World class: Indiana companies building global markets with innovative products.

• Author: Hromadka, Erik
• Position: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS - Company overview

WHILE AUTOMOTIVE parts, diesel engines and pharmaceuticals are often touted as Indiana's leading exports, there are also a wide range of lesser-known products being produced by the more than 5,000 companies in the state that collectively export some $22 billion to international markets each year.

Zipp Speed Weaponry in Speedway is an example of one such company that has used innovation to successfully sell its products around the world.

The company, which was founded in 1998 and has operations just six blocks from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, designs and manufactures high-end bicycle wheels. Those wheels are then sold internationally through distributors and bicycle manufacturers and are regularly featured in the world's top bicycle races, including the Tour de France.

Zipp president Andy Ording says the company's products quickly became popular with U.S. athletes competing in triathlons, but sales to cyclists in Europe was more challenging.

"Cycling is part of the culture in Europe. The natural extension of that is bicycle racing is established there," Ording says, explaining that it's not unusual for several European races to be held during a week and that racers are very picky about the wheels they use.

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So how did a company from Indiana establish itself as a leader in the high-end bicycle wheel market where a set of premium wheels retails from $1,300 to $3,500? Ording says it was by constantly pushing the design of its products, which use specialty aluminum and carbon composites to provide extra strength with less weight.

New wheel designs are created by the research and development team in Speedway, which includes engineering graduates from Rose-Hulman, Purdue and Indiana Tech universities.

Recent innovations have included dimpling on the sides of bicycle disc wheels to improve their aerodynamics and reduce drag. In fact, Ording is excited about tests on a new wheel design that actually created thrust, operating similarly to a sail at a certain speed and angle and helping to propel the bicycle.

"When the guys at the wind tunnel get excited, then you've got something," he says of the company's latest design, explaining that continued innovation is one of the keys to being successful in a global marketplace.

"In our particular case, we are never really satisfied with what we have," Ording says. For example, he notes the company's best-selling wheel has gone through eight revisions in just nine years, constantly...