The company.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: THE OFFICE - Satellite Industries Inc. - Company overview

Satellite Industries Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer in the portable sanitation industry, with it's product line of portable restrooms, service trucks and deodorizing chemicals.

Founded: 1958

Headquaters: Minneapolis, minn.

Revenue: Between $50 million and $100 million annually (private company, actual revenues not disclosed)

Company Status: Privately held. Currently owned by the family's second generation

Number of Employees: Between 50 and 100 employees

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How did the company get started?

Satellite Industries Inc. was founded in 1958 by Al Hilde Jr. During service with the U.S. Army, he had noticed that the Army supplied adequate food, shelter and clothing at temporary camps, but adequate toilet facilities were missing. He had previously made the same observations at sporting events and construction sites--which lead Hilde to believe that supplying portable toilet services would be valuable to many industries.

He built the first wooden prototype toilet in Texas and hauled it to his home city of Minneapolis. Today, Satellite exports equipment and offers training and consultative assistance to companies in 75 countries around the world. It is the world's largest portable toilet manufacturer, with the most comprehensive array of products and services. These products and services represent the culmination of more than 50 years of continuous quality improvements.

How has the business model changed?

Since its inception, our global supply chain has evolved quite dramatically. We have grown from a small regional manufacturer making our own products, to a globally integrated supply-chain management company, with products designed, tooled, manufactured and delivered throughout the world.

To achieve this, we have relied heavily on technology. Our offices and distribution facilities globally run the same enterprise resource planning system and employees can access information through a universally deployed solution. Besides technology changes to the business model, the physical structure of the business model has also evolved.

We currently have almost as many employees overseas as we do in the U.S., which has introduced many challenges as it requires the business model to flex with the current environment. It is a continual evolution.

What events are significant in its evolution?

International expansion has been significant. In 1995, Satellite established its European head office in Brussels, Belgium, and an Asia-Pacific...