The Carlisle philosophy of decentralization optimally balances large company efficiencies and individual empowerment. The size of Carlisle, in total, provides efficient access to capital, management advice and other resources. Decentralization provides an environment in which managers are encouraged to think and act like entrepreneurs, reacting quickly to customer needs without being encumbered by bureaucracy. Industry veterans. Many of the division managers who enjoy this entrepreneurial freedom represent an impressive combination of talent and experience in their respective industries. Tenures of fifteen years or more in their fields of managerial expertise are commonplace at Carlisle. Usually the businesses Carlisle acquires are successful niche leaders, often privately or family owned. After acquisition, the management teams typically remain in place, putting their experience and expertise to work for Carlisle. Taking advantage of corporate resources, they see their businesses grow more rapidly than ever. An example is Jerry Thomsen, President of Trail King Industries since 1988. His father founded the company, and Jerry started work there at age 15. Since Carlisle acquired Trail King in 1995, sales have more than doubled. Decisions from the bottom up. Unburdened by corporate bureaucracy, managers can focus on operating and improving the business. Attuned daily to the marketplace, they can expand their product offerings, extend geographical distribution, take risks by exploring opportunities for acquisitions or start up new ventures. "It's all bottom up instead of top down," says John Berlin, president of Tensolite, whose products play an increasing role in high-speed data communications. "The Carlisle system is built for speed of decision making and execution. In high technology if you're not on top of trends you get lost in the dust."
Two diverse endeavors described below - one in pharmaceuticals and the other in the dairy industry - depict Carlisle's entrepreneurial spirit in action.
| Carlisle Life Sciences |
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An offshoot of Walker Equipment, Carlisle Life Sciences is
a case study in starting a new kind of business from scratch within
Carlisle. The unit had its beginnings at Walker in 1997, when it
started making a new kind of product - isolation systems for the
pharmaceutical industry.
The unit's products are grounded in Walker's tradition of quality and precision in custom fabrication of stainless steel processing apparatus. They supply a number of solutions, including sterility testing, glove-box isolation and clean rooms - systems that variously protect the operator, the product or the environment, or all three. The unit became Carlisle Life Sciences in 2000 after the acquisition of Extract Technologies, Ltd. Based in England, Extract is the global leader in providing containment and bulk powder handling applications. The unit's expanded services include full consultation with potential customers in pharmaceutical and biotech industries along with the design, fabrication and installation of turnkey systems - modular facilities as well as components. |
| Carlisle Process Systems |
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A leading maker of equipment for dairy processing, Carlisle
Process Systems presents a case study in how to build a robust
business swiftly. Carlisle entered into the food processing equipment
market by acquiring Walker Stainless Equipment in 1995. Then, in 1996,
Walker, in turn, acquired Scherping Systems, fabricator of
stainless-steel equipment for making cheese.
Renamed Carlisle Process Systems, this unit carved out a key role in the U.S., where consumption of cheese - especially in pizza - increased by more than 20 percent over the past decade. In 1999, acquisition of Innovative Engineering of New Zealand expanded our franchise in the Asian Region. In 2000, new additions provided a platform for greater growth worldwide:
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