These days the spin on business at Philipsburg-based centrifuge manufacturer Drucker Co. comes from listening to a customer–and a commitment to innovation that landed the company’s largest contract in 76 years.
Six years ago, as a struggling seller of laboratory centrifuges, Drucker pitched its fixed-angle centrifuge–a “me-too” product, in the words of Operations Vice President Ken Moscone–to Quest Diagnostics, the largest clinical reference lab in the world.
“They just about laughed us out of the building,” Moscone says.
Before the door struck their keisters, however, Moscone and his father heard the Quest rep voice a wish for a horizontal centrifuge priced under $200. Drucker had no such product, and no other manufacturer offered it for less than $2,000. Hearing the offhand knock of opportunity, “that was the day we became a market-driven enterprise,” he says.
Heavy investment in R&D soon gave Drucker the device, and its patented design stimulated a widespread conversion to it in labs throughout the United States. Drucker’s revenues jumped–above $4 million after remaining close to $1.5 million for nearly a decade.
At first, Quest placed a cautious order–for 15,000 centrifuges. Then, in April, Quest opened a purchase order for 150,000 horizontal centrifuges. Moscone values the contract at $26 million.
He anticipates that other customers will see the value in Drucker’s product as well. Meanwhile, Drucker is automating its assembly line and expects to expand its work force, now at 110 people. The company has six openings for staff to manage product quality for regulatory standards and in design, sales, and marketing. Up to 9 hires also may be needed in 2009 for assembly and shipping.
Source: Drucker, Ken Moscone
Writer: Joseph Plummer
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