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When Alex Fishman started an engineering firm in his Washington Twp. home in 2003, he didn’t necessarily see himself one day leading a company that has four national locations, international client companies, 50 employees and $5 million in annual sales.
But that’s where ADF Engineering is, with a five-year plan to double in size, Fishman said. So far in 2013, he has hired 10 new employees.
Fishman, 51, left his native Russia (then the Soviet Union) in 1989. He worked for other U.S. engineering shops before striking out on his own. He wanted a more nimble, “personal approach” with customers, and he thought a smaller company would have that agility.
“I felt like there were more opportunities … for a personal approach and to provide better quality engineering,” said Fishman, a structural engineer. “So I kind of went out on my own.”
Work stared slowly, with references coming in from engineers he knew. The recent recession derailed some of the sectors he once served, including automotive, and today ADF Engineering focuses on the food, animal feed, biofuel, pharmaceuticals, biosciences and consumer products industries. Even in bad times, he agrees, people and animals must eat.
ADF customers include Procter & Gamble, Cargill, AK Steel Corp., Flowserve, Aptalis and many others. ADF is also involved in Malt Products’ $26 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion of its Wolf Creek Pike facility.
Being a smaller firm that uses new technology is more able to answer customer requests, Fishman believes. That’s one reason why his company has offices in Omaha, Neb., Memphis, Tenn. and Mulberry, Fla.
“We believe in convenience, client convenience,” Fishman said. “I like to be close to project sites.”
And it’s one reason why his company has invested in three-dimensional technology, including 3-D models and laser scanning to measure dimensions for new equipment. He estimated that his firm spends at least 5 percent of gross revenue on technology investments.
“We’re not afraid to invest in new technology,” Fishman said. “Our employees, they will tell you, we try to utilize the latest and greatest in technology.”
David Bone, engineering manager at Cargill’s Needmore Road facility, praised ADF’s responsiveness.
“They recognize our 24-hour, seven-day operation and have been responsive to our problems on nights and weekends,” Bone wrote in a letter on ADF’s website, among other client testimonials.
ADF doesn’t design new equipment, but it does help clients adapt to and install equipment, Fishman said. And customers are starting to slowly make investments again.
“It does look like the economy is getting better,” he said. “There are mixed results, obviously.”
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