Share on:
In my three decades of publishing technology magazines and websites, I was fortunate to be invited to a good number of company visits and factory tours. I saw Sharp and Panasonic's facilities in Japan in their prime. I visited many of the emerging tech and OEM companies in Taiwan, spoke with their leaders, and discussed product trends and directions. In the United States, I visited early mobile technology leaders such as Telxon, Norand, Mutoh, Intermec, Palm, Symbol Technologies, Itronix General Dynamics as well as Apple, Dell and Microsoft. You can go to hundreds of trade shows, but nothing gives a "feel" for a company like visiting them where they work and make their products.
Well, between the pandemic and the universal availability of everything on the web and now through ChatGPT, I hadn't been on a factory tour in a while. So, when an opportunity opened to go visit Teguar in Charlotte, North Carolina, close enough to my office in East Tennessee to not bother with airlines, I quickly found myself on the road. It was a pleasant drive through the Cherokee National Forest, past the Great Smoky Mountains and into North Carolina.
Who is Teguar? It's a tech company that provides state-of-the-art industrial PCs and medical computer solutions. We're not talking run-of-the-mill off-the-shelf PCs here. Their industrial and medical computers are designed for reliable 24/7/365 performance in demanding environments and applications such as shop floors, clean rooms, emergency rooms and outdoors in all sorts of weather. That means all-in-one panel PCs and monitors of all kinds and sizes as well as box PCs and rugged tablets.
Teguar was founded by Jonathan Staub, a native of Switzerland who had come to the United States to serve as president of US operations for a German computer manufacturer. After some years at the helm, he saw a need for a wider range of industrial and medical computers solutions than his employer specialized in. So, with a passion for technology and having compiled knowledge of the industry and the requisite relationships with manufacturers around the globe, he formed Teguar in 2010.
Success soon followed. The company saw a multi-year run in the "Inc 500 - America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies" list. Massive growth rates. ISO 9001:2015 certification for having implemented quality management processes and commitment to continuous improvement and annual audits. Multiple moves to larger accommodations. The building of multi-national teams from all over the globe. Teguar is a modern company in a modern world.
And so, I arrive at Teguar's new and ultra-modern facility right off Interstate 485 at the south-western outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina, close to Charlotte's Douglas International Airport.
I am met by Matthew Nadolny, Teguar's Marketing Manager and my primary contact. I learn that Teguar Founder and CEO Jonathan Staub is at the facility today and I'll get to meet the man himself. But first it's off to lunch after the long drive from Tennessee. Teguar Product Manager Tom Poplawski joins us at a delightful Japanese restaurant. It's always a pleasure to actually meet the folks I only know from emails in person. We're all connected in so many ways these days, but somehow no text nor Zoom can replace the real thing. I totally enjoy lunch with those two.
Then it's back to the facility and I meet Jonathan Staub, a fellow Swiss transplant just as I am. He and I baffle bystanders with a brief conversation in our native Swiss German, a language that's only spoken and has no written equivalent, making it virtually impossible to learn or understand for anyone non-Swiss. Staub is pleasant, direct, and easy-going, the very image of a personable, confident entrepreneur with vision, a man with a command of the big picture as well as every detail of the operation. Marketing Director Lisha DeSantis joins us for the facilities tour.
Teguar isn't large by the standards of international manufacturing giants. But you wouldn't know that by its facility. We walk into the assembly hall, and it looks every bit as impressive as the Panasonic Toughbook plant I visited in Japan. Clean, gleaming, superbly organized with everything in its place.
Of course, unlike Panasonic which prided itself in manufacturing every last part of their computers within the vast Matsushita organization, Teguar is a "virtual" manufacturer that sources products all over the world, but assembles and configures them in its own facilities.
As we tour the entire operation, I more and more get the sense that Teguar is different. Facilities can feel claustrophobic, mechanical, and impersonal, places where people come to work and then clock out, Teguar's feels all different. It's open, bright, airy, with tall ceilings and space to spread out. It's large enough to house an entire global provider of all those many different industrial and medical computers.
But it's also small and integrated enough to feel friendly, open and high-tech. There's a nook with comfortable chairs just for sitting and having creative thoughts. It says so right on the wall" C R E A T E. The tools workers need are neatly organized. Everything is clearly labeled, all over the facility. Teguar products are displayed and highlighted throughout the facility. Everything's airy. There's lots of light and glass.
The people who work at Teguar are open and friendly. I have several conversations with staffers. I get the sense that people like to work here. That's not a given. Manufacturing facilities can be cold and impersonal. Come in, work, go home. That's not the sense I got at Teguar. It's panel computers and industrial PCs and kiosk computers and industrial displays they assemble and configure there — highly technical work — and it looks and feels like everyone is interested and engaged in what they are doing. It's a work environment where I can see how ideas for products and applications evolve, how there's a continuing quest for improvement and excellence, and where the latest tech and trends are discussed and analyzed and, if found suitable, integrated in even better products. Total breath of fresh air.
My day at Teguar concludes with a meeting in one of the light and airy and very accessible conference rooms. I ask questions, and the Teguar folks ask questions of me. In your opinion, what can we do better? Anything you can recommend? Wow. I am just the guy who reviews tech and writes about it, and they ask me. I'm impressed.
It's often cliché to say that something is unique or different from all the rest. But that's what I saw at Teguar. It was not what I expected. It was different and better. They may deal with industrial-grade components, waterproof housings, all sorts of cooling systems, modules, components, accessories, coatings, and all the sorts of tech that makes panels and monitors and tablets all day long — stuff that may feel tedious to many, but they seem excited and interested about it all.
And that is what it's all about. People who love their work. That's what makes a good company.
Teguar — 1-800-870-7715
www.teguar.com
