Hydraulic Manifolds USA: Nimit Patel

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Nimit Patel, Principal CEO of Hydraulic Manifolds USA, joins us to share the three factors he’s seen that influence every company: people, processes, and technology.

 

 

Danny:

Well, welcome to this episode of IndustrialSage on our Executive Series. I have Mr. Nimit Patel, who is the CEO of Hydraulic Manifolds USA. Nimit, thank you so much for joining me today on IndustrialSage.

Nimit:

Thank you, thank you for having me.

Danny:

I’m super excited to jump into today’s topic, hear about you and your story. So, for those who aren’t familiar with Hydraulic Manifolds USA, what exactly do you guys do?

Nimit:

What, we are the manufacturing engineering assembly for one of the critical components in the hydraulic industry, called hydraulic manifolds. To simplify it, relating it to, similar to electronics, there are circuit boards, we actually lay out the hydraulic integrated circuits, inside a piece of metal.

Danny:

Excellent, that sounds fun. What are some of the top applications that you, or use cases, that you guys, that your product fits?

Nimit:

Where, actually where there’s hydraulics, there is, our product would most likely be there. Some of the fun places, from Disney World to NASA, there’s simulations from small tow trucks to large industrial farming equipment. Basically, we also have… we make big manifolds for the high-end bridge applications, and also for the oil and gas industry. So, pretty much it’s a very, what should I call it? A widespread application. It’s something which is usually customized, made to order, and based off the designs, and based off the needs of the customer.

Danny:

Excellent, so let’s jump into your story. Tell me, I want to hear a little bit of your career journey. How, take me back to, what was that first job? Or how did you get into the industry? What did that look like?

Nimit:

Well, I kind of jumped into this industry from a totally, from a different segment of the industry where I was, but, means it was challenging. So I basically graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology as a computer engineer. From there, my journey went into, I graduated around 9/11. So, from there, there was very much, it was hard to find jobs. I was actually looking for a job at the time. I worked part-time on my sales up in various retails, T-Mobile, trying to develop my communication skills. From there, I went into the government, where I had a mentor, essentially, part of my journey. I think I have a, at every single milestone, I had a mentor that basically helped me shape my journey, to essentially what I am today.

So, in spite of changes with equipment, from what I learned, to what I did in the industry as a job, to where I am as an entrepreneur, it’s been different, but essentially, I was able to relate one part of the discipline to another, and was able to take lessons learned. So, as much as some may find it that it was a 180-degree turn, but there’s always, people, process and technology is what I consider is what each and every organization is made out of. And to where I am, with my background, I’ve been working for the government, working as a government consultant, working as a project manager, too, as I went up the career path, and to the entrepreneurship today. It means, essentially, it’s those three variables, people, process, and technology, are what you need to have a handle on to be able to, what I consider every organization has.

Danny:

People, process, and technology, I’m going to write that down. I mean, yeah 100%, that makes a lot of sense. But you mentioned, I think I heard you say the word entrepreneur, or entrepreneurship. Is that, did you say that? All right, so what I am very curious about is, what did that jump look like? How did, what was that moment where you said, hey, I want, this is the direction change that I want to make? What did that look like?

Nimit:

Well, there was a whole bunch of mixed feelings, anxiousness, I guess, all sorts of, there was excitement, and there was nervousness. There was a kind of a, like, okay, I want to do it, but there was that, okay, what I am not successful? So it’s, I think that was more of a, and people call it, it’s all normal.

Danny:

So you’ve, Hydraulic Manifolds USA, I mean, you founded that company?

Nimit:

Negative, I actually purchased this business three years ago.

Danny:

Okay.

Nimit:

The old organization was known as Selling Precision, which has been in existence since 1971.

Danny:

Okay.

Nimit:

So, essentially, the manufacturing and the making of the manifolds was there, but it wasn’t really highlighted into the industry, and adding more to the technology aspect. And then defining the process and getting ISO certification has been my contribution to this place.

Danny:

Okay, all right. Okay, so Nimit, you mentioned a very dangerous word that begins with an e, and it was entrepreneurship. So, this gets a lot of people in trouble, I’m joking. But you mentioned, what did that look like for you? What was that thought that crossed your mind, that said, hey, I think I want to go do this?

Nimit:

So, before I became an entrepreneur, I was doing project management for a government consulting company, Booz Allen Hamilton. It was, essentially, at the time, I had, means, I guess it was more like my genes, I do have entrepreneurial genes. So I wanted to do something, basically push the limits, test myself to the maximum potential that I can deliver. And, essentially, that’s kind of, was the, probably, the seed for all this. Means I wanted to do something, and then, basically, trying to pick this industry was more like, it wasn’t circumstantial. Well, kind of, it was circumstantial, but also, I wanted to get something that is engineering discipline, I wanted to get something which is Monday to Friday, don’t do anything like retail, but wanted to apply my skills, my talent. So that’s basically where I picked up manufacturing, of course, three, four years ago, at one of the key busts, and realizing that very many people are coming, going out of manufacturing. And I wanted to jump in, and, essentially for those same reasons, is to say, okay, nobody else wants to do it, and realizing it’s the challenge, means, let me test myself and see if I can make it happen.

Danny:

That’s awesome, I love that, so, can you tell me, I mean, those first, after you made a decision to do that, and you started going down the road, what was that like?

Nimit:

Well, I was looking, at the time, I was doing government consulting. I wanted to see if I can start something on my own. I went through browsing around, something that has a legacy, and something that has a potential for growth, something that I can give a new makeover.

Danny:

Yeah.

Nimit:

And then, essentially, excel. So, basically, this is the place where there was a legacy, there was a history, there was something about this place, which basically magically clicked, and it’s essentially, in the manufacturing world, there is, a lot of the stuff is, they’re like commodity-type products. There’s also, some of the stuff is like a standard item, and there’s also more like a very custom item.

Danny:

Yeah.

Nimit:

So, this is kind of a blend right up on that crossover, where we have a product, which is called the hydraulic manifolds. It’s also somewhat customized, so essentially, it does have its own set of challenges. But at the end of the day, it’s also not a shelved item, means like regular coat hangers or pick anything which is a, that would be of, basically be very much competitive. So we can somewhat put a flavor to our own, to how we cater the customers and how we deliver the product to the customers, and essentially, create that niche space: it’s what I have been working towards.

Danny:

That’s awesome. And so, when did you acquire the company? You said it was three years ago?

Nimit:

Correct.

Danny:

So, 2016, 2017? Okay, yeah, I guess we’re in 2020 now, so I’ve got to do… I can do math, sometimes, no.

Nimit:

February 2017.

Danny:

February 2017, that’s awesome, so, obviously, that’s– three years is great, obviously, still, I’m sure you have a lot more that you plan on, you wanted to do, and growing it. Now that you’ve got some pretty good experience with it, what are some of the challenges that you see with the industries that you serve?

Nimit:

Well, kind of going back to people, process, and technology, so, in my first year of journey, as an entrepreneur, of course, this is, as I said, it’s a new domain for me, and it’s a new business for me. Means, I was basically, so initially, I started, I was observing what’s happening, what’s going on, and then, essentially, I kind of listed down risks and issues that are defined within the people, process, and technology. Every manufacturing has, what should I call it? A drain, where, that’s why we talk more about improvements, and continuous improvements, within manufacturing more so than anywhere else. There is a lot of waste. We talk about lean processing, we talk about 5S, we talk about all of these things, about Kanbans, and it’s all about, to help, how to efficiently work in between the people, process, and applying the technology to help bind the people and the process.

So, my first year, again, was all about collecting data, all about observing, identifying the weaknesses, putting the circles around, what are the biggest weaknesses? And then coming up with a plan of action. So, at the end of the year is, realized it, where some of the biggest weaknesses were, as part of the core production, and as part of processing, as a start-to-end. With that, start evolving the technology side and the process side. And that is, in these last two years, we have evolved, not to, again, where I want to be, but evolved quite a bit, where we have some of the high-end production equipment to the process that goes with it. Because, of course, having the right hands, but also having the right process is important. And I think that is an enabling factor.

Because, right now, in the industry, where the talent pool is becoming less and less available, and then we are challenged with the minimum wage increasing, the talent is going down, the skills are going down, and then we are at the highest in the challenge of productivity, where there is external entities, like Third World countries are trying to compete, and they are challenging us. On the other part of it, the strength of the U.S. manufacturing has been that we are the home of Apple and Microsoft, we are the home of the technology monsters, and Google, of course. So we, my background of computer engineering, my background of project management, I have enabled a lot of data analysis, data collection, in trying to leverage technology and creating a robust process, not just at where we are right now, at ISO 9001, 2015. But also trying to have a more intense continuous improvement plan, and try to attain the highest level of productivity and continue to improve.

Danny:

Excellent, that’s the name of the game, so, just as a final question here, and you kind of answered here a little bit, but, as far as those challenges in the industry, how are you helping, or, how, within your organization, are you staying ahead of your competitors? I think you’ve mentioned that, I think you said that this was a relatively commoditized, I mean, it’s a bit of a commodity, so obviously, the people and the technology, and creating that that innovation through lean process, making things better, faster, cheaper, for lack of better words, how are you guys staying ahead of the pack? And what are those innovations that you, are you concretely bringing to your customers?

Nimit:

Well, there’s three things. When a customer goes out, or even we, ourselves, when we are going out as a customer, three things that they always, are the criteria. One is, they want the quality, second is, they want the price, and they want the fastest delivery that they can. So, between these three variables, I’ve often realized that, although every customer wants all three, to the best that they can, means they usually have two that is more of a, should I say that, basically, is something that they crave for. Sometimes one, sometimes two. The third element is usually with the vendor. So, if you, as a customer, would like to get something for the least amount of price, and for the best quality, then you would say, okay, I’ll wait for it.

Danny:

Yeah, exactly.

Nimit:

Or, if you say, okay, I would like to get this today, or early morning tomorrow, or in the fastest amount of time frame, and, of course, quality is something that you cannot compromise.

Danny:

Yeah, you’re going to pay for it.

Nimit:

As customers, we’re going to pay for it. So, essentially, means, from the customer’s standpoint of view, these are how they gauge every vendor. So, for me, as a, trying to look at the customers, what are their needs? How they see us as a value vendor. Between those three variables, where we have to play around and essentially ensure that the relationship with the customer is of more importance than the actual one product that you’re delivering to them. So, essentially having that faith, that confidence, because we are, again, as I said, custom made to order type of products, the engineer or the product customer comes up with the very core concept designs, and we help them see the shape and the size, and how it’s going to work. Then they would say, okay, yes, it will work, it won’t work, this is what they need, a few changes to make it happen, then we actually manufacture it. And then we also provide the complete assembly.

So, in that whole journey process, oftentimes, to what I’ve seen, is customer craves for the quality, customer craves for, they’re reasonable in their deliveries, and they are reasonable in their pricing. So, depending on the applications, depending on the type of a product, we make some manifolds which are hardly 10 bucks, to also, manifolds which are more than $10,000 per piece. So, it’s a very big spectrum of applications, as I said, and then a very big spectrum of industry. We have some OEMs to some distributors, and some product integrators. So, essentially, our product is not the complete machinery, but then we are more of a product that integrates to a bigger product.

Danny:

Yeah, absolutely. So just, so from what I took there is really that that customer experience piece is really, you mentioned the triangle that everyone talks about, I want, customers want things better, faster, cheaper, pick two. You can’t have all three, you’ve got to pick two. And and it sounds like, just really looking at that whole customer experience, that buying experience, and making it good for them, listening to them, and being a solution provider, versus just like, yeah, I’ll take one of those and five of these. That’s what I heard.

Nimit:

Exactly.

Danny:

So, excellent, well, so, Nimit, I really appreciate the time here with IndustrialSage. If anybody would love to learn more about you, what’s the best place? I presume, go to your website, or some social media? What’s your URL?

Nimit:

So, hydraulicmanifolds.com is our web domain. Means you can follow us on Twitter, handle, Hydraulic Manifolds, HManifolds. Those are, of course, we’re on the higher end. We are trying to also publish a lot of our products on LinkedIn, that you can also follow me up on, and, of course, we still work with traditional technologies, with faxes, phones and emails. So, if anybody out there wants a value partner, where they want to find somebody on their side to help them solve their issues, help them design a manifold, having some experiences, not just some, but years of experiences that we have to bring on the table.

Means we are there to help, and we are not just kind of a machine shop that just drills holes and makes you a manifold, but we are somebody who would basically follow the industry guidelines, and we will help you critique your circuit and designs to identify if you’re going to try to run into issues down the road. We have specialized tool sets that help us design manifolds that are very popular up in Parker and Rexroth. It’s called the MDTools, that we have engineers just sitting on those tool sets, designing manifolds, all day long, every day. That not just helps us design manifolds, but also helps ensure the products that will be ready for manufacturing would come out right. We have enhanced capabilities to offer in terms of manufacturing, high end machining centers. And of course, we offer assemblies and functional testing before anybody sees the product in front of them.

Danny:

Excellent. Well, sounds like there’s a lot of areas, and a lot of ways they can, companies can get to know you, learn more about your products and services. Nimit, thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy day today to spend some time with us, so we could learn a little bit more about you. And if anyone would like to learn more about you, they can go check you guys out on your website. We’ll make sure we have all those links on the show notes for the, under the video and the podcast.

Nimit:

Awesome, appreciate it, thank you for having me.

Danny:

Thank you. All right, so another great episode here, rounding out our IndustrialSage Experts Series. Again, I’m really enjoying these interviews, just learning, a big thing, actually– it’s been coming out as we interview more executives – is this entrepreneurship piece, I think is very cool. Whether it’s somebody who has acquired a company, like Nimit has, or someone who’s in, a CEO coming up through the corporate world, there’s this entrepreneurial spirit that I think, that is very interesting, and I think it’s, sort of, that that common thread. I think Nimit mentioned it well, he said that there was, he had the entrepreneur genes.

So anyways, if you would like to check out more about them, you can take a look at their website, Hydraulic Manifolds USA, we’ll make sure we have all the information in the show notes, you can check them out there. So that’s all I’ve got for you today, thank you so much for listening or watching this episode of IndustrialSage. I’m Danny Gonzales, we’ll be back next week with another episode of IndustrialSage.

 

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