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Dec
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2014
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Posted 10 years 17 days ago ago by Admin
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It was not what I was expecting. When I showed up at Spectrum Aeromed’s 17,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Fargo, North Dakota, on a crisp, cool spring morning, I anticipated my initial tour and first interview to be with owner and CEO Dean Atchison. Instead, it was with longtime employee Matt Christenson, the company’s vice president and an account executive. Not disappointed at all with my first interview, I expected that I would perhaps be interviewing the CEO next.
As it turned out, Atchison was not the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth … or even seventh interview in the line. This struck me as curious at the time, but when I finally got the chance to interview him at the end of the day, I started getting the picture. His decision to go last—if at all—was indicative of his business style. It’s most likely why the company has seen such tremendous success since he took over in 2007.
Humility (hyoo-militee) noun - A modest view of one’s own importance, humbleness
Atchison, a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur, told me that he gets enough attention during the normal course of business. After all, his company made the Inc. 5000 fastest growing company list in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and the U.S. Small Business Administration named him North Dakota Small Business Person of the Year. However, he said that since the success of his company was mostly attributed to the outstanding work of Spectrum Aeromed’s people, they should be the ones in this story’s spotlight. In truth, Atchison did not want me writing about him, but I couldn’t help it . . . sorry, Dean.
Humble Beginnings
In 1991, Spectrum Aeromed got its start in the tiny town of Wheaton, Minnesota, a town that could almost pass for Garrison Keillor’s town that time forgot, Lake Wobegon, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average." However, Wheaton is more modestly known as “the land of ducks.” At that time, the company was primarily focused on carving out a niche market building modular medical interiors for fixed-wing aircraft (specifically, multi-mission airplanes). In the early days, traditional charter operators considered aeromedical flights a supplemental revenue stream. Since most flights were passenger charter flights, there was a need to convert a passenger configuration to an aeromedical transport configuration, and back again in short order. The modular EMS interior was the answer, and that would become the focus of the young Spectrum Aeromed.
Modular vs. Customized: Where’s the Value?
In multi-role aircraft (or multi-aircraft operations) it is critical to be able to quickly reconfigure an aircraft (or pull equipment out of one aircraft and plug it into another on the fly). Modular components are a large part of Spectrum Aeromed’s business. According to Chief Engineer Justin Mahler, the company holds over 70 STCs in 400 different aircraft.
In the last decade, Spectrum Aeromed has leveraged its lean AS9100 quality manufacturing system, engineering strength—and an exceptional desire to listen to each customer—into a full-blown customized aeromedical interior company. From single-engine Cessnas to 747 airplanes owned by heads of state, and from Bell 206s to Airbus Super Puma helicopters, there is no job too large or small for Spectrum Aeromed when it comes to aeromedical interiors.
Ricky Reno, vice president and account representative of military and government initiatives at the company, explains how they are ideally suited to serve their customers. “The company is large enough, technical enough, and experienced enough to handle most any project. At the same time, with only 33 employees and a hyper-culture of teamwork, it is flexible enough to quickly maneuver around the needs of the customer without them getting lost in a big company system.”
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AS9100 – So What?
AS 9100 … lean manufacturing … those are important sounding terms. What exactly do they mean? More importantly, what do they mean to the average helicopter operator? Simply put, AS9100 is a certified manufacturing process that forces a company to take a hard, realistic look in the mirror. Its goal is to identify bottlenecks in the manufacturing chain, to standardize processes, and to create new efficiencies that maximize production. What this means in practice is having a system in place that virtually guarantees Spectrum Aeromed can produce what it says it will produce, in a time frame that it promises to the customer, at a high quality standard. The math is simple: Quality Products + Efficient Delivery = Happy Customers☺
According to Christenson, “The impetus for becoming AS9100 certified, in the first place, revolved around a pain point that is very common to the aviation interiors business: on-time delivery—or lack thereof.” As Spectrum Aeromed met new customers, especially in the helicopter industry, there was common frustration with many installation companies and their lack of desire to deliver products on time.
Rammie Olson is Spectrum Aeromed’s project coordinator. Once a sale is made, it’s her job to carry it through engineering, production, delivery, and installation. To reinforce how seriously the company takes AS9100 and on-time delivery from sale to installation, she explains, “We completely understand that if we do not finish a client’s project on time, not only will their aircraft not be saving lives, but it may be costing them real money. No operator wants their helicopter sitting in the hangar for weeks or months, not turning revenue. We have to put ourselves in the client’s shoes at every turn in the process.”
From Loss to Growth
Atchison’s background in business banking led him to identify Spectrum Aeromed as an opportunity in 2007. That said, there were certainly risks when he purchased the business in 2007. It was on the brink of bankruptcy. “We were literally a month or two away from turning off the lights and locking the doors,” he says.
Atchison knew the family who started and built the business. The first owner was actually an airplane pilot who found himself flying rag-tag EMS flights with no real standards, experience, or special equipment. In his quest to create a better way to perform EMS flights with airplanes, the founder lived the cliché “necessity is the mother of invention,” by starting Spectrum Aeromed.
When considering purchasing the business, Atchison completely believed in the product, the team, and the market opportunity. Still, at that time it lacked vision, investment capital, and the necessary discipline to reach the next level. Since purchasing Spectrum Aeromed just six-and-a-half years ago, Atchison says the company has doubled its revenue three times.
Even though 80% of its business is international, Spectrum Aeromed still sees business abroad as its greatest opportunity. COO Chad Kost points out that as emerging helicopter markets such as China, India, and Latin America adopt helicopter air ambulance as part of their public services, demand will grow for medical interiors and equipment. With sales reps abroad, it has the ability to be active in the eastern world and capture some of that emerging business as it develops. Kost also indicates that the company is heavily focusing on military customers and larger fleet operators.
Being the Best
A tiny, family-owned company that started selling a handful of airplane aeromedical interiors in the early ‘90s has now carved out a growth curve for itself. In less than a decade, the upstart Spectrum Aeromed has impacted a sector dominated by a couple of major players.
Atchison’s stated goal is to become the best aeromedical interior equipment company in the world. So I asked him the obvious question: When will you know that has occurred? Once again humble, he elaborated, “I don’t think we will ever be able to make that claim, only our customers can determine that. All we can do is work hard at being the best for every customer. For us, it’s really not about the destination; it’s about the journey.”
Like Lake Wobegon, Spectrum Aeromed may just be that Midwestern place where everyone is above average.
