Spotlight

Don't put Square Pegs in Round Holes: Business Models Prevail

Listening to customers and providing what they want never goes out of style.  That’s the core of AdvanceTEC’s “open market” approach.

Have you ever been in a store and the salesperson was so focused on what he wanted to sell you that it didn’t matter what you really wanted or needed?  They didn’t bother to ask questions, or if they did, they ignored any of your answers that didn’t fit with what they were trying to sell you.  The reality was that the one product they had didn’t even fit your needs, but that didn’t stop them from trying to force-fit what they had on the shelf.  We hear that there’s a lot of this going on in the cleanroom market.  Customers are told “these are the walls and walkable ceilings we make – if you don’t buy them there must be something wrong with you.”  Really?

It’s bad enough when it’s a coffee maker or a HDTV, but so much worse when it’s a cleanroom – something your business plan is dependent upon.  At AdvanceTEC, we have a simple but very different business model – listen to the customer and provide all the options that fit their requirements.  We call this our “open market” approach.   We don’t make a product, so we don’t try to force fit something onto your business.  It may sound old fashioned, but we believe that listening to our customers and providing what they want never goes out of style.  To illustrate, let me tell you about a customer experience.

Recently, we began working with a leading pharmaceutical company.  Up front, we spent our time listening to their requirements, business objectives and past cleanroom project experiences.  We made sure that we understood what was most important them.  Based on our understanding of their requirements, we led a technical and commercial evaluation of all the systems and solutions that best addressed their applications. This process included full scale mock ups of the top solutions so the customer could see, touch and feel things first hand and select what worked best for them.

Since AdvanceTEC takes this open market approach, we are able to select and provide the very best options for our customers, at the best cost.  We’re not a product manufacturer, we are design builder – so we don’t have our own system (square peg) that we have to force onto your project.    Our approach is so simple, yet so powerful – just do what’s best for the customer and the project.  As for the company in this example, they decided that AdvanceTEC was best for their project.

At the end of the day, it is your business and your requirements.  We’re not here to tell you how to run your business; we’re here to help you be successful.

Bryan Phelan
Managing Partner, AdvanceTEC

2 – 4 – 6 – 8 – Who do we appreciate?

It’s a fun slogan.  Everyone knows it, we all cheered it as kids – and  although we didn’t chant it, it was at the heart of our recent contractor appreciation luncheon at our Millennium Science Complex project for Penn State University, honoring our subcontractors for their commitment to safety, quality, and teamwork.  Thanks to all of them, our project is on schedule and meeting all evaluation targets.  There was no red carpet, but the sentiment of this luncheon was clear; we value our suppliers and subcontractors and wanted to thank them for their efforts on this very important project.

At AdvanceTEC, we believe in building strong relationships with our suppliers and subcontractors.  We strive to do this in all our interactions with them – not just a BBQ lunch.  We believe our team members  deserve our respect.  We make it easy for them to do business with us, and work with them to solve problems that arise… and, we pay them on time.

If you’re a client reading this, you may be wondering why you should care?  Well, I believe how we work with and treat our subcontractors and suppliers plays a key role in the cost, quality and overall success of your project.  Let me explain.  Our suppliers and subcontractors know they can count on us, and they like working with us.  Because of this, AdvanceTEC consistently receives the most competitive bids, accompanied with the most talented teams.    We also have direct relationships with their management teams, both for day to day operations and to rapidly resolve problems together.  We find we get the best quality teams, because their employees like being assigned to our projects.  At the end of the day, their overall execution is better because we provide clear consistent instruction, leadership and expectations.

So why don’t all of our competitors treat their suppliers and subcontractors with this level of respect?  I don’t know.  This is just how we think business should be done….

A Season of Giving: Supporting the Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree

While it has been a tough year for many, AdvanceTEC has been fortunate in 2010.  We have been blessed with wonderful clients, exceptional employees and steady referral business.  It is with this realization that we pause to give back.  This season, AdvanceTEC and our employees are lending our support as a corporate sponsor of the Salvation Army’s Angel Giving Tree program.

The Angel Giving Tree program seeks to make the Holidays a little brighter for children in need, by granting their Christmas wishes for toys or clothing.  Our AdvanceTEC employees wholeheartedly got behind this worthy cause.  We have 100% participation from our employees, which is allowing us to serve nearly three times the children than we have employees.  If you would like more information on this program or would like to help, please contact your local Salvation Army, or ask an AdvanceTEC employee.

AdvanceTEC, like many companies, has a corporate philosophy of giving back to our community.  To me, however, the true measure is not just in a philosophy, but in how that philosophy is lived out by a company and its employees.  I could not be more proud our team at AdvanceTEC.  They truly embraced the challenge of supporting this wonderful Angel Giving Tree program, and amazed me with their generosity.  I want to take this opportunity to again thank them for the difference they are making this season in the lives of so many children.

I would also like to thank our clients, vendors and other partners for your business and support.  The AdvanceTEC team has truly enjoyed the opportunity we have had to work together with you in the past year, and we look forward to continuing to serve you in 2011 and beyond.

Bryan Phelan
Managing Partner, AdvanceTEC

All you have to do is turn on the TV or look at the newspaper to see that these are challenging times that we are living in.  With the financial crisis, poor housing markets, high unemployment and the like, it can often feel like things are out of control.

At AdvanceTEC, we’re keeping our focus on what we can control.  At the heart of our efforts is our longstanding approach to doing business:  take care of our customers and the rest will take care of itself.  This approach has served us well, helping us build a solid base of satisfied repeat customers, and a proven track record of completing projects on time, within budget and to specification—safely.

Our approach has also enabled us to reinvest in our company, including strengthening our team to help us better take care of our customers.

Expanding our leadership team
Our leadership team is directly involved with each of our customers’ projects.  To help ensure this high level of involvement, we have recently added Koray Ozgenc as director of field operations.  In this role, Koray is responsible for the leadership, management and execution of field construction projects.

Strengthening our project and construction management staff
Our in-house project and construction management staff also play a vital role in the success of our customers’ projects, and we’ve made changes to strengthen our staff.  To learn more about their experience and expertise, just request a copy of our staff resume.

We’re proud of the team we have built to serve our customers, and are dedicated to going the extra mile to exceed customer expectations.  If you have any questions about our new team members, or maybe you just want to talk with us about an upcoming project, please contact me or any member of the AdvanceTEC team.  Taking care of our customers is our priority.

Bryan Phelan
Managing Partner, AdvanceTEC

Catching up with our capabilities
By Bryan Phelan, Managing Partner, AdvanceTEC
“It’s just a website.  Everybody has one.  It looks nice, but so what?”  That’s probably what you’re thinking, and I don’t blame you.  But the changes at AdvanceTEC go well beyond just new colors or a layout on a website.  Way beyond.

At the core of these changes, and everything we do, is our longstanding approach to doing business: take care of our customers and the rest will take care of itself.  This approach has helped us build a solid base of satisfied repeat customers, and a proven track record of completing projects on time, within budget and to specification—safely.

A few of the recent changes that we believe will continue to help us drive the success of our customers’ cleanroom design and construction projects include:

• Team Leadership Approach – Key to taking care of customers is the expertise and commitment of our leadership team. Since I took on the role of managing partner earlier this year, John Burton (founder/partner, director of engineering and technology), Glenn Wakefield (director of operations and corporate safety) and I have driven a team approach to leading AdvanceTEC.  Utilizing the broad knowledge and experience of our full executive team has driven rapid, consistent and effective decision making focused on our customers’ needs. 
• Broader Customer Interaction – One of the things we are most proud of at AdvanceTEC is the team of amazing professionals that we have built.  Unfortunately, you may have been somewhat unaware of the depth and breadth of that team.  Now, by taking designers to construction sites and construction personnel to coordination meetings, we are driving a higher level of productivity and efficiency.
• Stronger Supplier Relations – How we work with and treat our subcontractors plays a key role in the cost, quality and overall success of your project.  We have recently taken concrete steps to further strengthen our subcontractor relationships, ensuring top quality installations at competitive costs. 
• More Effective Web Presence – The development of our new site was driven by two key factors.  First, we wanted to site to accurately represent the capabilities of AdvanceTEC, letting people see who we are and how we can help.  Second, we wanted our site to provide access to a broad set of valuable resources and tools for our customers and partners.  Over the coming months we will be expanding the materials available.  We look forward to your comments on our site and your return visits.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the exciting changes taking place at AdvanceTEC, or maybe you just want to talk with us about an upcoming project, please contact me or any member of the AdvanceTEC team.  Taking care of our customers is our priority.

Bryan Phelan
Managing Partner, AdvanceTEC