Through the Years Their Commitment to Customer Care has Remained the Same
Beginnings and Evolutions
Some companies are forever inspired by their founders and leaders past, whether because they found an opportunity that others missed, or because they were able to innovate solutions to problems they come across, or because they focused on important values right from the start. If you work at AJ Manufacturing Inc., it would be all of the above.
In the 1950s, and ’60s, Luedtke Enterprises was a distributor of aluminum hand rails and accessories for homes, headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In the late ’60s, Luedtke moved the business to Bloomer, Wisconsin, and sold the business to Alan Buckman and Jerry Peterson, businessmen who saw the company as an opportunity and renamed it AJ Enterprises Inc. However, they tried to expand too quickly, purchasing a Michigan-based door manufacturing company, but the business floundered, and Peterson soon left. Buckman carried on.
In the late ’90s, the company was spread thin and undercapitalized, and Buckman sold to Dale Hanson and Steve Larson. They came from the steel service center industry, but they had a vision for the company, refocusing on quality and efficiency. Serving the markets of post-frame and storm doors, they nurtured innovation, increasing value propositions and style in their product line. This focus on quality, innovation, and on-time delivery provided the foundation for years of growth and success.
When Steve and Dale retired in the early 2000s, they sold the business to a private equity firm, an ownership group with extensive experience in B2B. The new management team proved invaluable in helping them focus and refine their product line. They discontinued products, such as storm doors, from which people only required a few colors and attributes, and which were available easily and cheaply from overseas suppliers.
Installing EZ-v® Trim on Harmony™ Vinyl Windows
AJ matches over 200 colors for post-frame doors and windows.
Emergency Exit Doors for Air Supported Structures (Domes).
“We don’t just manufacture doors and windows; we build ideas,” said Todd Carlson, President of AJ Manufacturing.
The leadership’s new vision moved them to the “build to order” model, a one-piece work flow. This means they developed a family of products with many choices, such as a variety of colors and features, so the end user receives an item that is not truly custom, but which feels unique due to the variety of attributes they can choose from.
The company also moved into new markets including HVAC and refrigeration equipment doors and wall panels. Manufacturers including Johnson Controls, and Carrier became customers. The company also produced doors for air-supported structures such as sports centers and football domes.
President Todd Carlson said that they have customers that have stayed with them for 45 years through all the changes and evolutions. He attributes that to a non-negotiable tenet that the company has been true to from the beginning: exceptional customer care.
Challenges and Opportunities
In 2008, the business climate was highly competitive, and the company decided one area of expansion was to provide a range of door models to meet the various needs of the builders and end users. Out of this challenge came the Responder Series. These new, heavy-duty doors were no longer created with aluminum, that was replaced with formed metal, providing a lower cost for the same aesthetic with a simpler manufacturing process. This was all in response to customer needs, but it ended up adding to their efficiency and ability to compete.
A more recent challenge that exemplifies the team’s commitment to customer care was their reaction to the COVID 19 related service lapses. They set their greatest priority on maintaining relationships and responsibilities to the customers they were partners with. While some may have expanded their reach during this period, they concentrated on being there for the people that depended on them.
The HVAC industry has high product performance and variability of feature expectations, and to ensure that customer service doesn’t slip, the company has a system in place to resolve customers’ problems. They get to the root, develop solutions, and get it taken care of.
“Because of the quality and care we offer, we are generally not the lowest up front cost,” Carlson said, “but often we are the lowest installed cost, based on our excellent packaging, heavy duty materials, and design elements that reduce the risk of project delays or returns to site for adjustment.”
Today, the post-frame industry is about half their business. They have seen it struggle with challenges including the short supply of skilled workers, and they have seen it persevere and grow nevertheless. The industry’s sophistication has risen, making post-frame a more varied and viable construction option. For that reason, there are many more opportunities for innovation and expansion in the industry. As the first to commit to manufacturing of vinyl windows and the patented EZ-v trim system, AJ has been a leader in the industry with products that complement post-frame design and performance. AJ offers nearly 250 colors of painted vinyl windows, wrapped finishes for some colors, and the industry’s best packaging for successful delivery and jobsite protection of the product.
Success
Carlson said their success is due to the company culture. “Employees know they have a voice, that we have shared values of honesty and a desire to solve problems. They also know that drama is not tolerated.”
Everyone is treated with respect and is expected to respect others in return as they express different viewpoints or offer suggestions.
The company celebrates employees’ contributions, starting with years of service. Many have had 20- or 30-year anniversaries and recently an employee achieved 51 years of service.
Of course, some of the credit of a successful company is also due to vendors who function as partners, and Carlson thanks the exceptional suppliers they work with.
Advice
Look to your predecessor for information and insights, Carlson said. Especially if you are new to the industry, be curious and ask lots of questions. As a worker or a business, it is hard to replace all that knowledge if people don’t share it before they move on. Documentation doesn’t capture all the insights these people have to offer Carlson added.
“Younger people tend to want to send an email instead of getting out there and talking to people,” Carlson said. “If you put yourself out there, jump in and talk to others in the industry, you will learn more and make more connections, you will be better off,” he added.
Carlson and team have also learned that they are nimble enough to make working remote successful for them. Engineering found that the robust computer systems they used could just as well be used from home. The whole staff found that they could stay in touch and get the information they needed through Team meetings. Obviously not every position can be done from home, but giving employees whose jobs can be completed remotely that choice is another perk that helps make many people happy.
Finally if you have a problem, admit it, and get input from others. Seek help from other professionals in the industry or educators. Be nimble and use whatever resources you can find to resolve the problem. Meanwhile remember nothing is forever; mistakes can be corrected.
Future Opportunities and Challenges
Product development and market expansion is where Carlson sees the most opportunity for the company. He looks to something adjacent to what they already do, a path that has been successful for them in the past.
“If 50% of the new project is familiar, whether that is the materials used or the industry in which we are working, we can develop what is needed,” Carlson said.
For example, Carlson said that adjacent to the industrial HVAC market they work in they discovered the need for data centers used for Cloud storage. The market is growing rapidly, so many doors are required for these spaces. The doors must be designed to keep the conditioned air inside to maintain computer efficiency. Carlson’s team found that they could start with the basic Access doors and modify them to meet the ever-changing performance needs of this industry.
The biggest challenge Carlson believes AJ Manufacturing faces is one they have faced many times before: managing new growth without compromising current customers because they come first. One thing he says they have going for them is they don’t assume they have all the answers or that they have to figure it all out on their own. They are always glad to learn, and they take advantage of the University of Wisconsin-Stout, the Poly-Technic College, and Business Outreach to educate their people and keep up with technology. A couple of other things that work in their favor: a dynamic team that cares about their work and a long history of great customer care that they are determined to live up to.
