This article was originally published Mar 8, 2012 on Mlive.com. View the original article here.
A downturn in the economy has resulted in an upturn in business for Carlton Technologies, a company that sells and services reconditions bar code scanners and data collection device.
“With companies looking to save money and boost efficiency, we have seen a huge increase in demand that has driven growth here by 150 percent during the last three years,” CEO and company president Ryan Bracken said.
Bracken put 2012 sales in the $10 million to $20 million range. Carlton Technologies operates from a 13,000-square-foot plant on the north side of Holland at 4518 128th Ave. reworking and selling certified preowned handheld scanning and data devices that work and look like new.
“We can take a warehouse scanner that’s pretty beat up and bring it up to operating specs, paint it, give it a new keyboard and it looks nearly brand new,” he said.
The 13-year-old firm also sells service contracts for quick turn around repair and return of the devices to keep everything running smooth at businesses ranging from grocery stores, to shoe companies and freight lines.
Among its clients are major companies as Spartan Stores, Costco, Wolverine Worldwide, U-Haul and ABC Warehouse.
“Like everyone else, 2008 was a challenging year for us. But, we got right-sized and fine tuned our systems and services to be ready for the rebound,” he said.
Bracken said companies buying rebuilt certified preowned equipment can save up to half the $3,000 cost of buying new.
Carlton Technologies gets previously owned scanners and data collection devices from a variety of sources including purchases of old equipment from clients, buying products coming off lease and from original equipment suppliers who are selling new products.
“They’ll buyback 1,000 units to sell 1,000 new ones and sell us the older units,” Bracken said.
His company also provides service contracts to companies that need quick turnaround on repairs to mobile computing devices, handheld and fixed location scanners.
“The level of service Carlton Technologies provides is essential to our company both by reducing downtime for our 500 plus devices and in saving us money,” Haworth Inc. Computing Services manager Jim Morse said.
