Citing increases in sales and the complex nature of doing business, Waukesha-based Hydro-Thermal Corp. recently announced the reorganization of staff into industry-specific teams.
Sales, engineering and marketing staff will now specialize in ethanol/starch/sweetener, food and beverage or industrial markets.
The company’s sales departments were previously organized by geography with territories and regions in the United States and Canada and then an international group. The geographic breakdown will be kept in place, but there will now be layers of staff covering the world based on industry and then geography.
Hydro-Thermal designs, manufactures, markets and sells industrial heaters called Hydroheaters. The company credited new product development for sales growth, particularly a high-strength and erosion resistant system for the mining industry and its SilverLine food cooking system.
“We have also looked hard at identification of market strengths, so that we have a granular understanding of them,” said Jim Zaiser, Hydro-Thermal president and chief executive officer.
Zaiser also said that the business has faced challenges as customers “are keeping a tighter grip on their capital” and Hydro-Thermal’s products have become more complicated and thus higher cost.
Unlike other reorganizations, Hydro-Thermal is not reducing staff, although Zaiser acknowledged it does come with challenges.
“The need for more space and more organization are always challenging,” he said. “We realize that we must have a willingness to forgo sales today for benefits we will see tomorrow.”
Hydro-Thermal opened a second manufacturing facility last year and has increased staff nearly 50 percent since the end of 2013. The company added 13 positions last year and has already added 13 positions this year for a total of 94.
