Creating New Markets
Recently, Eastern Transmission of has assembled specialty kits to compete with scrap yards and has taken on specialty repairs to develop new areas of expertise. Moreover, the business has become a distributor of Raybestos Powertrain parts, adding value not only as a separate venture but also as a user of the company’s products, said Stephen Svetliza, who spoke for his brother Andrew and father Marcelo. The shop is in St. Laurent, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal.
Hayden: Cool Stuff
As for the transmission builder, Miller points out that the transmission being rebuilt has already failed under the conditions the vehicle owner puts the car through. It would only make sense that a heat failure should be addressed by decreasing the possibility of such future failures.
Foresighted, Loyal to Industry & Family
Pete Attashian strives to elevate his transmission shop to “new-generation” status, expanding his reach, cultivating the best employees, making the most of current marketing and research techniques.
Raybestos: Extending the Brand
A few years ago Transmission Digest reported on the acquisition of Raybestos Powertrain and sister company, Allomatic Products, by the Monomoy Capital Partners Group. Since that time a management team has been assembled and a company with long history in both OE and aftermarket segments of the powertrain industry has continued to develop and bring to market friction clutch plates and related product lines.
Dartco: Big Units – Big Business
“Dartco serves about 2,500 different customers over the course of a year. Of that we have 300-400 who are consistent customers; those who are ordering on a daily or weekly basis from us,” explains the company’s CEO, J.R. Sellars.
Transmissions, Nothing Else
“I rebuilt my first transmission when I was 15 years old, and I pulled my first one out when I was 9, an old Powerglide. My dad might have helped me a little bit, but for the most part I did it myself,” David said. “So I’ve been around the shop. That’s all I’ve ever done.” David said.
Precision International: All In The Bag
Marshall observes that sales, purchasing and development teams are all focused on putting the orders and the means to fulfill those orders together so that the plant can produce just what customers are wanting, just when the customers wants it and at a price the customers are happy with.
Sonnax: Innovative Synergy
Within the past few months, Sonnax has been busy expanding its corporate campus, acquiring a third building that has been renovated to house the company’s product managers, product support team and development engineers. The pairing of engineers and product line managers wasn’t accidental but rather a strategic reflection of a reorganization of company structure a couple of years back. Sonnax Senior Vice President of Product Development.
The Importance of Doing What’s Right
G&M Farnsworth Transmissions, Amarillo, Texas
Consolidated Vehicle Converters: Heavyweight Contenders
Consolidated Vehicle Converters, Inc. (CVC) founder Julie Maynard-Turner says she didn’t set out to create the large-scale torque converter remanufacturing operation that the company has become. She remembers her start-up in April of 1996 with herself & one employee. Soon afterwards, her sister Marcia Maynard-Prugh joined the effort, to be followed later by her brother-in-law Tim Prugh. After a brief absence from the industry her father, John Maynard, a pioneer in the converter rebuilding industry, also came on board. “At age 84 he still comes into the plant every day and is a vital part of our management team and we’ve all adopted his work ethics,” she recalls.
RPM Transmissions: Pure Power
Explains RPM founder Rodney Massengale, “We’ve been in this facility for about 5 years. The building originally housed a theater for live performances. It had a wooden stage and theater seats. We worked on renovations, like putting in overhead doors and all, for about six months and then moved in. It seemed like a lot of space at the time, but we’re out of room again. Beyond what’s here we have storage facilities – all of them full – including a building outside that was originally supposed to be single-purposed for a chassis dyno. Now we use if for storage too.”
Jasper Engines and Transmissions: Adapting And Evolving
“We are constantly adapting or adopting procedures that will improve our productivity, hold the line on cost, and by application of those procedures we increase the overall value to the customer.”
