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Tektone Sound & Signal

- TekTone Sound & Signal stays ahead of its competition by investing in its best resource

itself.

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The quiet hamlet of Franklin, North Carolina (population 3,967) in the Blue Ridge Mountains

of North Carolina may not seem like a place where one would find a company on the cutting

edge of the telecommunications industry.

But Franklin is home to TekTone Sound & Signal and has been since 1989 when the

company outgrew its Florida operations. TekTone relocated to Franklin with plans of

expansion. Today, TekTone has a manufacturing plant and sales office in the beautiful

mountains of western North Carolina plus a network of first-rate distributors and

representatives that stretches worldwide.

TekTone began as a commercial and residential intercom company. The idea that two

people could communicate while being in separate rooms was a novelty back in the 1970s.

Now, It is commonplace. And as peoples expectations have changed about the way they

communicate, so too has the market.

Where TekTone had built a strong foundation based on its success in the residential and

commercial sectors, it became clear to company management that the next phase of growth

would have to come in the burgeoning health care sector, which has exploded now that

Baby Boomers have reached retirement age. This would require changes in the way they

went about business; from design to manufacturing; from service to sales.

Shepherding TekTone through this change has been Johnny Mira-Knippel current vice-

president, and grandson to Manuel Mira. Maintaining the status quo, in my opinion, means

death, he says. We had to change in response to the market and culture.

The turning point for Mira-Knippel came during a trip to South Africa he made as a graduate

student. I came home a different person, he says of that time. Being in a remote area, I

learned the importance of honesty, leadership and communication.

When he returned Mira-Knippel sold his co-workers on the importance of streamlining their

operations and becoming as efficient as possible.

Some companies might wilt in the face of such upheaval, but TekTone has thrived. A large

part of the companys success is due to the core values that have been present since

TekTone first opened its doors. Those core values are represented in its workforce, where

every person is considered to be part of the family. But it goes beyond that according to

Mira-Knippel. We consider every employee an extension of our family, and all the

employees treat each other like family.

The success of this approach can be measured by the fact that TekTone has an employee

retention of nearly 98%.

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We challenge our employees to offer new ideas and reward when they have them, Mira-

Knippel says. We reward a can-do attitude and the willingness to work together.

Having this type of cooperation makes instituting change much easier. TekTone has gone

from a company that did fairly typical assembly-line type of production work where

employees worked independently to a company where employees work in team setting or

manufacturing cells.

The change Mira-Knippel instituted at TekTone was not simply among employees, he was

able to help his fellow executives see things differently as well. We focused on improving

our process of eliminating the seven wastes throughout the company, he says. Every day,

we try to either eliminate or greatly reduce over-production, waiting time, transportation,

processing, inventory, motion and scrap to ensure profitability and continued growth.

While it may sound as though Mira-Knippel is satisfied with TekTones position, he has no

intention of letting it rest on its laurels. His competition simply will not allow it. Growing

market competition exists and we understand that, he says. But we are ready to meet

those challenges thanks to the dedication of our employees.

And they will continue to do so in tiny Franklin, a town that bills itself as the Gem Capital of

the World. Although the moniker is meant to allude to precious metals, it could just easily

refer to TekTone Sound & Signal.