Electric Controls and Systems, Inc.

In August of 2005, the Alabama International Trade Center, an SBDC located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was approached by Edward T. Deitz, Senior Vice President of First Commercial Bank in Birmingham. One of their customers had an opportunity to bid on a contract to engineer and build a cupola melt facility and emission control system for a diesel engine manufacturing plant in Weifang City, Shandong, China for Weichai Power Co., Ltd. The customer, Electric Controls and Systems Inc., located in Birmingham, Alabama, in business since 1960, and under present control since 1980, had done some international work previously, but this was the first large transaction that they would handle as a direct contractor. The contract was for over $11 million.

Several companies had contacted the company about the project, but in the end, Weichai Power Co. came directly to Gregory R. Bray, President and CEO, and asked that the company bid on the project. The company was well known in the industry for engineering and producing machinery for heavy industrial processing plants, mainly in foundry, cement and paper industries. Greg agreed to bid, and the excellent reputation the company enjoys in the marketplace gave them the edge over their competitors, a German firm.

The Alabama International Trade Center at the University of Alabama is a partnership program with the SBA and the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium. The company encountered many other challenges including negotiation of the contract, language barriers, coordinating their sub-contractors, and learning how to ship the product overseas. However, those challenges were faced head-on with persistence and dedication.

The material has now been delivered and Greg is looking forward to the initial start-up of the cupola. It also appears that there will be several more of these projects in China, and with the right team in place to help, the future is bright for Electric Systems and Controls Inc.