For many, the word “innovation” brings to mind movement toward brighter horizons, new places. For Quick Fitting Inc., led by President and CEO David Crompton, bringing innovation to life has meant heavy investment into existing resources.
First and foremost, Warwick-based Quick Fitting is on the leading edge of a movement to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Its commitment to making its patented push-connect technology for plumbing and electrical wiring uses on these shores can be seen in its capital campaign to improve the advanced manufacturing facility in Warwick, as well as its estimates to hire 236 more employees within the next two years, according to information provided to Providence Business News by DiSanto Priest & Co., which acts as the company’s accounting, insurance and tax-services provider.
Much of the company’s technology is made here in the states, and it expects that will only increase as the firm continues to move forward. Its LocJaw line, launching in the third quarter of this year, is the only push-to-connect fitting on the market made entirely in the U.S.
“Innovation is a huge part of the manufacturing resurgence,” said Crompton. “Establishing automated manufacturing facilities to be able to produce that new and innovative product for less than you can overseas is paramount to success. … It [makes us more efficient] but more importantly, creates an opportunity for the community in terms of job growth.”
When Crompton talks about the innovative products that Quick Fitting has brought onto the shelves of major retailers such as Lowes, Ace Hardware and others, he has a wide variety of examples to draw upon. Quick Fitting owns 12 patents and has a number of patents pending domestically and overseas. It relentlessly protects its intellectual property, ensuring that the work it has put in over the past decade pays off. And that growth is incontrovertible: according to DiSanto Priest, the company has seen 950 percent growth in revenue from 2011 to 2014.
One of these exciting innovations is the Electro-Push line, which falls into the rare and enviable class of category-disrupting inventions. Electro-Push is the first ever push-to-connect product to connect electrical conduits. “Electrical conduit technology hasn’t changed in 50 or 70 years,” said Crompton. “We’re wonderfully excited about that.”
So where does all of this farsightedness get its start? To hear Emilio Colapietro, managing partner at DiSanto Priest, tell it, it begins with the firm’s founding president, Crompton. “The pace by which they develop new products is stunning,” he said. “It all starts with David, in my opinion. He’s the classical entrepreneur-innovator, and he’s got a really solid team there at Quick Fitting. He’s made a very collaborative culture there, where they share ideas and check their titles and egos at the door. You can tell by the products they’ve created that this is working for them.”
That culture of collaboration is evident in Crompton’s explanation of process, which starts with encouraging everyone – from engineers to team leaders – to brainstorm and reach for out-of-the-box solutions. Colapietro also lauded Crompton’s clear commitment to Rhode Island. “It’s more than just about the bottom line for them,” he said. “They’re in the process of creating a lot of good-paying jobs here in Rhode Island, and you know, the timing couldn’t be better.”
While even more potential team members wait in the wings, Crompton continues to invest in training and education for the people he already counts among Quick Fitting’s greatest assets – employees.
A fearless attitude – one that doesn’t leave any room for sticking to tradition for tradition’s sake – is buttressed by the capability to move quickly. Crompton relies on the “tremendous amount” of rapid-prototyping technology that Quick Fitting has built in-house. “It’s an interesting thing to watch our groups take an idea all the way from a concept on paper to a drawing to a solid model to a working prototype in, literally, a couple of days. That itself fuels a tremendous amount of innovation,” he said.
“Right from the start, as we were modeling the business, we decided that the company’s responsibility would be to stay on the cutting edge,” he said. “Yes, customers look at a connection technology company, but they really look at us as an incubation innovator of new technologies and inventions, too.” •
