Tektone Sound & Signal

- TekTone Sound & Signal stays ahead of its competition by investing in its best resource—
itself.

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The quiet hamlet of Franklin, North Carolina (population 3,967) in the Blue Ridge Mountains
of North Carolina may not seem like a place where one would find a company on the cutting
edge of the telecommunications industry.

But Franklin is home to TekTone Sound & Signal and has been since 1989 when the
company outgrew its Florida operations. TekTone relocated to Franklin with plans of
expansion. Today, TekTone has a manufacturing plant and sales office in the beautiful
mountains of western North Carolina — plus a network of first-rate distributors and
representatives that stretches worldwide.

TekTone began as a commercial and residential intercom company. The idea that two
people could communicate while being in separate rooms was a novelty back in the 1970s.
Now, It is commonplace. And as people’s expectations have changed about the way they
communicate, so too has the market.

Where TekTone had built a strong foundation based on its success in the residential and
commercial sectors, it became clear to company management that the next phase of growth
would have to come in the burgeoning health care sector, which has exploded now that
Baby Boomers have reached retirement age. This would require changes in the way they
went about business; from design to manufacturing; from service to sales.

Shepherding TekTone through this change has been Johnny Mira-Knippel current vice-
president, and grandson to Manuel Mira. “Maintaining the status quo, in my opinion, means
death”, he says. “We had to change in response to the market and culture.”

The turning point for Mira-Knippel came during a trip to South Africa he made as a graduate
student. “I came home a different person”, he says of that time. “Being in a remote area, I
learned the importance of honesty, leadership and communication.”

When he returned Mira-Knippel sold his co-workers on the importance of streamlining their
operations and becoming as efficient as possible.

Some companies might wilt in the face of such upheaval, but TekTone has thrived. A large
part of the company’s success is due to the core values that have been present since
TekTone first opened its doors. Those core values are represented in its workforce, where
every person is considered to be part of the family. But it goes beyond that according to
Mira-Knippel. “We consider every employee an extension of our family, and all the
employees treat each other like family.”

The success of this approach can be measured by the fact that TekTone has an employee
retention of nearly 98%.
“We challenge our employees to offer new ideas and reward when they have them,” Mira-
Knippel says. “We reward a can-do attitude and the willingness to work together.

Having this type of cooperation makes instituting change much easier. TekTone has gone
from a company that did fairly typical assembly-line type of production work where
employees worked independently to a company where employees work in team setting or
manufacturing cells.

The change Mira-Knippel instituted at TekTone was not simply among employees, he was
able to help his fellow executives see things differently as well. “We focused on improving
our process of eliminating the seven wastes throughout the company,” he says. “Every day,
we try to either eliminate or greatly reduce over-production, waiting time, transportation,
processing, inventory, motion and scrap to ensure profitability and continued growth.”

While it may sound as though Mira-Knippel is satisfied with TekTone’s position, he has no
intention of letting it rest on its laurels. His competition simply will not allow it. “Growing
market competition exists and we understand that,” he says. “But we are ready to meet
those challenges thanks to the dedication of our employees.”

And they will continue to do so in tiny Franklin, a town that bills itself as the “Gem Capital of
the World.” Although the moniker is meant to allude to precious metals, it could just easily
refer to TekTone Sound & Signal.