DRT Uses Tech Source to Find an IT Partner
Author: Claire Kerr
May 2007
DRT Manufacturing Co. Inc., formerly known as Dayton Reliable Tool, was founded in 1949 by Ermal Fraze. DRT is famous for developing and perfecting the integral rivet technology that revolutionized the can industry for beer and beverage packaging (the "pop-top"). The company has evolved into a multi-market precision, component manufacturer and systems integrator with more than 200 employees with 4 locations in the US and 1 in Germany. Customer groups include the container industry, medical manufacturers (procedure specific instruments and orthopedic implants), computer equipment manufacturers, power generation, and aerospace. More information is available on their website at www.drtmfgco.com
David Geis, CIO of DRT shares his experience using Tech Source:
"We needed a software development partner to help decommission an old ERP system and make important history information available to end users. As a small-to-midsize company, finding the right IT partner can be a tricky business. Smaller opportunities are not always attractive to partners ccustomed to large scale development projects and imposing the cost structure and organizational overhead of a large firm can kill a project in its infancy. On the other hand, our internal customers expect IT solutions to be completed on time, function according to requirements, and be serviceable ver the long term so not every smaller firm is a good match for us.
I doubt we're alone in receiving perhaps hundreds of cold calls each month from IT vendors hawking their wares. I often feel like the proverbial Eskimo facing down the air conditioner salesman as much of the time the hardware or service being sold doesn't even apply to our business. At the same time, we frequently don't ave the time to explore even those products or services that might be a match for us unless we're currently in need of them.
Some of our best matches have resulted from recommendations we've solicited from sources such as peers, existing business partners, and employees; but in some cases we've found ourselves starting from square one in our search for an IT partner.
That's where Tech Source came in. We put together a short but comprehensive overview of what we needed in this project and asked for their help. Tech Source chose a group of firms that seemed like a good fit and queried those organizations to determine whether they seemed to be a match. Then it provided to us a list of only those vendors that met our requirements and were also interested in the type of business relationship we had proposed. Of course, it fell upon us to vet each of the candidates and make the final determination of the best fit for DRT, as it should be.
We ended up partnering with Digital Controls for this project. Ironically, we were already a satisfied Digital Controls customer in the Wide-Area-Networking arena but had no idea they were also in the software development business. We discovered that our needs and their capabilities were a great match on this project.
Tech Source saved us many hours in the partner selection process and made a connection we would never have anticipated on our own.
Collaboration-driven services such as Tech Source require utilization and critical mass to be successful. I'd urge readers to give them a try on their next IT sourcing project. The services are provided at no cost so you have nothing to lose. And you might just be surprised at the partners you find!"
To discuss how we can help your organization find IT solutions or for information on how to participate in the Tech Source program, please contact Claire Kerr at 937-229-9092 or a This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
