Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal • May 9, 2016 www.wbjournal.com L eslie Greis, owner and director for Worcester metal former and pro- cessor Kinefac Corp., knows some of the best growth opportunities can come from unusual places. That hap- pened awhile back when Kinefac got a somewhat peculiar request from a zoo. "It turns out that the elephants were getting out of their cages because they Manufacturers work together as a success strategy were plowing down the gate with the weight of a charging elephant, or they were pretty smart and figured out a way to open up the gate with their long snout," Greis said. "And so, we were charged with, 'Can you develop a better elephant gate?'" Kinefac, with its hydraulic technology and mechanical engineering expertise, did build a better elephant gate, with a hydraulically-operated braking system. The new gate stumped the elephants, and not one has escaped since. STR AIGHT TO THE POINT. Now flying direct from Rhode Island's Green Airport to Chicago O'Hare. American Airlines and the Flight Symbol logo are marks of American Airlines, Inc. oneworld is a mark of the oneworld alliance, LLC. © 2016 American Airlines, Inc. All rights reserved. STR TR T AIGHT TO THE POINT. T. T Now flying direct from Rhode Island's Green Airport to Chicago O'Hare. At CSB our Commercial Relationship Managers will work for your business like family. CSB's commercial customer, Bob Chase Sr., Principal/President of family run business, Quabbin Timber, and his Commercial Relationship Manager, Dave Harmon. clintonsavings.com 888-744-4272(4 CSB) After that, Kinefac got lots of calls from companies wanting gates just as sturdy as the one they made for the zoo. As a metal former and processor, this was not Kinefac's main line of business, but it was a great opportunity for the company. "It's developed into an interesting line of business we never thought we would be in," she said. Greis was one of four panelists discuss- ing collaboration and partnerships in manufacturing at the Worcester Business Journal's first Manufacturing Summit & Excellence Awards. The panel was moderated by Peter Russo, growth and innovation program manager at the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP) and featured Greis; Michael Detarando, president and CEO of Incom, Inc.; Neil McDonough, president and CEO of FLEXcon; and Bill Laursen, senior vice president for sales and strate- gy at The Coghlin Cos. Collaboration was discussed in four contexts: training, product development, sales and general principles. Incom had a similar experience to Kinefac in that it ventured into a business MANUFACTURING S U M M I T & Worcester Business Journal's EXCELLENCE AWARDS Peter Russo, growth and innovation program manager at the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (far left), leads a panel of industry leaders to discuss collaboration. BY LAURA FINALDI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer P H O T O S / R O N B O U L E Y P H O T O G R A P Y

• Cover