Past Winner Stories
Biddle Precision Components
www.bpcinc.biz
The company was founded in 1944 when Kenneth Biddle left a successful screw machine business he had nurtured since 1939 in Cleveland to return to his home town of Sheridan, IN. He founded Biddle Screw Products in a converted garage on Main Street, which is where their manufacturing plant stands today.
After three consecutive years of declines the management team knew there was little time to act. An easy solution would have been to sell the business and walk away with some money for the management team and shareholders. But the management team knew the company was worth more than they would be offered, so they accepted the challenge and undertook several aggressive strategies to rebuild profitability and value to the shareholders. They knew it would not be easy to institute change to policies and philosophies that had been decades in the making.
These actions required investments of millions of dollars, but they were wise investments. The results were immediate and dramatic. Biddle Precision Components began to not only see improved profitability and margins, but also noted significant sales growth as a result of its quality control and customer service programs. Today, Biddle is one of the largest and most successful independently owned producers of precision machine parts, with over 150,000 square feet in Sheridan. With many achievements behind it, Biddle now looks forward to its next 50 years of service to the industry with much confidence and aggressiveness for what may lie ahead.
Biddle Precision Components, a Sheridan-based manufacturer of precision turned components and hydraulic valve components, cruised into the ’90s with a rich history and a lot of baggage. Burdened with high benefits costs and obsolete machinery, the company was ill-equipped to face technological and competitive challenges brought about by globalization. Its success in adapting to these challenges is testament to the determination, resilience and creativity of its management and a model for how Midwest manufacturing can thrive today.
The company was founded in 1944 when Kenneth Biddle left a successful screw machine business he had nurtured since 1939 in Cleveland to return to his home town of Sheridan, IN. He founded Biddle Screw Products in a converted garage on Main Street, which is where their manufacturing plant stands today.
Biddle quickly doubled his workforce by adding several locals to his transplanted Cleveland staff. Over the years the renamed Biddle Precision Components grew into a significant operation with approximately $30 million in annual sales and hundreds of employees. However, like many second- and third-generation businesses, it faced many unforeseen challenges. In the early ’90s the company began facing fierce competition from plants in Mexico and later China. Obsolete and costly pension, health and post-retirement benefit plans were making the company’s products uncompetitive from a cost standpoint. Additionally, in 2001 Biddle’s customer base began to erode as a weakened economy and a dwindling manufacturing base in the Midwest took hold. To make matters worse, the company began to feel competitive heat from the plastics industry as customers started to replace metal parts with plastic in many applications.
After three consecutive years of declines the management team knew there was little time to act. An easy solution would have been to sell the business and walk away with some money for the management team and shareholders. But the management team knew the company was worth more than they would be offered, so they accepted the challenge and undertook several aggressive strategies to rebuild profitability and value to the shareholders. They knew it would not be easy to institute change to policies and philosophies that had been decades in the making.
First they attacked their cost structure by adopting a lean manufacturing approach and making difficult staffing changes. They worked with professionals to replace obsolete and costly benefit plans with newer, more affordable plans that were still very generous to their workforce. They also began to focus manufacturing processes on improved quality control and refocused sales efforts on customer service and value-added services.
These actions required investments of millions of dollars, but they were wise investments. The results were immediate and dramatic. Biddle Precision Components began to not only see improved profitability and margins, but also noted significant sales growth as a result of its quality control and customer service programs. Today, Biddle is one of the largest and most successful independently owned producers of precision machine parts, with over 150,000 square feet in Sheridan. With many achievements behind it, Biddle now looks forward to its next 50 years of service to the industry with much confidence and aggressiveness for what may lie ahead.