By Nathan Peck | MiBiz
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GRAND RAPIDS — Ian Macartney never set out to be a clockmaker.

Ian Macartney looks to grow his business through a partnership with a Swiss clock-maker thanks to renewed investment in the U.S. transportation infrastructure. PHOTO: NATHAN PECK

After tinkering with repairing neon clocks after college in the mid-1980s, Macartney happened upon a growth market making decorative neon clocks and opened a neon sign business, Neon Americana. American consumers’ interest in 1950s nostalgia waned in the late 1990s and foreign competition driving prices down, forcing Macartney to make a tough decision: either change his business significantly or go out of business.

“We were selling clocks for $150 apiece,” Macartney explained. “The Chinese came in, copied our designs and beat us on price. Their clocks were coming in at $6 wholesale. That was less than the price of my box.”

By 2005, the changing environment shrunk his workforce from 15 down to three: Macartney; his wife, Karen; and one employee. Lumichron Inc. has moved away from decorative clocks toward architectural clocks and public time systems. The company manufactures clocks in a variety of sizes from freestanding bracket clocks to timepieces whose displays measure 6 feet across or more.

The company has entered into a partnership with MOBATIME, a Swiss manufacturer of time systems, indoor and outdoor clocks and clock movements. MOBATIME designs systems that can synchronize multiple clocks using GPS and other means, and are ideal for transportation hubs. Macartney sees opportunity for his business as the U.S. reinvests in its transportation infrastructure. He is heading to the American Public Transportation Association’s triennial conference and expo in New Orleans.

“Our American transit system is particularly void of clocks — therein lies our opportunity,” he said. “The airport in Frankfurt has more than 5,000 clocks — Gerald R. Ford Airport has five clocks in place.”

The move from a production mindset to custom order business-model has brought its share of opportunities and challenges. Lumichron relies on close relationships with its vendors. The metal stamping shops, powder coaters and plastic injection molders it works with are all located nearby. As orders come in, Macartney leverages these relationships as it is not operationally sound to keep materials on hand when products vary so wildly in size and components.

“All of my product (inventory) has disappeared — now everything is custom made to order,” Macartney said. “I used to have inventory, now it is zero. Orders become something of a juggling act in trying to keep it all coordinated.”

Lumichron relocated back to West Michigan in 2010 after an attempted partnership with a manufacturer of bells and chimes in South Carolina fell through. Upon his arrival there, Macartney found out quickly what he had left behind — a region that has a wide spectrum of services and subcontractors right in his backyard.

“It was simply hard to get things made. Only when you come back do you realize what Michigan has to offer,” Macartney said. “Michigan really is a manufacturing powerhouse. Subcontracting was such a chore down there. It’s a nice place, but it is not on the same wavelength as here.”

Lumichron is leveraging its web presence to get in front of developers and project managers. The shift toward Internet sales and lead generation is admittedly a hard move for Macartney, a self-described “analog guy.”

“The web really serves as a lead generation tool — all you want is some engagement with the potential customer. Really all of our business comes from the web indirectly,” he said. “The business moves so quickly. I’ll learn about a RFQ at 9 a.m. and I’ll have it turned around before 9:30.”