Member Spotlight:听Designetics
Holding it all together: Designetics thrives on innovation and people power
Although Sydney Spraw PhD, president of , followed her grandfather and father at the helm of the fluid-applicator powerhouse, she鈥檚 not sure that she should call herself third generation.
鈥淚 say that I鈥檓 Generation 2.5 because there wasn鈥檛 the usual generational switch between my grandfather, Wally Krueger, and my dad, Craig Williams.鈥�
She characterized Wally as a 鈥渃reative dreamer鈥� whose strengths meshed well with Craig鈥檚 business acumen. Wally鈥檚 engineering background drove the quest to help auto manufacturers seeking a better way to apply adhesive chemicals to automotive windshields. Up until then, that application was done by hand 鈥� a practice that was messy, wasteful and dangerous to line workers.
Beginning in 1987, Designetics was a family affair from the start. In the company鈥檚 early years, home garages in Toledo served as production sites, and everyone 鈥� including teens 鈥� would be involved at least part-time in the process. From its cottage-industry foundation, the company rapidly expanded through three ever-bigger facilities prior to its current home in Holland, Ohio.
Today鈥檚 Designetics is a global company with contracts in 60 countries. Part of its strength is being a one-stop shop, offering services from design to machining to injection-molding fabrication to a lab where customers鈥� specific manufacturing processes can be evaluated and tested. 听
Sorting through a sampling of Designetics鈥� custom applicators, Sydney explains how each design has to address the specific conditions of a client鈥檚 production process: 鈥淏ecause the chemicals are applied, we have to understand a number of aspects in our customer鈥檚 process, including chemical composition. And because this is a flow-through process, we have to be mindful of particle content as well as laydown of the chemical on the substrate.鈥�
With multiple engineering specialists on its team, Sydney characterizes the company as 鈥榮uper-niche.鈥� Our self-sufficiency enables us to respond very quickly to our customers, keeps our costs low and keeps us on top of emerging technologies. That sets us apart.
鈥淲e have copycats, but our goal is to focus on us and what we can do to set ourselves apart in our industry,鈥� she adds.听听
The company鈥檚 scientific and technological assets are matched by a dedication to its human resources. 鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on innovation 鈥� and on having a diverse group of employees who respect each other and work well together,鈥� she says, noting that Designetics won a 2022 Toledo Blade award for Best Places to Work.
Her pride in Designetics employees is obvious as she walks through the facility, exchanging greetings and quick jokes. The recent Lean Six Sigma certification some employees earned is celebrated with company-wide congratulations.听
鈥淥ur employees accomplish so much. We may disagree at times, but we鈥檙e always learning, always working toward being better humans.鈥�
She has similar sentiments about running a family business: 鈥淥ur family is very functional. We all have hopes and aspirations, but they鈥檙e focused on the good of the company rather than on individuals. We have things organized well in succession planning 鈥� we鈥檙e lucky that way because I know other family businesses where it鈥檚 not the case.鈥�
Her younger brother hasn鈥檛 decided whether he鈥檒l join the company. Sydney鈥檚 own background was ceramics and art history (she鈥檚 since earned her doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology); it was never assumed that she鈥檇 join, either.
鈥淥ur goal is what鈥檚 right for the company,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you want to be part of Designetics, put your time in. I did. People here respect you for what you contribute to the organization. I did most of the jobs here; my position now isn鈥檛 because of my family.鈥�
Her own respect for the UT Family Business Center is similarly based in its contributions to businesses like hers. 鈥淚鈥檝e been in an affinity group for five-plus years now, I spoke at one of their amazing Women, Wine and Wisdom events, and a number of my employees have completed the Leadership (or other) Certification, I was on the committee and our organization supported the golf outing last year 鈥� to say the least, we love the Center!鈥�
She has one more point to make: 鈥淭he Center is a true community partner.听They didn鈥檛 bat an eye when I ask for support in our coat drive last year.听That鈥檚 just a simple example of the valuable work they do!鈥�
Community support is high on Designetics鈥� agenda as well. Their nonprofit charitable foundation, Designetics Cares, delivers help where the community needs it, via outreach, donations and in-kind services. The coat drive Sydney mentioned is one of many ways the company and its employees create a better world for current and future generations.
Like her grandfather Wally, Sydney is a self-confessed dreamer for bigger and better, saying, 鈥淭he sky鈥檚 the limit. Each day鈥檚 different, with new challenges. The business is fun, and meeting challenges is part of that.鈥�