by Lina Martinez
Every now and then come along companies that change the game in their respective industries. It’s always worth looking at what they are doing and where they excel to judge your own company’s success. Who knows? Maybe one of these companies might even have the product your current company needs.
Calhoun Super Structures
Calhoun Super Structures is a Canadian manufacturer that excels at building and erecting large fabric structures. The applications for these types of structures range from mining to equestrian centers or even warehousing.
Calhoun is a model in offering their customers flexibility from a platform that basic enough to react quickly. A single product of steel and industrial fabric can be tailored to multiple industries and engineered to fit its application. The company can then send teams to erect the fabric structures or assist a client that wishes handle the process themselves.
Along with this flexibility comes speed of execution. A singular product line allows for quick response and deployment. Time means money for their clients and a Calhoun super structure is designed to be in place quickly.
Calhoun is a model of flexibility and speed due to a singular focus. The lesson for businesses is that focusing on simplification of product can lead to better results and greater success.
Northern Mat & Bridge
Northern Mat & Bridge is a company operating in the industrial sphere of access solutions in harsh terrain for industries in construction, mining, pipeline, renewable energy, oil and gas, forestry and emergency response. Their products include industrial mats and temporary bridges. By mats, these are not like a mat you walk on, but an actual structure designed to be laid down to facilitate the movement of heavy equipment over harsh terrain.
Working in the heavy industry space, Northern Mat & Bridge sets a standard in a different sphere of business; stewardship. A company that provides and deploys products to the areas they serve, might benefit from taking the easy route, but Northern Mat & Bridge has focused on strong environmental stewardship instead. They focus heavily on reduced environmental impact through recycling and reusing. Their conservation focus means sourcing renewable resources while also working with their wood suppliers to support re-forestation initiatives. These initiatives, while costly at times, have been key to Northern Mat & Bridge’s success.
The lesson here is that stewardship of the communities in which a business operates shouldn’t be optional. While many companies may wish to take short cuts and save money, it is the companies that do what is right that always become the most successful.
Librestream
Our last company, Librestream, offers a product in the industrial space that can only be described as cool. The company makes wearables connected through the Internet of Things that can connect the employee in the field to experts elsewhere for guidance. These wearables, called Onsight, include head mounted micro tablets and smart glasses, allow the remote support person to see what is going on and even utilize tools such as thermal imaging.
Like our other examples, Librestream is a company that provides solutions across many industries with their innovative product line.
So where did this amazing product line come from? Well the company was formed in 2003 with a vision of using new technologies powering digital cameras as a way to empower workers that need to inspect or maintain assets around the world. They new that such a product line would minimize downtime and result in better communication. The product line has continued to progress for 15 years by sticking to a singular focus.
The lesson for companies here is that once a company finds a problem that needs to be solved, sticking to that original initiative will allow them to progress with a product or service that is continually refined. Maintaining a focused approach can create amazing results. Your company needn’t change everything in the world, just the problem it set out to solve in the first place.
By integrating the general lessons of each of these amazing companies, your company can prosper. Remember, be simple and flexible, committed to doing the right thing and always maintain the focus on the problem your company set out to solve in the first place. These three tenants will lead to amazing success.