Latest News
April, 2011
Mid-March saw the arrival of our newest acquisitions, a Versa-Lift 40/60 Fork Truck. This fork truck possesses the capability to safely lift 60,000 pounds and uses the latest energy efficient technology available in the marketplace by being propelled by a 80 volt all electric motor. Pictured: The Versa-Lift bringing in a new all electric Cincinnati Roboshot 330 ton press.
Winter, 2011 (Eyes on the Future at i2tech)
April, 2011 (Mid-States Powersports Joins the i2tech Team)
By Josh Janeczko, President
Ever since we purchased the property adjacent to our factory in
2008, I have been looking for a retail business to start in the vacant
warehouse and office space not currently being utilized. This past
winter I developed a relationship with the owners of Mid-States
Powersports in Grimes, Iowa. Mid-States is a recreational vehicle
dealer specializing in the sale of Arctic Cat ATVs and Snowmobiles
along with Aprilia Motorcycles and Scooters. They expressed an
interest in selling their business and over the past 3 months I have
been working to purchase their assets and relocate the dealership
next to our operations at 2340 Grand Avenue.
I am proud to announce that Mid-States Powersports is now part of the i2tech team and will be open to the public on Friday April 8th. Mid-States brings with it two employees, the General Manager Terry Powell, and Service Manager Randy Claude. I hired Terry to run the operation and he brings over 30 years of retail experience from Mills Fleet Farm in Appleton, Wisconsin. Terry will be commuting until he and his wife Kris relocate to West Des Moines in the next few months.
Randy Claude was part of the original ownership group of Mid-States and served as their Service Manager since 2004. Randy is an award winning Custom Motorcycle builder, and will continue to focus on providing our customers with world class service and repair. He is an expert snowmobile rider and has lead the Mid-States Racing Team to over 50 ice and grass drag wins.
The new store will provide customers with Arctic Cat ATV's, Snowmobiles,
and Aprilia Scooters. Our intention is to grow the business in
other areas such as Lawn Care, Snow Removal, and Industrial Safety
products. We will be able to offer customers winter and summer storage
as there is over 10,000 square feet
of storage space in the building. Arctic
Cat is also working with us to implement
their "World Class" program
which is done to develop functional,
attractive, and profitable retail businesses. Mid-States will be the first dealership
in their network to have all new designs, graphics, and fixtures.
A grand opening will be scheduled once the World Class program is fully implemented. All i2tech employees will have the opportunity to get discounts and exclusive offers available only to members of our i2tech family. Please extend Terry and Randy a warm welcome as they transition into our company.
And please...go buy something at the new Powersports store!!!!!!
September 26, 2010 (Iowans on Leadership: Company says profit sharing molds a better work force)
By LYNN HICKS • lhicks@dmreg.com • September 26, 2010
And that might help explain why i2tech has been profitable for 28 consecutive quarters.
Josh Janeczko has turned his plastic molding factory's break room into a classroom. Over the hum of the vending machines, the students await their grades.
Employees will learn whether Innovative Injection Technologies (or i2tech) made its profit and other goals last month - and whether they'll get a bump in their paychecks as a result.
Janeczko's slides show mixed results. In August, the West Des Moines plant failed to deliver its products fast enough. The amount of scrap plastic increased, raising costs. But profits and quality measures exceeded expectations. The upshot: All 154 employees get a 3 percent bonus.
The company's owners - the father-and-son team of Robert and Josh Janeczko - believe in sharing knowledge, as well as profits.
"That entire show is done every month to turn them into better business people," Josh Janeczko, 34, said after the presentation. "The secret of our success is engaging employees at the highest level."
Most privately held businesses would never dream of disclosing profit numbers. But sharing financial results - and showing employees how they can affect them - can pay off, said Todd Ordal, a management consultant in Boulder, Colo.
"Some of the numbers that they share are shared by others, but sharing income numbers is pretty unusual," Ordal said when he learned about i2tech's program.
The Janeczkos' approach surprises other business owners, too.
"They admire it, but they're not necessarily willing to divulge as much," said Robert, i2tech's chief executive. "They're afraid employees will look at the bottom line of profitability and say, 'Wow, that's a lot of money.' "
Josh, the president, believes there can be valid reasons for keeping financial information confidential. He's unsure the company would be so forthcoming if profits were higher or its financial situation were uncertain.
But his father reminds him that success trumps secrecy. If you work for him, "you need to understand how the business runs. You are going to make decisions at 2 o'clock in the morning on a Thursday when I'm not here that are going to affect our business."
Making a profit while making employees happy
The Janeczkos say they have evidence that the profit sharing program, called Variable Incentive Plan, or VIP, works. Since the Janeczkos purchased the plant in June 2003, they say:
- VIP has paid 61 of 85 months, or 72 percent of the time.
- They've written $1.4 million in bonus checks.
- The company has been profitable for 28 consecutive quarters.
- Quality, delivery, safety and housekeeping have improved.
So, too, has employee satisfaction. Surveys show employee concerns have dropped from nearly 35 percent in 2002 to 4 percent in 2008. The company scored higher than 40 Iowa companies that completed the same RMS McGladrey survey in 2008, the company said.
Starting pay at i2tech is $11.75 an hour for nightshift and weekend press operators.
Angel Ramirez, a technician who works on plastic presses and has worked at the company for 10 years, said the bonus checks, paid quarterly, can make a significant difference.
"Everybody should be doing his best, but it's a little motivation to make sure you're doing a good job," he said.
The agriculture economy's strength has helped i2tech thrive. About 55 percent of business serves Deere & Co. It molds plastic parts - in "John Deere green" - for tractors, sugar cane harvesters, backhoes and other equipment made in Iowa and around the world.
The plastics injection molder takes resin and molds it under high pressure and heat to make durable parts for Arctic Cat snowmobiles, Kawasaki watercraft and all-terrain vehicles, and other customers' products. Plastics News named the company 2007 processor of the year.
The company has run a 24/7 schedule all summer. It had a full schedule for more than five years until March 2009, when the recession put the brakes on sales.
In the meeting, Josh Janeczko told employees to expect a strong production schedule through April 2011.
How profit-sharing works at i2tech
At the beginning of the year, each i2tech employee gets a card that lists the sales and operating income goals for each month. It also lists goals for safety, quality, delivery and housekeeping.
Employees know that this year's goal is $22.45 million in net sales - which they are on track to exceed - and that i2tech's earnings should exceed operating expenses by 5.6 percent, its operating income before taxes and interest.
Employees get bonuses when the company exceeds budgeted operating income. For example, in August, the Janeczkos had budgeted a 3.4 percent operating income margin. Results came in at 5.4 percent. That's above the target by 2 percentage points, meaning everyone gets 2 percent more in pay.
If the company makes its operating income goal, employees then can get additional money if the company exceeds other benchmarks. In August, i2tech made one of its quality goals, resulting in an extra 1 percent.
It could have been better. The company missed its housekeeping goal for the first time since January 2009. Failing to keep the shop floor clean means you lost the chance to get half a percent more, Josh Janeczko lectured employees at the meeting.
All employees can earn up to 9 percent of their gross wages including overtime. The most the company has ever paid: 8.5 percent. The average bonus is just over 3 percent.
Last year, VIP paid three of 12 months as sales slowed more than expected. This year, the program has paid four out of the first eight months.
Josh Janeczko acknowledged that employees can get frustrated if "sales go down the toilet like they did last year."
"That's the most imperfect part: I do the budget at beginning of the year," he said. "A lot of our employees complain, 'How can we hit our bonus goals if something drastically changes throughout the year?' "
But that's business - and another lesson for employees.
Dan Gross, a senior injection molding technician who has worked at the plant for 19 years, said some employees do get frustrated when there are no VIP checks. But he thinks VIP "helps attitudes all around. Everybody tries to pitch in."
At the employee meeting, Josh Janeczko shared the company's efforts to reuse and sell scrap material, and he asked employees for help finding someone who will take other plastic waste. He showed them numbers that explained how rising material costs cut into operating income last month.
"It's hard to have a guy who's making $12 an hour, who may not have a high school education, to understand what some of these big terms are," he said later. "But if everybody understands what costs are driving your business, they can subconsciously focus on helping reduce those costs.
"I want to be able to look an employee in the eye and say, 'As I succeed, you succeed.' "
August 24, 2010 (Couple donates more than $1 million for plastics engineering scholarships)
Menomonie, Wis. - Plastics engineering wasn't offered when Charllotte and Bob Janeczko attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the 1960s, but their generosity will help ensure that students for decades to come will have that option.
The Janeczkos have pledged in excess of $1 million to be used in the form of scholarships for students majoring in plastics engineering. "This is a unique institution," Bob said of UW-Stout, where he and Charllotte met.
The donation is their way of providing long-term support for UW-Stout and strengthening a growing career field, one that has been good to them. "If you're successful, we believe you have an obligation to give back in a meaningful way," said Bob, who graduated in 1963 with a degree in technology education.
The Janeczkos bought Innovative Injection Technologies, also known as i2tech, in 2003. The company, which has 150 employees, engineers plastic components and subassemblies in West Des Moines, Iowa. Bob is CEO.
"We made our money in plastics, and we're glad to be able to help young people with a career in this great industry," said Bob, a Chicago native who also has been an executive with Morton Metalcraft and John Deere and a professor of industrial technology at Western Illinois University.
Bob and Charllotte have been married for 44 years. Charllotte, who graduated in 1965 in home economics education, is a retired teacher and homemaker. They have four children, including their son Joshua, i2tech president who will take over when Bob retires.
"We wanted to leave a legacy. It's a positive way to be remembered," said Charllotte, who grew up in Rosendale, near Fond du Lac.
Four students have been chosen for the first Janeczko scholarships beginning this fall. Jason McNulty, a senior from Stillwater, Minn., will receive $7,500. Three incoming freshmen each will receive $2,500. They are: Luke Buerkley, from Somerset; Andrew Sandberg, from Mondovi; and Zachary Wenner, from Cottage Grove, Minn.
"I feel very honored and extremely thankful that the Janeczkos established such an amazing scholarship and even more so that they chose UW-Stout's plastics engineering program," said McNulty, who is interning this summer at American Medical Systems in Minnetonka, Minn. "Thanks to their generous donation, I am confident that the program and its future students will have tremendously bright futures."
The Janeczkos' initial donation of $200,000, using estate planning tools, will ultimately yield an endowment worth more than $750,000. For the next 20 years, until the endowment matures and becomes self-sustaining, they also pledged $15,000 a year — or $300,000 — to fund the annual student scholarships.
"Charllotte and Bob Janeczko have provided wonderful scholarship support for four very talented students," said David Williams, vice chancellor for University Advancement. "They've also provided UW-Stout with a great tool to recruit top-quality students into this new field of plastics engineering, which will ultimately yield great graduates well-suited for work in the plastics industry. We're very grateful for their generous gift."
UW-Stout, Wisconsin's Polytechnic University, began offering the Bachelor of Science plastics engineering major in fall 2008. It is one of just a few universities in the country with a four-year plastics program.
I2tech's customers include John Deere, Arctic Cat and Kawasaki. Plastics is the third largest industry in the country, Bob said. "It's a growth industry and very innovative. The industry serves a greater need than most people realize."
February 19, 2010 (Innovative Injection Technologies' press # two is number one!)
Our company has always led the way in plastics technology and innovation. This leadership started with B.
Sheldon "Shel" Goreham at the founding stages of the company and continues 50 years later. Shel was
looking at new technology to help him grow the young plastics business and was familiar with the Cincinnati
Milling and Grinding Co from his metals business. A Cincinnati salesman based in Chicago named Tony
Lutarewych called on Mid Central and told Shel about a brand new line of "hydraulic" machines that would
be Cincinnati's very first plastic injection molding machines. In 1967, Cincinnati had three new
machines running in the final stages of production testing.
1968 would be a rock & roll year for MCP and the year would end with $353,000 in plastics sales. As production volumes increased, Shel ordered Purchasing Manager, Bob Hatch, to buy one of those new Cincinnati hydraulic injection molding machines "Now"! Well, Tony Lutarewych had his first order but told Bob that Cincinnati could not deliver. This was not the answer that Shel wanted to hear so Cincinnati agreed to sell one of the first series of three machines to MCP. The other 2 machines were never sold to the public.
Thus began, a 42-year relationship between Mid-Central Plastics, now i2tech and the Cincinnati Milling and Grinding Co, now Milacron. Bob Hatch issued purchase order # 161 dated August 7, 1968 for $43,825 which would be $272,240 today. Cincinnati shipped Serial Number 67U64106-3 via Brady Motor Freight on 30th of August 1968 to 1107 Maple Avenue in West Des Moines. The machine was vista green in color and had a clamping force of 375 tons and a 32 ounce barrel which was a very large machine for 1968. An old Reed plunger machine was our press #2 and was removed to make room for the new press on Maple Ave. Therefore, our press #2 became the number one Cincinnati injection molding machine ever sold to the public. The new Cincinnati press, along with our old Reeds, Natcos, Stokes, a 75-ton Newbury and a 250-ton New Britain were moved into our current building in 1969.
In 1997, Tony Lutarewych returned to present Cincinnati Milacron's First Customer Award to Mid Central Plastics. Tony was one of Cincinnati's "four horsemen" who were the first salesmen to sell Cincinnati injection molding machines. We now have 26 presses and 19 or 73% are from Cincinnati. Would you buy the very first car that Henry Ford offered in the market place? Talk about your above average risk takers! The fact that this machine, with over 200,000 hours, is still running today's production parts 24/7 is a testimonial to the vision and guts of Shel Goreham, the reliability and serviceability of Cincinnati equipment, and the knowledge and skills of our operators and maintenance people. An audit of our maintenance database shows that we still have the originals of F-115-1 Operator's Instructions and the F-119 Parts list Catalog for press #2.
Press # 2 received its annual PM in November 2009 and got a new injection screw and controller, which Milacron had in stock for a 1967 machine.
Our customers demand that we deliver quality plastic "Just in Time". Having a 43 year old machine, which continues to serve our customers everyday demonstrates our reliability. This is a tribute to the dedication, initiative, pride and the dependability of the men and women of i2tech and these traits will continue to earn the trust of our customers.
On February 16, 2010 Dave Lawrence, President and Glenn Anderson VP of Milacron returned to i2tech to present a plaque for 50 year of plastics processing to Bob and Josh Janeczko. The plaque has an engraving of the original purchase order.
February 14, 2010 (i2tech owners to speak at the Plastics News Executive Forum)
West Des Moines, IA – Innovative Injection Technologies (i2tech) announced that CEO Bob Janeczko and President, Josh Janeczko will speak at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Las Vegas NV on Monday March 7, 2011. The Forum is a three day plastics industry event on Lesson in Leadership, Excellence and Innovation.
The father and son team will participate in a panel of industry leaders that will discuss the topic of "Delivering Great Leadership in your organization. The Panel moderator will be Dr. Gerald Bell, founder and CEO, of the Bell Leadership Institute.
January 11, 2010 (Innovative Injection Technologies Celebrates 50th Anniversary)
In 1960, B. Sheldon Goreham & Steel Treating Inc. saw a great opportunity to expand the metal oil burner nozzle business into plastic nozzles for the agricultural market. STI purchased a Newbury, a New Britain, and a Natco injection molding machine and installed these machines in a 1200 square foot wing of their steel company. Hence, Mid Central Plastics-Division of Steel Treating Inc was born.
With many markets converting to this new plastic material, Steel Treating looked for other opportunities for their injection molding assets. The Kautzky Manufacturing Co. was converting the Lazy Ike fishing lure from wood to plastic and Mid Central Plastics-Division of Steel Treating Inc injection molded the lure bodies and shipped them to Fort Dodge, IA. The success of this new plastics venture necessitated a move to a larger 6500 square foot building at 1107 Maple Avenue in West Des Moines in 1963.
In June of 1968, Steel Treating Inc merged into the surviving corporation, Delavan Manufacturing Company. A few months later, Delavan filed the articles of incorporation that change the division to new stand-alone Company called Mid Central Plastics Inc. The plastics manufacturing operations were moved from Maple Avenue to the new 36,340 square foot building at 2360 Grand Avenue in 1969. We have been in this building for 41 years. On November 18, 1976, B. Sheldon Goreham purchased Mid Central Plastics Inc from the Delavan Manufacturing Company and became sole owner.
Shel Goreham died in 1993 at the age of 78 and the ownership of Mid Central Plastics Inc was inherited and equally split amongst his three surviving children, R. L. "Dick" Goreham, President, D. A. "Dee" Goreham Staples, Vice President, and W. B. "Bill" Goreham.
The Goreham family sold Mid Central Plastics to Bill Morton and the publicly traded Morton Industrial Group in June 1998. The West Des Moines site began "doing business as" Morton Custom Plastics. Paul Schmitz became President of Morton Custom Plastics and Tracy Price became the General Manager of the West Des Moines factory.
On June 20, 2003, Bob & Josh Janeczko, along with Stuart Oxer, purchased the assets of Mid Central Plastics Inc from Morton Industrial Group and changed the name to Innovative Injection Technologies.
Our company has traveled many roads from a privately held to publicly traded and back to a privately held company in its fifty year history. 2010 will be a year for remembering our past. Four special events will be held during the year starting with a customer appreciation day in the spring, followed by an employee celebration in the summer. Our annual supplier day in September will celebrate our suppliers' contributions and we will end the year with a community open house.
