Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com March 28, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 13 >> M A N U FAC T U R E R S Aaron Industries competes internationally by lowering energy costs Aaron Industries Corp.: Green Manufacturing Award A ll of us want to reduce our car- bon footprints and be good global citizens, but when you're a Massachusetts manufacturer, containing energy use isn't just a good idea. It's a life-or-death matter. "In Georgia or Texas, companies are paying half what we are for electricity per kilowatt-hour," said Peter Angelini, environmental consultant for Aaron Industries Corp. in Leominster. Founded in 1983 in the "Pioneer Plastic City," Aaron has 47 full-time employees making and distributing plas- tic resins for use in all kinds of products. Aside from payroll, Angelini said, elec- tricity is the company's biggest expense. That has made its executives acutely aware of the possibility that it's not using power as efficiently as possible. "The thing with Aaron is, they're always looking for ways to become more efficient," said Michael Horton, a National Grid sales representative who has worked with the company for 20 years, helping to find new technologies and ways of operating that are both greener and better for the bottom line. "They're extremely conscious of their environmental impact on society and the local area." Aaron has been working with National Grid and Leidos Engineering of Framingham for years, Angelini said. The partnership lets the company inves- tigate the potential effects of big invest- ments before pulling the trigger. Along with changes to the company's production machinery, Angelini said, Aaron installed LED lights and motion sensors in one building, reducing the lighting costs by 90 percent. Another project channeled the heat put out by plastic melting equipment – which had previously been vented out of the build- ing – to provide winter heat, cutting natural gas consumption in half. Since 2010, Aaron has performed 12 energy improvement projects totaling $1.9 million. To cut the company's expense, National Grid awarded Aaron $557,668 in incentives. The capital investments Aaron has made in efficient technology have been well worth it, Angelini said. The com- pany has saved nearly 2 million in kilo- watt hours of electricity. "The projects generally pay for them- selves within three years," he said. "You keep getting the dividends for years after, decades. It's a great investment." National Grid can sometimes also offer 0-percent financing for new equipment, making projects even more attractive. Meanwhile, Aaron's core mission has an environmental component. The com- pany has always done recycling work, reclaiming plastic trash and transform- ing it into fresh products. Just this past December, it received U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for a new recy- cled polystyrene for use in disposable food packaging. Angelini said the mate- rial can be made of half post-industrial and half post-consumer recyclables. "We're very excited about that," he said. Aaron should serve as an example to other manufacturers, many of which don't think of contacting the utility com- pany before making a big decision about a new piece of equipment, Horton said. Aaron is "always asking questions as to what new technologies and opera- tional analysis can be done," he said. "They're a joy to work with." n Location: Leominster Top executive: Robert G. Tocci, president Full-time employees: 47 Founded: 1983 Signature product: Recycled commodity materials AT A GLANCE: BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to the Worcester Business Journal P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y Columbia Tech helps entrepreneurs realize visions Columbia Tech, a Coghlin Co.: Collaboration in Manufacturing Award AT A GLANCE: S ay you're a startup founder with a brilliant idea for a medical device or a new way to use solar power. The problem is, you have no way to actually build the thing and no time to sort through manufacturers who could. Don't worry. Columbia Tech is there for you. The Westborough company provides engineering and manufacturing services for clients in fields from pharmaceuti- cals to homeland security. Just as impor- tantly, if there's any service it can't pro- vide, chances are, it can figure out some- one else who's perfect for the job. Since 2014, Columbia has run the Referral Alliance Network, which pro- vides a smooth path for getting products made fast. Chris Coghlin, president and CEO, said the company works with local and international partners to do every- thing from designing circuit boards to turning around a big run of products. "By doing this, we keep it in the fam- ily, and we develop very trustful rela- tionships," Coghlin said. The complex web of Columbia's part- nerships includes Applied Interactive, a Worcester marketing firm that reaches out to innovators who are just in the process of developing their ideas. When those entrepreneurs respond, they need fast, smart guidance, he said. "When that phone rings or when that lead comes in, it means they need help now," Coghlin said. "We can help them ourselves or get them in the hands of a partner." Among the companies that Columbia looks to for help is Optimum Technologies, a Southbridge medical device developer. Optimum CEO Randal Chinnock said when a client comes to Columbia to get a medical device manufactured, the company often reaches out to Optimum. "More often than not, the product isn't really ready for prime time," Chinnock said. "If they haven't been through the process of developing medi- cal devices specifically… you will have missed things." Optimum helps clients with design work, making sure the devices meet with the standards used by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, before Columbia turns out the designs into products. Similar stories play out in all the industries Columbia operates in. Phil Holman, president of Fourstar Connections Inc. in Hudson, said Columbia calls his firm in when they need cable assemblies and other compo- nents for electronic systems. "One of the things they sell is time to market, so it's a very challenging envi- ronment to work in," Holman said. "All the processing has to happen quickly." The partnership works because both companies can apply their own areas of technical expertise to seek out cost sav- ings and efficient ways of getting the work done, Holman said. Aside from its clients, partners and suppliers, Columbia works closely with local high schools and colleges, meeting with students to develop the next gen- eration of talent for local businesses. "We're very passionate about forming collaborations locally and nationally to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts," Coughlin said. n BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to the Worcester Business Journal Location: Westborough Top executive: Chris Coghlin, president & CEO Full-time employees: 400 Founded: 1885 (Coghlin Cos.) Signature product: Electromechanical equipment aftermarket services Jim Coghlin, Sr., chairman of the Coghlin Cos. (in the black jacket) with his two sons, Jim Coghlin, Jr., chief operating officer (far left) and Chris Coghlin, CEO (far right) and Chris Palermo, CFO Coghlin Companies/GM Columbia Tech. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y

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