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1/19/2009
Q: How's business right now?
A: Last year was one of the best years we've had in a long time. In November [2008] we took a bit of a hit, then came back a little bit. But things are certainly slow for January.
Q: What changed, and when?
A: We're in the automotive, telecommunications and PC board industries. What has helped us is we had added quite a few more customers last year, so while everybody's down in sales, we have more because of our marketing efforts.
Q: What is your company doing to respond?
A: Over the last ten years we've really gone through a lot of lean manufacturing initiatives, so we're pretty light on our feet. That's how we've really responded.
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5/01/2008
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1/07/2008
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4/30/2007
The key to business longevity is the ability to go with the flow and change when necessary. Bead Industries has done just that. The company has been around since 1867, but the original manufacturing concern bears very little semblance to the company that exists today. Even in the three years since BNH profiled Bead Industries, much has changed.
"Over the 93 years, innovation has been one of the main principles of the company," says Andreoli. "Not long ago, there was no electronic equipment in an automobile. We see ourselves as helping to incorporate those new features into automobiles to make these various new products work.
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When the Going Gets Tough - Area manufacturing execs get real about tough economic times
Ken Bryant is CEO of Bead Industries in Milford, which for nearly a century has distributed Bead Chain. The company also owns McGuire Manufacturing, which makes commercial plumbing supplies.Q: How's business right now?
A: Last year was one of the best years we've had in a long time. In November [2008] we took a bit of a hit, then came back a little bit. But things are certainly slow for January.
Q: What changed, and when?
A: We're in the automotive, telecommunications and PC board industries. What has helped us is we had added quite a few more customers last year, so while everybody's down in sales, we have more because of our marketing efforts.
Q: What is your company doing to respond?
A: Over the last ten years we've really gone through a lot of lean manufacturing initiatives, so we're pretty light on our feet. That's how we've really responded.
Click here to read more.
5/01/2008
4th-Generation Member Joins Family Business
This November, Jillian Bryant Mayer joined her father, Ken Bryant, in his Milford-based manufacturing plant, a business that's been in the family nearly a century. Jillian's great-grandfather, Waldo D. Bryant, started Bead Industries in Bridgeport, CT in 1915. In the years since, four generations of Bryant have joined the company's ranks. Bead Industries, a distributor of bead chain and manufacturer of electronic pins, employs approximately 26 employees and specializes in metal swaging. Bead Industries, despite its strong history, has not survived without hard work. After a move from Bridgeport to Milford and reorganization in 2003, they have outlasted most of their competitors. This is a credit to their excellent customer service and dedication to the continuous innovation of their products.Click here to read more.
1/07/2008
Made in Connecticut: Manufacturing Companies That Continue to Fuel State's Economy
Our 2007 story chronicled the most recent change in a Bridgeport manufacturer that has been around since 1867. The original manufacturing concern bears little semblance to the company that exists today. Even in the three years since BNH first profiled Bead Industries, much has changed. As General Manager Ron Andreoli explains, "We started out making bead chain in 1914, but today we concentrate mostly on the electrical connector component market." Today one-third of Bead Industries' clientele is in the automotive industry, another third of are in telecommunications (devices for the copper-wired side of the telephone system), while the connector industry accounts for the other third of business.Click here to read more.
4/30/2007
Made In Connecticut: To Bead, Or Not To Bead? Drawing a Bead on a New Product Line...
Business New Haven by Melissa NicefaroThe key to business longevity is the ability to go with the flow and change when necessary. Bead Industries has done just that. The company has been around since 1867, but the original manufacturing concern bears very little semblance to the company that exists today. Even in the three years since BNH profiled Bead Industries, much has changed.
"Over the 93 years, innovation has been one of the main principles of the company," says Andreoli. "Not long ago, there was no electronic equipment in an automobile. We see ourselves as helping to incorporate those new features into automobiles to make these various new products work.
Click here to read more.
