SERVICE NETWORK, INC CELEBRATES TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE TO OUR CUSTOMERS

In 1984, 67 employees were eligible for early retirement from the Heald Division of Cincinnati Milacron, a manufacturer of internal and external grinders. Edward Camp was one. "I had to consider whether or not to retire early, and what my post-retirement options were", he says. "I could tend to the vegetable garden, write a novel or renovate an old house." But Camp quickly ruled them all out.

Instead, he came up with an idea that would use the skills, experience and knowledge of the other Heald retirees. That idea turned into a venture that now uses seasoned staff to design, service and manufacture precision-grinding machines on an international level.

During 1984, with an initial capital investment of $2,000 and the use of his home telephone line, Camp began Service Network Inc. (SNI), in Princeton, Mass. He began by forming a network of people who could provide expert, on-site services to customers' plants as independent contractors and, as Camp explains, "could offer knowledge and experience with Heald machines."

With this network established, Camp began taking calls from engineers and managers from various plants, requesting on-site service for their Heald machinery. After reviewing each service request, Camp recruited his fellow retirees and, after determining who was most appropriate for each assignment based on their areas of expertise, sent them out to provide field service work. During its first year, SNI saw revenues of $65,000. A need was identified in the market, and Camp fulfilled it. Not bad for a first year of retirement.

When the company successfully moved into its second year, Camp decided to move the office into a new location. Service Network headquarters moved out of Camp's home and into "SNI Towers". "It was just an office above my garage," Camp says. He began receiving more and more calls for on-site service and the need to provide more extensive service. As the number of requests grew, so did the company and so did sales. The company began hiring more employees and during its second year, Service Network's revenues grew to $450,000.

"I realized that it would be a great benefit to the customer if Service Network could expand on its ability to service old machines," says Camp. "I believed that my staff could provide more than on-site servicing, so we began taking our customer's existing Heald machines and rebuilding them. This process lowered their equipment costs and improved their production capabilities." SNI needed somewhere for the rebuilding operations to take place, so Camp rented factory space in Auburn, Massachusetts, and at this new site, the company began rebuilding machines.

"Our reputation grew strictly by word-of-mouth and experience as one company shared its experience with another," Camp says. "We have never advertised or had any PR opportunities, until now." The early to mid'-90s were excellent years for industry and for manufacturers of bearings, which have the highest concentration of internal grinding components. Service Network remained steadily busy. To take advantage of these prosperous years, Service Network more than doubled its work force.

"SNI's employees are my best source," Camp says. "Together they clock more than 1,000 man-years of experience with Heald machinery."

This strong foundation of staff, experience and resources enabled SNI to expand its level of service. Camp, convinced that his staff could improve customers' existing machines, implemented a modernization program. "The aim," Camp explains," was to bring the machinery up to date by rebuilding it with up to 85 percent new parts and giving it 21st century capabilities".

The extensive line of services offered by SNI, from replacing parts to modernizing equipment, was a huge success for the company. During one year, SNI grew by 72 percent, and in another, it saw revenues grow 3 to 5 times. "Through this time of extensive growth," Camp says, "we had difficulty keeping up with customer requests and deliveries."

But there came a time when Service Network reached capacity and, like many others in the industrial sector, it began to feel the hard times that were approaching. Even the Heald Machine Company folded to the pressure, shutting down in 1992. While many companies closed their doors or changed hands, SNI's response to the industrial slump was to expand its services further. In addition to on-site repair and maintenance, and off-site rebuilding, the company expanded to fill the gap by manufacturing its own proprietary line of grinding machines. The SN- I and SN-E series of machines was born.

The philosophy behind Service Network's manufacturing process is quite different from that of many OEMs. Rather than making everything from start to finish, the company outsources a great deal of work to people in the surrounding community. "Many of the manufactured parts and purchased components needed to create the final product are brought from local vendors," Camp says. "It brings $5 million to $6 million into the local community."

Service Network also likes to view it's manufacturing and sales relationships with its customers as "partnerships." "We have always kept the "service" in Service Network as our number one priority", Camp says. "We will do whatever it takes to help our customers to succeed."

Service Network now manufactures internal diameter (ID), outside diameter (OD) and rotary surface grinding machines, and has moved to a new facility at 243 Stafford Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The company now has international customers: Equipment and services have been sold to companies throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.

For the future, SNI is developing a prototype for a new machine called the Intelligent Grinding System (IGS), due to be in production toward the end of this year. "The IGS will be incorporated into SNI's new ID and OD grinders, which have already been purchased by several companies: they have entered into multiple-machine contracts to span the course of the next two to three years," Camp says.

"The advantage of the IGS is the ability to control the sensitivity of the machine, which cuts grinding time by half. For those companies that produce ball bearings, 30 percent of the cost of manufacturing is in the internal grinding stage.

"The IGS will result in this stage, taking up only 15 percent of the manufacturing process." Thus filling another need in the industry, the machine will help companies lower their production costs and also the price to the customer-thereby substantially increasing market share and profits.

As one of just two manufacturers of new internal grinding systems still in operation in the United States, Camp says that Service Network realistically anticipates a profitable future; it is predicted that the company will increase sales considerably in just four or five years. While the change and growth are welcomed by the company's leader, there are factors that contribute to the success of Service Network Inc. that must remain consistent.

"The willingness to service customers on their own terms is one of those factors," says Camp. "Determining the type of service to provide is strictly based on the customer's needs, and that is an integral part of the SNI-customer partnership. We firmly believe in and uphold our responsibility to the customer and to the integrity of the company."

Looking ahead, Camp is confident that the company will continue to be efficient in its production and innovative in its manufacturing. "SNI will continue to be managed under a lean, effective executive staff, who will continue to demand a high level of skill from our employees," Camp says. We will continue to grow, but most importantly, we will continue to offer services determined by our customers' needs, such as tooling design, machine servicing, machine and parts repair, rebuilding, training and the manufacture of new machines," he says.