At the time when Hans joined SPIROL, it was a small company located in northeast Connecticut with one product, the Coiled Spring Pin, and only a handful of employees. Today, SPIROL has locations on four continents and thirteen countries across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. SPIROL has expanded its offering to 12 major product lines and produces over 2 billion components a year.
When asked, “What are some of the most influential changes in the manufacturing industry?”, Mr. Koehl responded: “From a technological standpoint, the proliferation of plastics and the electrification of products throughout various industries has had a profound effect on our business.” Given the breadth of markets in which SPIROL products are used, they are fortunate to have been at the forefront of these emerging technologies, and have done a great job at recognising when to develop products to meet new requirements and address the change in the market before they become mainstream. As an example, SPIROL was the first company to create and standardise on a Compression Limiter product line to provide and maintain bolted joint integrity of plastic assemblies.
When asked, “If you had to state one thing that has led to the continued success of SPIROL, what would that be?”, Hans quickly replied, “Our shareholders’ willingness to continuously reinvest back into the business for us to remain a state-of-the-art manufacturer.”
“There are other key elements that contribute to SPIROL’s success including: the innovation of our employees to create value, strong management, strategy and taking action, good planning, and adherence to our strategic vision.” One example of a recent key strategic decision was the acquisition of Ford Aerospace in the United Kingdom. “Unlike our other product lines, Precision Shims is a tough product to take globally because each Shim is custom-made for a particular application,” stated Mr. Koehl. “The opportunity arose for SPIROL to acquire Ford Aerospace that would enable us to produce Shims locally for the UK and European marketspaces. Given SPIROL’s long-term stability and financial security, we had the funds to quickly act on this opportunity and made the acquisition.”
Mr. Koehl went on to say, “It takes money, people and willingness to grow and expand a company. We feel a strong loyalty to all of our employees who have made us who we are today. Our success has enabled us to create good paying stable jobs and the ability for our employees to intermingle on a global basis.”
The unwavering financial support of their shareholders has allowed SPIROL to build a unique corporate culture where they truly respect and give back to their constituents. SPIROL offers Employee Educational Reimbursement programmes, a matching 401K, and an employee stock ownership (ESOP) / money purchase pension plan. In addition, a percentage of income is allocated every year to fund the SPIROL International Charitable Foundation that routinely donates to non-profit organisations whose core tenets align with SPIROL’s such as the Audubon Society, 4-H, the YMCA, and local hospitals. The SPIROL Charitable Foundation regularly grants significant monies to local community colleges focused on manufacturing and K-12 schools to support their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programmes. Annually, the SPIROL Scholarship Committee, also funded by the SPIROL Charitable Foundation, offers scholarships to eligible students who are going on to postsecondary education and pursuing a degree in Engineering, Basic Sciences or Manufacturing Technology. Similarly, the SPIROL Kids Scholarship supports STEM development programmes for younger kids by granting scholarships for children to attend summer camps focused around the STEM disciplines. In fact, so strong is SPIROL’s core belief of giving back, that there is a separate SPIROL Employee Giving Programme that is completely funded by donations from the employees and whose proceeds go directly to patients receiving treatment for cancer at local healthcare facilities.
Hans Koehl concluded that he is most proud in how we “continue to meet our obligation to our constituents in an exemplary way.”
