|
|
|
An Open and Shut
Case of Success
Innovation and expansion keys to
Bilco's longevity
|
Business New Haven
1/11/1999
By: Susan Banfield
|
The spirit of Yankee ingenuity and invention was at the heart of the Bilco Co.'s initial success manufacturing basement doors back in the 1930s.
Founder George Lyons observed that wooden bulkhead doors rotted and needed frequent repair and replacement, and so determined to introduce a metal door to the market. The product quickly became a steady seller.
That same spirit of invention has been key to the company's continuing success down through the years right into the 1990s. The engineering department at Bilco has to date
developed dozens of new products, many of which have been patented. These have each filled a special need for a certain type of horizontal door, from emergency evacuation doors in subways to the sidewalk hatches common to downtown New Haven.
In 1926 George W. Lyons Sr. opened an iron shop on Halleck Avenue in New Haven, where he made custom ornamental wrought-iron pieces. An inventor, Lyons was eager to develop a product he could mass-produce.
In 1936 he hit upon an idea for a metal basement door. He obtained patents for certain features on his door and began turning out several hundred a year. During the war years, the business “hunkered down and crawled along,” says current president Robert Lyons Jr. After the war, however, Lyons' four sons all got involved in the business and began to expand the product line, introducing roof hatches and other architectural products.
By the early 1950s, the company was doing so well it had outgrown its Halleck Avenue quarters and moved across the water to its current facility on Water Street in West Haven.
Bilco continued to grow apace throughout the 1960s and '70s. By the late '70s two issues confronted the company: the need for more space (the Water Street footprint could be expanded no further) and the rising cost of doing business in the Northeast.
Management viewed the acquisition of a satellite plant with a nationally central location as the solution to both problems, and in 1979 purchased a small plant in Trumann, Ark. Originally just 6,000 square feet, with six employees, today the Trumann facility is 70,000 square feet, employs a workforce of 65, and accounts for 40 percent of Bilco's production. “The Trumann plant has worked out fabulously for us,” says Robert Lyons.
In 1993 Bilco further expanded its operations by entering into a contractual agreement with a manufacturing firm in Juarez, Mexico to have some of the company's standard architectural products made there. Although quality-control was initially a concern, it has turned out not to be an issue, says Lyons. “The management [in Juarez] is outstanding.” Today, approximately 20 percent of Bilco's products are manufactured in Mexico.
This expansion of Bilco's manufacturing facilities is a reflection of Robert Lyons Jr.'s philosophy of how an established company can remain successful: “Expand the business in order to grow the business.” In fact, expanding the company's facilities has been just a part of the steady expansion Bilco has undergone in the course of its nearly 75-year history.
The company's product line has undergone steady expansion as well. Explains Lyons, “When you find your products are getting somewhat mature, the response is to reinvest in the business in terms of product development - seek new products and new features that can be added in terms of product improvement.”
Today, the wide array of specialty access products Bilco sells to architects account for about two-thirds of its revenues. Many of these products have special features which make them unique to the market. They include large subway emergency evacuation doors counterweighted so that even a child can open them, the only floor hatch in the world with a UR2L fire rating, acoustical fire vents for theaters that also inhibit noise intrusion, a flood-tight door that remains watertight even under 25 feet of water, and many others.
While there are other companies in the country that also make the types of architectural products Bilco does, “no one else designs and engineers to the degree we do,” says Lyons. The company currently holds 17 U.S. patents and several international patents.
Another route to product-line expansion which Bilco has only recently begun to explore is that of externally sourced new products. Last fall the company acquired a firm that makes basement window wells. Viewing these as an obvious complement to Bilco basement doors, the company hopes to market the two together as part of “the better-living basement.”
Another important aspect of expanding and growing the company has been expansion of markets. For some time, Bilco has dominated the domestic market for both basement doors and roof access hatches, and has had a substantial share of the sidewalk hatch market.
During the most recent decade, the company has undertaken a major push into international markets. In 1989 it opened a marketing and distribution branch in London, Ontario to sell and distribute to the Canadian market. It has also established a subsidiary in the United Kingdom, and has used this as a base for gaining a foothold in the European market.
Today, Bilco distributes its products in Ireland, the BeNeLux nations and Spain, and is looking to enter the German and Swedish markets. In addition, Bilco now has distribution agreements in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, as well as reps in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. “The percentage of international business is growing every year,” says Lyons.
While a focus on expansion has certainly been central to Bilco's success, it wouldn't be right to overlook the human quotient in the equation. Since its beginnings, Bilco has been a family-owned business. George Lyons Sr. worked for the company until his late 80s (he died in 1988 at the age of 93). His four sons were all active in the business for decades, with Robert Lyons Sr., Bilco's vice president of engineering, continuing his father's pattern of invention. Today, both President Robert Lyons Jr. and vice president Roger Joyce are members of the family's third generation.
The workers in West Haven also comprise a family of sorts, one which Bob Lyons Jr. credits with much of the company's success. While 60 percent of Bilco's manufacturing is now done outside Connecticut, all basement door assembly and the manufacture of most of the specialty items, which require close coordination between engineering and the plant floor, remain in West Haven. Workers are members of Ironworkers Local 832.
“We've been successful also by virtue of the people we've had here,” Lyons says, “some by virtue of a specific contribution, others by virtue of continued hard work, and tremendous generosity and concern for the larger community.” Lyons is proud of his employees' recognition for highest per-capita giving to the Greater New Haven United Way for the past three years.
A real family business, with a tradition of New England craftsmanship and inventiveness - this has been Bilco's recipe for enduring success.
|
Go FirstGo PreviousGo
NextGo LastGo
to Index
|
|
