MORE INFO ALL DAY: milwaukee.bizjournals.Gom JULY 31, 2009

AFTER HOURSDowntown EmployeeAppreciation Weekwas held July 27-31.A21

Neil Karolek (cenler, wilh Shannon Omick, left, and Jean Sluiber) ... "Most things that we produce people can'l gel anywhere else."

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR FIRSTSUCCESS? "In the 80s, employed atJohnson Controls, I made an engineeringpresentation to senior managers ofChrysler. It led to a decent order forJCI, but more to the point, changed mycareer path from engineering only tomore of a sales and business focus. Thatchange eventually secured managementpositions at various companies andultimately the formation of TLXitself."

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST BUSINESSCHALLENGE? "With TLX,properlymanaging business growth is a constant

DefyingphysicsTLX Technologiescontinues to followits innovative pathBY PEG MASTERSON EDQUISTSpecial to The Business Journal

Neil Karolek, chief executive officer of TLXTechnologies LLCin Wauke:;ha, is not in thebusiness of defying the laws of physics. but heworks hard to challenge those laws every day:

"Most things that we produce people can'tget anywhere else." said Karolek. an engineerwho started the manufacturing company inhis dining room in 1997 with three formerco-workers of the former Applied Power Inc.,Milwaukee, after their jobs were eliminated.

Since that time, TLX- which designs andmanufactures electro-mechanical actua-tors, solenoids and fluid control valves - hasgrown to a business with 10.000 square feetof manufacturing space at W2 23 N73 5 Sara-toga Drive, Waukesha.

Product applications range from air bags,commercial fertilizing machines. motorcyclesand faucets. Customers include Badger MeterInc .. Harley-Davidson Inc. and several fire pro-tection system manufacturers. Using sevenpatents and a wide range of engineering capa-bility,TLX produces custom solenoids that canbe smaller, stronger and faster to accomplishtasks previously thought to be improbable.

A solenoid is an electrically energized coilof insulated wire which produces a magneticfield within the coil. This field creates the abil-ity to attract a metal trigger to move compo-nents in a linear direction.

"Peoplecall us with problems that are difficultto accomplish, and we give them a market ad-vantagewbcn we can do it in the sizeand powerrequtrement they giveus," Karolek, 55, said.

TLX customer Vectra Sense TechnologiesInc., Cambridge, Mass .. uses a tiny TLX sole-noid in the sole of its athletic shoe to regulateair cushions that adjust for comfort whilewalking or running.

"It's the type of thing you can't just get fromoverseas," said Ronald Demon, chief executiveofficer of Vectra Sense. "We needed someonewho has a strong knowledge of mechanicaldesign and can take a product through tocompletion."

After obtaining $300,000 from a group ofangel investors in 1997, Karolek secured thecompany's first customers from the automo-tive industry. With the help of partner DerekDahlgren, they designed a patented solenoidthat improved the efficiency of air bags. Theproduct caught on but was thwarted a yearlater when the National Transportatiou Safe-ty Board changed the rate of deployment for

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air bags, The company, which had jnst movedto its current location, regrouped and foundwork in the fife protection industry. Duringthe next six years, operational costs werefortified by small business loans and lines ofcredit and TLX grew at a slow pace, eventu-ally reaching 10 employees and sales of $1.2million in 2004.

In 2007, the company received a large orderfrom Harley-Davidson. and Karolek obtainedmore than $800,000 from the StonehengeCapital. a Wisconsin-based venture capitalfund, which helped the company accommo-

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONYOU'VE LEARNED? "Communicate.Whether in sales efforts with customers orexchanges with financial people .unless you're extremely clear, you'll manytimes assume more is understood thanactually is."

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO KEEPYOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE?"Constantly recruit, hire and continuallytrain the best engineering talentavailable. TLXsponsors a scholarshipprogram at MSOEfor just thispurpose."

challenge. Some new programs for nextyear require different material handlingprocesses, more equipment and evena slightly different mindset for efficientprocuction."

date the work. Sales increased 25 percent be-tween 2007 and this year, and are expectedto reach $4 million at the end of 2009. Thecompany now employs 25 people.

"I think (TLX)is a rare find in manufactur-ing, especially when you have the talent thatthis company has as well as the proprietarytechnology," said Kent Velde, manager of theStonehenge, "The company is doing extremelywell and growing very rapidly and their tech-nology is very unique."

Last fall. Karolek was approached by theWisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partner-

ship in Madison to participate in an enterprisebusiness transformation project. As the firstparticipant in the project. TLX works withWMEP consultants to set goals for optimumperformance, help synchronize departmentsand implement lean manufacturing prac-tices,

"As a company grows, the infrastructuredoesn't always come along with it," said RickGoodson, senior manufacturing specialist atWMEP. "This project puts a laser beam focuson what the company wants to accomplish ina certain time period."

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