Owners of Power Partners, Inc., Acquire Gap Manufacturing in Rabun Gap, GA
5/13/2008
Lean Manufacturing Experts Have Track Record of Saving U.S. Manufacturing Jobs
ATHENS, GA, May 13, 2008 - Sherrie Ford and Steve Hollis, experts in bringing culture and lean manufacturing refinements to manufacturing operations and creating strong, sustainable companies, announced today they have purchased Gap Manufacturing (www.gapmfg.com), a customized metal design and fabrication company in Rabun Gap, GA, from the Advanced Metal Services Group. Ford is the majority owner of Gap Partners, as the company is to be known.
The mission of Ford and Hollis is to save manufacturing jobs in the southeastern United States and develop work cultures that can sustain changes in market, product and methods of manufacture. In 2003, the two work culture and lean manufacturing consultants bought a poletype distribution transformer manufacturing company that had been recording losses for a number of years. Today, Power Partners, Inc., (www.powerpartners-usa.com) is a profitable company run by involved and motivated employees who adapt to change and contribute to innovation and effectiveness by eliminating wasteful practices. In the past year, Power Partners established a new product line, solar panels branded under the name Power Partners Solar (www.powerpartnerssolar.com), for multiple applications that include water heaters for residential, commercial and industrial applications. The transformers and solar panels are produced in Athens, GA.
Gap Partners, a 12-year-old company with approximately 42 employees, specializes in manufacturing precision sheet metal parts from customer-supplied drawings. It serves the telecommunications, wireless, computer, air filtration, environmental, aerospace, process control, medical and other industries. The company is ISO 9001: 2000 certified.
Its largest customers include Flash Technology in Franklin, TN (metal enclosures and other fabricated products for flash lighting devices used in warning systems intended to prevent collisions of aircraft, watercraft and other vessels); Syn-Tech in Tallahassee, FL (products for fuel dispensing systems for military, aircraft and marine applications); FIAMM Technologies in Waynesboro, GA (racking systems designed to store large batteries used for emergency electrical back-up for cellular towers); Meggitt Training Systems (enclosures and hardware for live fire and simulation training gear for military and law enforcement); and Lockheed Martin (fabricated components for aircraft missile diverter systems).
Gap Partners will be led by Raymond Page, who has worked with both Ford and Hollis in other settings and has been associated with Gap Manufacturing for over a decade. With Ford as the majority owner, Gap Partners will receive the benefit of majority woman-owned status. The company will be run independently and will not be part of Power Partners.
"Gap Partners is a good match for us for a number of reasons," said Sherrie Ford, chairman and executive of Power Partners and Power Partners Solar and founder of Change Partners (www.changepartners.com), an organizational consulting firm helping work cultures adapt to change. "Like Power Partners, it is proficient in fabricating and painting metal, and potentially there are sourcing synergies. Gap Partners has a strong backlog of orders, and we believe we can introduce lean manufacturing and other cultural refinements that will enable employees to achieve long-term success."
"We anticipate that Gap Partners will grow and generate more jobs in northeastern Georgia," said Steve Hollis, CEO of Power Partners and Power Partners Solar. "We look forward to working with Gap Partners leaders and employees to meet the needs of customers and build a successful company."
Biographies of Ford and Hollis are at http://www.powerpartners-usa.com/pages/about-04.html.