New Venture Gear Celebrates 10th Anniversary
1 March 2000
New Venture Gear Celebrates 10th Anniversary
TROY, Mich., March 1 -- New Venture Gear (NVG) has just
celebrated its 10th Anniversary.
In two days of celebrations in all NVG locations around the world, NVG
President & CEO Fred Hubacker met with employees and praised their hard work
and dedication in making NVG one of the most successful driveline companies in
the world with unprecedented growth and cutting edge technological
innovations.
New Venture Gear is the world's leading designer and manufacturer of
4-wheel-drive transfer cases. The company is a world leader in the production
of manual transmissions, manual transaxles and other traction control and
driveline components and systems. NVG has manufacturing plants in Syracuse,
New York and Muncie, Indiana. In addition, NVG will open a third
manufacturing facility in Roitzsch, Germany, in mid 2000. The company is
headquartered in Troy, Michigan, and develops products at its engineering
centers in East Syracuse, New York, and Kenilworth, England. Additionally,
NVG maintains sales offices in England and Germany.
A full text of Fred L. Hubacker, President & CEO Anniversary Celebration
remarks follows:
NEW VENTURE GEAR
10TH ANNIVERSARY: 1990 - 2000
PRESIDENT & CEO FRED L. HUBACKER - REMARKS
Today, we enthusiastically celebrate our 10th Anniversary in business. We
also celebrate 10 years of overwhelming success.
We have come a long way in those 10 years:
Back in 1990, annual volumes of Transfer Cases were 770,000, Transmissions
278,000, Compounders 174,000 and Differentials 1.1 million. Today we have
record-breaking volumes across the board with Transfer Cases of 2.6 million,
Transmissions of 381,000, Compounders of 1 million and Differentials of 1.2
million.
With all those volume increases, we have created over 2,000 new high
paying jobs for our company as our workforce has grown from 3,500 men and
women to over 5,500 employees today.
In 1998, we opened our European Product Technology Center in Coventry,
England to design and develop transfer cases for our European customers -- a
prime indicator of our ever-widening customer base.
This year, we expect to be in production at our newest manufacturing
facility in Roitzsch, Germany. We are looking forward to a grand opening
ceremony stated for mid-June.
In 1996, we achieved QS-9000/ISO 9001 Certification and have retained that
status ever since.
Over the years, we have become the technological leader in 4-Wheel Drive
Systems and with many new 5 and 6-speed manual transmissions. Our 4-Wheel
Drive Systems have become the global leader with numerous technical
innovations including; Active, Progressive and next generation.
Our relationship with the UAW has grown exponentially. The UAW and NVG
management have become solid partners in seeking ways to bring additional work
into our plants. Both the UAW membership and NVG have partnered to foster the
common goal of growth and security for all of us.
In 1990, we were wearing baby shoes and toddling along with two customers
-- our parents -- and a dozen products. Today, we have on our world
competitive combat boots as we have added Ford, Rover, BMW, Volkswagen and
Meritor to our customer base and we now produce over 50 different products.
All of that increase in customers and products has translated into a revenue
growth from $550 million in 1990, to $1.750 million last year. This year, we
project record sales of $1.9 billion.
With the advent of the internet revolution and the proliferation of high-
tech internet based companies whose stock prices have soared through the roof
-- and defied all convention, we remain a SOLID and less flamboyant company
that proudly BUILDS THINGS -- and a company that proudly puts its success back
into the business. Over our 10-year history, $1.3 billion plus in new capital
and engineering funds has been reinvested for the future success of the
company.
We are committed to the communities we live and work in and we have
donated over a million dollars and countless hours to numerous charitable and
educational organizations.
We are a sound, private company where we have taken individual
responsibility for our success, and we have succeeded.
A large measure of our success is the tremendous improvement we have
achieved in the quality of our products. Since the company was formed,
product quality has improved 78% in Syracuse and 83% in Muncie. A HUGE
accomplishment.
Our mission has been simple; to be the World's Preferred Driveline
Partner.
On February 6, 1990 we set out to become the world leader in the
production of automotive driveline systems.
We have done that.
We concentrate on the bottom line with the commitment to the fundamentals
of good business:
* We hire the best engineers to design our products.
* We hire the best supplier management teams to feed the pipeline with
quality components.
* We hire the best skilled workforce in the world to fabricate the
final products that we ship to our customers.
* We hire the best in support staff and are fortunate to have them,
for they are second to none!
By any measure, we are truly a company that:
* Has garnered the respect of our peers in the automotive industry.
* Have earned the confidence of our customers.
* And we are a company that our competitors fear.
The thoughts I have just shared are not borne of a false sense of bravado
or merely motivational catch-phrases.
The state of our business is the living embodiment of our hopes and
aspirations TO BE THE BEST at what we do. We become that which we embrace.
Our prior successes and our future health are founded on the PRESUMPTION
that we design and build the finest driveline components in the world.
That is the benchmark from which we begin each new day.
If there were ever a prescription for success, it is that we accepted the
challenge and WORKED HARD.
10 years is living proof that our work has been rewarded, for 10 years is
really 3,650 days where we have arrived at work and asked, individually and
collectively, "how can I do my best today?"
As in any business, we will always face significant challenges in the next
10 years that we must address, and I predict that we will all face those
challenges as enthusiastically as we have in the past.
I thank you all for your efforts. You are all winners.
Let's continue our work together and climb the next mountain.
The air is crisp and clean up there.