The company, in setting the revenues target, wants to be more aggressive about sniffing out sales, Lippert said.
“In our case it was about trying to really grow intentionally instead of by happenstance or just by however the economy would go,” he said.
“It’s highly unlikely the economy itself would lift us to double our sales in five years,” he said. “That meant we had to do something.”
The ambitious goal is forcing Hamilton Caster to do things differently, including accelerating deliveries and adding to the company’s sales force.
The company is proactively selling, being more active about marketing products, and working on new product development.
“In the past we relied more on our distribution network,” he said.
One market the Hamilton business is cultivating is industrial in-plant trucks and trailers that can handle heavy loads.
Quick delivery helped sales in 2012, Lippert said. Hamilton Caster batted just under 99 percent for achieving on-time deliveries, which can be same day or next day depending on when the order was received. That 99 percent on-time is for orders made using its Pronto delivery service.
Hamilton Casters’ customers are mainly other industrial companies. As a business-to-business supplier, the wheel- and caster-maker relies a lot on other companies’ willingness to invest in existing plants or opening new ones.
The biggest challenge is the economy — which can help or hurt business.
“After the first year we were on pace arguably more because of the economy,” Lippert said. “The things we’re doing usually take some time to bear fruit.”
Hamilton Caster, 1637 Dixie Hwy., Hamilton, now has about 73 employees.
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