Page 195 - BWA FEB 2013

February 2013 | Business World Magazine | 195
ing industry, Peterson Spring has been able
to adapt those innovations to benefit other
industries, and Lowe says this factor will
help drive further success for the company.
He is also encouraged by current market dy-
namics, which have shifted from not so long
ago when companies began relying more on
foreign manufacturers in an attempt to save
money. As Lowe says, “We have seen some
business lost to Asia, but we have also won
some business in Asia. In the past, some
customers moved their business overseas
for the cost advantage, but found, after a
couple years, those cost advantages erode,
because wages have gone up, transportation
costs have gone up, and their quality is go-
ing down. The value that was perceived to be
there is gone.”
In recent years, he says the company
has seen business returning to America.
While that has worked to the company’s ad-
vantage, so too have conditions relating to
economic downturn. Lowe says the great re-
cession ultimately eliminated some competi-
tion and there are, overall, fewer spring mak-
ers operating than there were in 2007. “The
strong survived and got stronger as a result,”
says Lowe.
By continuing to foster innovation
from all employees, invest in state-of-the-art
technology and tools that facilitate new ap-
plications for their products, and maintain-
ing undeterred discipline in all aspects of
service and production, Lowe says Peterson
Spring is poised to brilliantly build upon
their 100 year legacy of performance. And in
this case, that confidence and faith is much
like one poet’s reference to hope - it springs
eternal.