BALDOR MOTORS

For the last 35 years, Baldor Motors has had foreign competition. In the 70s, it was from Great Britain, in the 80s from Japan, the 90s brought in Taiwan and Korea, and now China. During this period of time, the company has achieved growth by providing customers with more value than any competitor, foreign or domestic. In doing so, the company has grown to first place in this industry.

There are many things that set this company apart from the competitors. One of the things that differentiate it is that this company makes a large variety of products, with almost 40% of total sales coming from non-standard or custom designs. The company focuses on providing customers the highest quality products and premium performance, like our Super-E® Premium Efficient motors which use a minimum amount of energy. Each year, it produce thousands of different types of motors, ranging from approximately ½ inch in diameter and weighing a few ounces, to almost three feet in diameter and weighing over 10,000 pounds. To put it another way, this company designs, manufactures and sells value-added products, not commodities.

It takes well-trained and experienced employees to make the best and most reliable products available. Baldor Motors provides numerous opportunities to advance its employee education through classes such as Understanding Value, Baldor History and Culture, Literacy, Free Enterprise, Dale Carnegie and Gauges and Tooling. The company also offers assistance with advanced degree programs at local colleges and universities. Because the company does not want this investment in its people going out the door in tough times, it continues to maintain a “no layoff philosophy. Baldor has survived a number of economic downturns in the 84-year history, and in each case they have emerged stronger. During the recent down-turn, they continued to invest in new products and greatly increased capabilities in motors, drives and generators. Reducing new product efforts over the last three years could have helped the short-term results, but would not have made the company stronger for the future.

Their focus on taking care of customers and providing them more value than the rest of the competitors has earned an industry leading position in customer preference. Some would say they are “old fashioned because they still have local sales offices with real people answering the phones, trained and capable of helping customers select the right motor, drive or generator. They make sure customers get the right product when and where they need it. Their strong sales force is definitely one of the best competitive advantages.