in the early 1900s, Seba said in the video that he believed the EV transition had already started and by 2030 it would be in full effect.
Bhaskaran said the reaction among employees four years ago was to laugh. “They basically said, ‘Hey Dennis, you have some great ideas, but this is not even in the realm of things.’”
The video prompted a “disruption” at Apex, and the company now has an EV division that Bhaskaran says is not all about automotive.
“It’s about providing value-added products to companies who work in this space or those related to wind or solar. We are migrating to what we feel is a major industry change,” said Bhaskaran.
After being at 80 percent automotive nearly 10 years ago, the company is now closer to 50 percent.
The Bamboo Tree
Bhaskaran analogizes the company’s EV shift in the past five years to a bamboo tree (another video at a continuous improvement meeting). “You plant the seeds and for five years you’ve got to water it, but nothing comes out of the ground. At any
point in those five years, if you give up, the tree dies and you’ve lost everything you’ve invested. But in the fifth year, that little puppy breaks out of the ground and it grows 90 feet in six months.”
He says what happens with the bamboo tree over those five years is the building of a root system that’s more than 100 yards under the ground. This provides a foundation to be able to hold up the bamboo tree when its growth spurt takes place.
“Like the bamboo tree, we built a foundation in the EV market nearly five years ago, and after many frustrations, we just recently started seeing the results,” said Bhaskaran.
Another growth area at Apex has been in the office furniture business, especially in assembly projects.
INTRODUCING
Spring Testing REVOLUTIONIZED
The Authority on Accuracy.
NEW
Available with Basic or Advanced Software
Innovative Spring Testing Solutions
Starrett offers a complete line of innovative force solutions for spring testing. In addition, a new, affordable high volume production testing solution is available in basic software (S1) and advanced (S2).
MADE IN AMERICA
For more information visit starrett.com/springs
PRECISION TOOLS/GAGES
SPRING TESTING
spring inspection Walking the Talk
Not only because of its work in the EV area, Apex believes it has a responsibility to protect the environment and to minimize its carbon footprint. Apex has a 122-kilowatt solar farm in operation just across the street from its main building and adjacent to its warehouse space. According to the company’s website, “This facility generates over 140 MWh of electricity every year, reducing our carbon footprint by over 90 tons of CO2 emissions.”
Bhaskaran says the fact that the company has its own solar farm has been a great selling point to show that it is giving back to the community and the world. “I would like to do more as we are able to free up capital.”
A series of colorful banners hang inside the company’s manufacturing plant, including one that says “GREAT,” representing Grind, Respect, Empowerment, Accountability, and Teamwork.
“You see the banners and they say: ‘We walk the talk.’ It starts from executive management all the way down; that no one is too good to do anything here,” related Bhaskaran. “I’ve cleaned my share of toilets, and anybody else can do that. At the end of the day, God has made all of us from the same flesh and bones, and no one is different than anybody else.”
With passion, Bhaskaran believes culture is the most important thing at Apex because it is a family business and based on Christian values. He says, “We are fortunate for God’s hand over our company.”
When Apex celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2017, company management purchased something unique to recognize the milestone. “We invested in a yogurt machine for our break room where we have different flavors every week,” said Bhaskaran. “We don’t always do this in the winter, but when it is in use there are employees who like the current flavor and those who don’t. It’s always a subject of conversation!”
Bhaskaran and Little are proud of the benefits offered to employees, including the high percentage who participate in the company’s 401(k) program.
In addition to that, the company’s employee turnover rate hovers around
Jared Newville, Shipping and Receiving
one to two percent. “Our employee base is a good mix of young and old,” said Bhaskaran, noting that the average age is between 40 and 50. “We find a lot of companies are full of what we call ‘silver foxes.’” Little noted the number of young
people who work with him in the sales and engineering group.
The company has invested heavily in automation. “Through rotations and different things that we’ve done, we’ve been able to increase the amount of productivity we have from our people,” said Bhaskaran.
Even though the turnover is low, Bhaskaran says he’s always looking for great employees wherever he goes.
He relates a story about hiring Rhonda Koscielak from a local fast-food restaurant, where he frequently stopped to get a sandwich. He noted how attentive Rhonda was with a great memory, a great attitude, and a positive tone. After about 30 days, Rhonda finally came to Apex to meet and fill out an application.
Wasting no time, she was hired at Apex. Bhaskaran says after initially working in shipping, “she’s now a key person on our team who leads all kinds of different functions here, including purchasing, scheduling, and logistics. She has just been amazing.”
When it comes to hiring employees, Bhaskaran says it’s all about attitude and the ability to want to learn and make your life better. “If they have those in place, I think we can make winners out of anybody.”
Future Plans
When Bhaskaran bought into the company, his two sons were very young, and it was his hope that they might one day join him at Apex. Both sons are currently working at Apex, and whether they continue on to the next generation, Bhaskaran says “Who knows?”
WIRED FOR PRECISION
Unsurpassed Quality Since 1959
Swift Turnaround Times Award Winning Service Prototypes to Full-Run Production
Certified ISO 9001:2015
97 Ronzo Road, Bristol, CT 06010 | (860) 583-1305 | RadcliffWire.com
His oldest son, Jason, is currently learning multiple areas of the plant and has also worked in the quality department. His 19-year old son, Jonah, has spent his summer learning all aspects of the shipping/receiving department and just recently underwent a one-week test run to see if he could do every facet of the department.
Bhaskaran says that both of his sons are responsible for coming back to the plant each night for cleanup. “They are responsible for all the janitorial duties, including the bathrooms.”
Ben Nash, the son of Apex founder Wayne Nash, is vice president of Apex and oversees the manufacturing activities, “except when I noodle in his way sometimes,” said Bhaskaran with a laugh.
There was a time when Ben left Apex to work in the residential building market. When a decline in the housing industry took place, he asked Bhaskaran if he could come back to the company and help him. “Ben came back around the time that Wayne retired. His dad sold him a 10 percent share and I have the other 90 percent and we’re just growing.” “The company is in a great position for the future for Ben and the boys to continue the tradition of our family and Christian values and to lead Apex into our next opportunities. The ownership is open for all of them,” said Bhaskaran. “We’ll see what happens down the road.” When Bhaskaran is not busy running the day-to-day operations at Apex, he
Bill Conley, Spring Department
Spring Tooling for All Machines Complete line of carbide and steel tooling for the spring industry.
Machines
• Fenn (TORIN) • Itaya • MEC • Samuel • Sleeper & Hartley • Additional Machines – A.I.M. – ASAHI – Bamatec (Schenker) – Baird – Bobbio – E.N. Machine (Ming) – Simplex – Wafios
Line of carbide and steel tooling include…
• Arbors/Mandrels • Block Guides • Body Tools • Caps • Coiling Tools • Cutting Tools • Feed Rolls • Guides/Liners • Pencil Arbors • Pitch Tools • Quills
naspringtool.com 860-583-1693
169 WHITE OAK DRIVE BERLIN, CT 06037
enjoys doing the landscaping at the plant and playing golf with Tom. He’s also an avid college sports fan, especially rooting for his beloved Michigan State University Spartans.
Little is married to Victoria and they have three children: Son Ron, who is married to Becca; daughter Ashleigh; and daughter Shelby and her boyfriend, Scott Malvich. Ron and Becca made the Littles grandparents with the 2012 birth of triplets Carter, Cooper, and Conor.
With a great sense of humor, Little says when he meets a receptionist (the doorkeeper) at a new company, he tells them they are his second favorite receptionist. “This takes them back a bit, wondering why they aren’t No. 1. My response is, ‘I married No. 1!”
Little enjoys a variety of outdoor activities, including golf (of course!), along with sporting clays, snow skiing, pickleball, and boating.
In summing up the company’s emphasis on partnerships, Little simply states that people buy from people and that relationships matter.
The 122-kilowatt Apex solar farm adjacent to its warehouse and across the street from its main building.
“Price is an excuse and not a reason to win or lose work. Helping people become successful is an honor and joy that has really made my career successful. If you help people solve their problems they will continue to come back to you with more. Trust is earned and not expected until you show any interest in helping people become successful.”
He concludes by saying, “Everyone has a story. You just need to listen.” n
FIVES, A LEADER IN SPRINGFIVES, A LEADER IN SPRING GRINDING ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGYGRINDING ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY
GARDNER ABRASIVES:
— Custom engineered — Consistent manufacturing process — Higher speeds & stock removal rates — Advanced bond technology — Over 110 years of abrasive expertise
Visit us at the smi metal engineering expo Booth 619
www.fivesgroup.com
— Cutting Tools | Abrasives— Cutting Tools | Abrasives E: cuttingtools.abrasives@fivesgroup.com - Concord Twp., Ohio - South Beloit, Illinois - USAE: cuttingtools.abrasives@ vesgroup.com - Concord Twp., Ohio - South Beloit, Illinois - USA
Fives_.5 p. _hor_.25 bleed_.25_margin_2019 Summer.indd 1Fives_.5 p. _hor_.25 bleed_.25_margin_2019 Summer.indd 1
