SESA keeps highway signs ‘Made in America’

DOING THE LITTLE THINGS RIGHT: SES America President Phillipe Perut, center, has led the company to success in a competitive, global marketplace by doing what customers want and then helping define what they need. At work in the company's Warwick location are Jim Shockoo, left, production supervisor, and Jim Malo, right, a production assistant. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
DOING THE LITTLE THINGS RIGHT: SES America President Phillipe Perut, center, has led the company to success in a competitive, global marketplace by doing what customers want and then helping define what they need. At work in the company's Warwick location are Jim Shockoo, left, production supervisor, and Jim Malo, right, a production assistant. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

“Traffic Jammed.” “Slow Down.” “Stay Alert.” These are the traffic signs many people see during their daily commute. For drivers from 12 states and Canada, many of these signs come from a manufacturing plant in Warwick.

SES America Inc. manufactures dynamic messaging signs for use on highways and roads. The company has seen significant growth in recent years, thanks to innovation and a competitive marketing approach. Since its acquisition by the current ownership group in 2011, SESA has grown from six employees to 15 in 2015, while net revenue increased from $1.7 million to $4.8 million from 2011 to 2014.

“What makes us so successful is that we compete with larger companies, and because we are smaller than them, we are more focused and we have better services,” said Philippe Perut, SESA’s president.

But SESA’s signs weren’t always so prevalent along U.S. highways. Founded in 1986, SESA was originally part of a French company specializing in safety equipment. According to Perut, who has worked for the business since 2001, 95 percent of the equipment was built in France. Perut eventually bought the U.S. branch in 2011 and decided to manufacture the company’s signage exclusively in the United States.

- Advertisement -

With the split came complications. SESA lost customers to competitors, and in 2011, only two states bought signs from the company. The independent manufacturer needed to innovate to survive.

It began by delivering a service its competitors didn’t. SESA’s staff focused on “retrofits,” removing old technology from existing highway signs and replacing it with better, newer technology. “We developed a unique approach, and we’re the only company in the United States now doing that,” Perut said.

Managers also focused on providing top-notch customer service. The company boasts that it will respond to any customer inquiry in 24 hours, has an inventory that can supply parts within 48 hours, and tests all of its technologies two days before shipping.

“SESA is surrounded by much larger fish,” said John Mapel, SESA’s operations manager. “Our superior customer service and can-do attitude provides clients a level of service they are not accustomed to from the larger players.”

Creating a niche market and building its reputation helped the company grow. Managers and engineers are now focused on further expansion by providing the most innovative products.

SESA produces signs that can connect to the electrical grid, as well as those that run on solar power. This particular offering helped the company earn business from the Mass. Department of Revenue’s “Go Time” project, which aims to provide travel time data to millions of drivers via dynamic signs. SESA will manufacture more than 350 solar-powered signs for the project.

“It’s a great opportunity for SESA to showcase the industry-leading, energy-efficient equipment it manufactures, and to participate in a solution that will help motorists make better-informed decisions and, in turn, relieve congestion on some of the busiest highways in the Northeast,” said Brandon Tessier, a regional manager at SESA.

Solar-powered signs also can help the company expand to locales off the beaten path. “Sometimes you have a dangerous road in the mountains, but you don’t have power, or it could be very expensive to bring power,” Perut said.

The company’s also planning to expand into new technological arenas. Currently, most road signs collect data on accidents, travel delays, weather and more through sensors located along the highway, which then pass it to a control center, which in turn tells signs what to display. SESA is working on a new approach, in which highway signs will use the Web to glean the relevant information to show.

The company is also working on becoming more efficient within its own walls. SESA recently moved from a facility in Smithfield to a 15,000-square-foot building in Warwick in order to double its production capacity. Management hired a consulting firm to employ lean manufacturing, a process designed to eliminate inefficiencies in order to “do more with less,” Perut said.

Perhaps one of SESA’s greatest accomplishments, though, is keeping America’s road signs produced on U.S. soil. “The fact that we are able to do it here – and successfully – is a challenge, but it proves it is possible if you focus on liquidity, if the organization is lean, and if you have the right product and services to customers,” Perut said •

No posts to display