Kato Engineering on its niche powering

Source: Manufacturing Exec

Date :10/12/2007 05:08:14

Kato Engineering seeks to redefine how to quickly manufacture design-to-order generators for its customers.

Written and produced by James Buchanan & Patrick Harlow

Kato Engineering, Inc., based in North Mankato, Minn., has managed to define a niche within a niche.

The company is a manufacturer of electric generators and motor-generators that serve a wide variety of industries and needs, from primary power to backup power generation.

However, the company does not sell directly into the marketplace.

“The companies we sell to will take our generator and mount it with the turbine as a package-complete product,” says Gary Burandt, VP and general manager of Kato. “They’ll also test it and sell that product to the end-user or through a distributor.”

He adds that the company’s primary customers are OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in the markets they serve.

Since the company serves a broad array of industries – oil and gas, mining and manufacturing, military, transportation, co-generation, computers and telecommunications – there is great growth potential, but marketing needs to be targeted to a potential client’s needs, says Burandt.

In certain markets, he says, the company will call on consultants and engineers to get its products specified, which helps get the word out about Kato’s work. Word-of-mouth about the company’s capabilities and unique qualities is a key driver for new business for Kato, say Burandt and Neal Benson, director of lean enterprise for the company.

The general goal, though, adds Benson, is to maintain the current customer base while appealing to new entrants in the market and growing with them.

“We’re in so many different industries, and each area has different power requirements,” says Benson, “and within each industry there are a number of niche businesses that are fairly unique, so there is a relatively broad market…

To read the full article, click here