PUBLISHING
Tech firm writing manual of success
Miamisburg's O'Neil & Associates is hiring and expanding; it's opening an office in Detroit.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lead writer Michael Gratton works inside a turret from one of the two U.S. Army's Armored Security Vehicles at O'Neil & Associates. O'Neil & Associates publishes and writes instruction, technical and repair manuals for a wide range of mechanical devices from sewer cleaning machines to jet engines. They are currently writing technical manuals for the army's ASVs.MIAMISBURG — Technical writing firm O'Neil & Associates Inc. has hired 100 employees in two years, is opening an office in Detroit and is on the cusp of perhaps three key contracts in the next two months.
But don't call the company "recession-proof."
"We wouldn't want to jinx it," said a smiling Thomas Milligan, O'Neil vice president.
While no business is immune to economic trouble, O'Neil is taking a measured approach, focusing on long-term relationships with customers rather than simply nailing the best price.
"We always sell on the basis of (long-term) value rather than price," said Robert Heilman, O'Neil's president and chief executive.
That emphasis on long-term customer relationships shows. The 61-year-old company's most enduring client, Wisconsin's Oshkosh Trucking, has been doing business with O'Neil for 43 years.
It's another customer that's pulling O'Neil to Detroit, where the firm will have about 20 employees. The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) is based in Warren, Mich. The command buys and manages tanks, trucks and other equipment for the Army. O'Neil serves TACOM directly and through manufacturers who do business with TACOM, Milligan said.
Anyone who makes anything is potentially an O'Neil client, Heilman said. The firm writes technical, training and repair manuals for manufacturers, aerospace firms and the U.S. military. The company also designs database publishing systems for parts and products that can be read online or on DVDs.
Stroll through the firm's 75,000 square feet of offices off Byers Road (a building originally built for NCR Corp. in the 1970s), and you're as likely to see Army armored vehicles as washers and dryers. Employees study the products to develop diagnostic or trouble-shooting services.
O'Neil has grown without a large full-time sales force. Typically, Heilman said, sales employees find opportunities that are then closed by technical staff.
Asked how many sales employees he has, Heilman said, "300." Every O'Neil employee works in sales, in other words.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
How to weather the recession
Focus on long-term relationships with customers.
Invest in technology to distinguish yourself from competitors.
Give employees a sense of ownership. In recent years, ownership at O'Neil has been spread among senior managers and the entire staff, through a stock ownership plan. "It keeps everyone thinking and working like owners, because they are owners," said Thomas Milligan, O'Neil vice president.
Source: O'Neil & Associates
