If you follow us on social media or work with us in any capacity, you know we have a very niche market. The majority of our clientele are manufacturers in the industrial space. The most interesting part is that about 90% of these companies are family run, exactly how they started. Doesn’t sound like anything extremely novel until you start to understand the industry and it’s hurdles. 

The biggest hurdle? Adapting.

It is certainly not rare for Energetek to walk into a factory of some sort and see time cards- physical time cards that employees punch in and punch out. Now, I don’t know if you are up with the times but it’s 2019. We have self driving cars now, so wouldn’t you think that time cards would be obsolete? Apparently we stand corrected. We sat down with Jason Kuntz, the VP at Service Die Cutting and Packaging and discussed how his success in adapting to technology has catapulted his business into an 80% growth curve. 

Jason’s dad started as a packaging broker in packaging sales. This led to him partnering with a manufacturer and starting his own packaging company, Service Die Cutting and Packaging Corp.– specializing in customized packaging. Settling into the manufacturing hub of the Kensington corridor of Philadelphia. Kensington has since become a VERY different place. The world in general is a completely different place than what it was in 1963 when the company sprung its roots and boy does Jason know it. First, it was the implementation of computers into the work place. Then, the internet became the major dashboard for doing literally anything- following the mindset of “if you can’t google it, it doesn’t exist.” Business had changed and he knew it was time for a change. “In 2009 I had a crew of 15 guys and the company was drowning in debt. I did a total revamp of the business and started from scratch.” He built the company and its clients to be what it is today, one of the top custom packaging companies in the area. But even he will tell you, that without hitting that reset button in ‘09, the company would never be where it is today with over 80% growth. “Manufacturing isn’t a dying industry- it’s the lack of adaptation to technology,” Jason says. The proof couldn’t be more evident. Most of his sales are done online in some capacity and Service Die is the first manufacturer that I have seen that has a user friendly mobile website. That’s a far cry from punch cards. 

“Business is always changing, you have to change with it.”

Jason and his dad have proven that there is a way for family owned manufacturers to take a piece of the pie; it just involves change. It might even involve a total company revamp, who knows? Change is a catalyst for growth. Without it, you are going to continue to produce the same mediocre results and eventually fall behind.

Written by Kristin DeBias