“Everyone here has a curiosity and a focus on helping people,” he says. Mechdyne has made a couple of acquisitions over its 19-year history, including a competitor in the visualization space in 2003 and a software company in 2006.
Growing through acquisition isn’t a primary strategy for Mechdyne, but “we’re always open to opportunities that make sense,” says Hancock. One lesson they’ve learned in their limited forays into acquisition is “culture trumps everything,” he says.
“When doing acquisitions, people due diligence outweighs financial due diligence by an order of magnitude,” says Clover. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Hire for attitude and culture fit and then train for skill. Promote from within whenever possible. If you can hire great people, treat them as you would want to be treated, and get them in the right seats on the bus; the odds of success go up exponentially regardless of economic, technological, or market uncertainty.
“Our key competitive advantage is the great people we’ve hired and in turn the great culture they’ve helped to build over the years. Our small-town, Midwestern roots keep us grounded, humble, and focused on our customers’ success knowing that if we help them succeed, we will as well,” says Clover.
Partners in Innovation
Extron has been working with Mechdyne for more than 15 years, on projects for the military, medical, education and aerospace vertical markets, says Extron vice president of business development Art Garcia.
“In many ways, they pioneered simulation and visualization,” says Garcia, noting Mechdyne’s work is “in the forefront for many industries.”
“They have a desire to do things right or not do them at all,” he says, noting he has “a high level of affinity for Mechdyne’s drive for customer satisfaction.”
Digital Projection Inc. (DPI) has a partnership with Mechdyne that goes back at least a decade, starting with a meeting between Hancock and DPI president and CEO Mike Levi at a tradeshow.
They’ve worked together on myriad types of projects, with about half of them concentrated in the categories of visualization, oil and gas, automotive and colleges and universities. The other half of their work spans several markets, including retail and corporate. Mechdyne is “outstanding among the channel,” says Levi.
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“They’re an engineering-driven company and they do a great job of understanding what a customer’s needs are and how to solve their problems. Most integrators are working with customers who need more mainstream solutions, but that’s definitely not what they’re doing.”
One interesting dynamic between Mechdyne and DPI, says Levi, is how “they’ve been great at helping us with our product line road map discussion. If we listen carefully to what Mechdyne says, we might pick up on a trend.”
One such example was when Mechdyne continually pushed DPI to develop its first Titan 3D projectors, says Levi. Mechdyne officials talked about 3D projectors for about 18 months before DPI developed its first one, and first mentioned the need for 4K projectors five or six years ago, he says, and DPI is working to bring down the prices on its 4K projectors.
“We knew, based on their depth of understanding of 3D projectors and their enthusiasm about them, they had some insight we didn’t,” says Levi. The companies have calls scheduled every two weeks, he says. That comes largely from Levi’s support of Hancock’s belief that “80 percent of all problems are related to communication.”
Developing an International Flair
While many startups would be happy to work on projects in their city or town, state or region, another way Mechdyne has separated itself from the crowd is by spending a large portion of its time on international work.
Hancock estimates at least 25 percent and as much of half of the company’s work is done overseas, starting with its first project for Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute in 1999.
“We like to solve problems. It doesn’t matter where they are,” says Hancock.
Most of the international work comes in western Europe, the Middle East and Asia, but Mechdyne has done installations on every content except Antarctica. But don’t even rule the frozen continent out. In the spirit of friendly competition and the company’s desire to embrace the impossible, Mechdyne has a fund set aside for its sales team for whatever member can close a deal in Antarctica to give Mechdyne truly global reach.
