Page 183 - BWM March 2013
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March 2013
| Business World Magazine | 183
product quality, delivery, service… we want
to earn an A+.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE
For a company that has been in operation for
100 years, Lowe makes a point about certain
signage that refers to “billions served,” saying,
“I don’t know how many billions of springs
we’vemade, but it definitely is in the billions.”
That all began in 1914 with a Norwegian
immigrant and blacksmith named August
Peterson. He arrived in Michigan and pro-
duced goods that served in the burgeoning
railroad and automotive industry. Three gen-
erations of Peterson descendents would go
on to run the company up until 2008. While
Peterson’s progeny still sit on the company’s
board of directors, in 2008, they recruited a
six-member management team to guide the
company’s future. With the exception of the
CFO, all had backgrounds in engineering.
This group, combined with the engineering
efficiencies of the existing staff, can claim the
lion’s share of credit for the company’s cur-
rent diversified, if not dominating, emer-
gence in so many industries.
As Lowe says, “This brought in a fresh set
of eyes, a collage of learning and knowledge
