I have a lot of respect and admirantion for Keny Whitright, the guy who invented the color scroller and started Wybron out of his garage in Dallas. But Keny has relinquished the day-to-day operation of the company and brought in a new CEO, Larry Turner, who in turn is building a management team and making significant changes to the way the company operates. Among the most interesting of the changes is a slew of new products, one per month, that they are introducing before LDI. I had the good fortune to visit that factory last week and among the first people I ran into there was Miles Dudgeon. The last time I saw him he was introducing me to Rosco's Keystroke. Now he's in Colorado Springs running the marketing department there. Ken Fasen, the longtime Wybron employee has moved to tech support, and a new VP of engineering, a new VP of manufacturing, and a comptroller are in place to kick start the new era at Wybron.
If there's one thing I've learned over the past 20 years it's that new products are the life's blood of the industry. The color scroller is one of the most enduring products in the industry but eventually the demand for them has to slow, if for no other reason because everybody already has one – or a thousand if you're PRG (okay, a thousand per location?) It wasn't that long ago that Martin was a fog machine manufacturer before they started cranking out new products at a serious pace. Now they are one of the kings of the industry. I attribute that to strong R&D and new product development. After talking to the management at Wybron, I don't know that they want to be the next Martin, but they are definitely eyeing expanding their market and they are looking for new products to help them do so. And I like the ones I saw, especially InfoTrace.
I've seen other companies fail at trying to make the transition from a small, single-owner-run company to a more business-like company run by a management team, particularly when the management is from outside the industry. On the other hand, Martin followed that scenario and they've done pretty well. Wybron has all the pieces in place and they have a plan that looks very good on paper. It will be interesting to watch them the next few years and see how that plan unfolds.
Miles Dudgeon (L) and CEO Larry Turner
Wybron offices
Optical sensors for InfoTrace data management
Finished color scrollers waiting for packaging and shipment
Wybron keeps a huge inventory of gel to make scrolls
Making the scrolls
Wybron keeps much of the manufacturing in-house to control quality. This is their powder-coating booth.
Operator at CNC machine – one of several
Wybron rewards innovation by recognizing employee ideas
Wybron manufacturing facilities – 35,000 square feet including offices
