Frank
11-04-2006, 10:55 AM
From BRAIN (Bicycle Retailer And Industry News) website
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Serotta Taking Carbon Fiber Control with West Coast Facility
NOVEMBER 03, 2006 -- POWAY, CA (BRAIN)—In a move to better control its own destiny in carbon fiber production, Serotta Competition Bicycles struck a deal with MacLean Quality Composites to take over its Southern California facility Jan. 1.
MacLean has been supplying composite tubing to Serotta a little more than five years, according to Serotta founder Ben Serotta. This deal was a great opportunity for Serotta to eliminate the middleman when it came to carbon production.
“We become the [carbon] source,” he said of the deal. “And we gain some additional capacity” in terms of research and development and other areas. “We’ll have more consistency of supply chain, product development,” Serotta added. Terms of the deal are to remain private, Serotta said.
MacLean’s reason for the deal was to “both strengthen and streamline its operations by concentrating efforts on its two main facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah and Hangzhu, China,” according to Reynolds Cycling sales and marketing director Jonathan Geran. Reynolds is a division of MacLean.
The six MacLean employees working at the Poway facility will continue working there, only now for Serotta. Although, lead engineer Mike Lopez has a somewhat “loose agreement” where he will provide engineering and consulting services to MacLean on an “on-call basis.”
“We have moved all of our sales and marketing to Utah, and broached the idea to find a way to bring more of Mike’s work in house as we have a very good and deep engineering staff here,” Geran said. “Mike is a California man at heart and so his moving wasn’t realistic, neither was him spending a majority of his time here. So the strategy that creates a synergy for us in keeping this knowledge base while he’s able to diversify his work for Serotta is key to this strategy.”
MacLean supplies product not only to Serotta, but also the likes of Trek Bicycle and Specialized Bicycle Components. Serotta, according to Geran, was the only company getting product from MacLean’s Poway facility.
The 2,500-square-foot facility “allows us to be up and running immediately,” according to Serotta. A luxury Serotta couldn’t find closer to home. Eventually, Serotta said, the company will likely add staff in Poway and “take on additional space” at a nearby location as the company grows.
=============================================
Serotta Taking Carbon Fiber Control with West Coast Facility
NOVEMBER 03, 2006 -- POWAY, CA (BRAIN)—In a move to better control its own destiny in carbon fiber production, Serotta Competition Bicycles struck a deal with MacLean Quality Composites to take over its Southern California facility Jan. 1.
MacLean has been supplying composite tubing to Serotta a little more than five years, according to Serotta founder Ben Serotta. This deal was a great opportunity for Serotta to eliminate the middleman when it came to carbon production.
“We become the [carbon] source,” he said of the deal. “And we gain some additional capacity” in terms of research and development and other areas. “We’ll have more consistency of supply chain, product development,” Serotta added. Terms of the deal are to remain private, Serotta said.
MacLean’s reason for the deal was to “both strengthen and streamline its operations by concentrating efforts on its two main facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah and Hangzhu, China,” according to Reynolds Cycling sales and marketing director Jonathan Geran. Reynolds is a division of MacLean.
The six MacLean employees working at the Poway facility will continue working there, only now for Serotta. Although, lead engineer Mike Lopez has a somewhat “loose agreement” where he will provide engineering and consulting services to MacLean on an “on-call basis.”
“We have moved all of our sales and marketing to Utah, and broached the idea to find a way to bring more of Mike’s work in house as we have a very good and deep engineering staff here,” Geran said. “Mike is a California man at heart and so his moving wasn’t realistic, neither was him spending a majority of his time here. So the strategy that creates a synergy for us in keeping this knowledge base while he’s able to diversify his work for Serotta is key to this strategy.”
MacLean supplies product not only to Serotta, but also the likes of Trek Bicycle and Specialized Bicycle Components. Serotta, according to Geran, was the only company getting product from MacLean’s Poway facility.
The 2,500-square-foot facility “allows us to be up and running immediately,” according to Serotta. A luxury Serotta couldn’t find closer to home. Eventually, Serotta said, the company will likely add staff in Poway and “take on additional space” at a nearby location as the company grows.