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May 6, 2001 Dave Wage calls his company the best-kept secret in Wisconsin. The former Executive Vice-President of Formrite Tube Company of Two Rivers said the secrecy surrounding HMF Innovations is by design, because his customers demand it. HMF designs and manufactures automated systems for various industries, which hope to obtain or maintain a competitive advantage by keeping the system operations to themselves. "How do you give a plant tour, or distribute brochures, when you're producing something your customer doesn't want people know about?" Wage wonders. HMF has about 25 employees and generally works on contracts ranging from $250,000 to $2.0 million. It counts Mirro, Caterpillar and Kohler among its larger customers. "Our systems make other companies look impressive, but we kind of have to remain in the background," Wage said. HMF is currently half way through a year-long, $1.5 million automation project for a Milwaukee based company which manufactures seats for vehicles like motorcycles and riding lawn mowers. It is designing and manufacturing a process that injects foam and plastic into the seats, and will allow the company to produce one seat every 30 seconds, with a huge improvement over current output. The project is too large for HMF's main facility at 2214 Franklin Street, so the company is leasing the former Jagemann Stamping facility on Meadow Lane for a period of one year. The project is using robot technology and a series of carousels. When finished in September, the automation equipment will be dismantled and shipped via 15 semi trucks to the Milwaukee company's satellite plant in Georgia. Wisconsin Commerce Secretary Brenda Blanchard toured the operation when state government officials spent a day in Manitowoc last Tuesday. Wage purchased the assets of the former HMF, Inc. last August. Tom Haug, an engineer and sole proprietor of HMF since opening the company in 1972, remains a consultant. HMF Innovations has customers in four major market segments - food processing, press automation, foundries and foam-in-place automation. Wage said his goal is to grow the business, but he admits that may be tough in the short term. A sluggish economy has many manufacturers taking a hard look at larger capital expenditures of the kind HMF provides. "We've seen a little of the impact of a slower economy," Wage said. "A few of our contracts fell victim to the economy." Wage adds that HMF is "doing a lot of quoting," which may turn into contracts. In addition to the space leased from Jagemann, the company has 18,000 square feet of manufacturing space at its main plant. The employee force includes eight engineers and designers, many with years of experience. Wage said " most of the company's business is by referrals and word of mouth. When a customer requests an automation solution, HMF engineers go to the customer's facility to discuss a preliminary concept, which is reviewed and refined before a formal proposal is presented. Production begins if the customer accepts the design and cost proposal. |
