Honoring excellence: improving businesses improve Indiana. Winners of the 2007 BKD Indiana Excellence Awards.

• Position: Cover story

MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION

Telamon Corp. -- Telamon was the overall BKD Indiana Excellence Award winner, as well as the winner in the manufacturing and distribution category.

The Carmel-based company has long served the telecommunications industry with a variety of engineering, installation and materials-management services. But did you know it also makes automotive parts?

"We're always looking to diversify," says Stan Chen, vice president and general manager. "We had a rough patch in 2001 to 2003 when the telecom industry was struggling and we struggled as well."

Beyond hoping to diversify, there was a corporate desire to do more business with Indiana companies, and "the company is very entrepreneurial in nature," Chen says. Thus began a project that won Telamon the 2007 BKD Indiana Excellence Award.

In 2005, Columbus-based Cummins Inc. hired Telamon for a kitting and fulfillment project, assembling kits of gasket parts for aftermarket sales. "We were straightforward with them and said that we have no experience in this industry, so there might be a learning curve," Chen says, "and they were very gracious with us."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Telamon found that the skill sets matched its telecom work, and achieved 100 percent on-time delivery with zero defects. "From there we moved into light subassembly of tubes and hoses and clamps," he continues. After that Telamon sought and won a host of other Cummins business, then began pursuing other auto-related contracts. Telamon has grown auto-related revenues from $7 million in 2006 to $84 million in 2007, with 2008 auto revenues forecast to hit about $150 million. Some 40 Telamon jobs can be linked to its decision to venture into automotive work.

The other finalists in the category included:

Cook Pharmica--In Bloomington, massive buildings where RCA color televisions were made sat empty for six years before Cook Pharmica stepped in. The new company, part of the Cook Group, was seeking space for a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing plant. The TV plant offered a place for the company to get started, with plenty of room to grow. Cook Pharmica called the effort Project Phoenix, and it quickly created office and lab space and a manufacturing line, with shelled-in space for a second line. Cook Pharmica's privately held status allowed for quick decisions, and that resulted in speedy construction. Project Phoenix not only resurrected the former TV plant but also helped attract four more businesses to the area.

Omni Forge--Omni Forge in Remington, part of the Impact Forge Group, saw its sales drop by half to $12 million in 2001, thanks to foreign competition and cost pressures from automotive customers. Management developed a plan to reduce the cost of the company's products and gain new work--without sacrificing quality, customer service or on-time delivery. The results have been dramatic: sales are up 150 percent since 2001, revenue per employee has risen 46 percent, exports to Canada and Mexico have grown from zero to 18 percent of revenue, and sales to foreign-owned U.S. auto plants have grown substantially.

SGI--A third-party logistics provider, SGI in 2006 developed an online inventory management tool to help clients get a better handle on their inventory. Data Depot lets marketing managers know ahead of time about inventory issues such as backorders, dead stock and the need to reorder items. The product was developed by the Indianapolis-based company with input from users at three client companies. The clients offered suggestions before any code was written, and also tested the product while it was under construction. The interactive approach created a better product, and the clients became SGI champions. Being...