Partnership Between Interface Devices and Engineered Inserts & Systems Benefits More than the Bottom Line
IDI President Mark Robinson (left) with Vic Kirilichin of EIS.
When businesses work together, great things can happen.
Engineered Inserts & Systems, Inc. (EIS) of Watertown, CT has more than 20 years of experience manufacturing expansion plugs that offer a permanent, economical solution for plugging and sealing auxiliary construction holes in hydraulic equipment. EIS lead player Vic Kirilichin's relationship with IDI goes back further, dating back to the days when founder Thomas Hotchkiss was at the helm of the company.
The relationship between IDI and EIS is, by all accounts, a unique one, with each company sitting on either side of the vendor-supplier dynamic. IDI utilizes EIS's plugs in its high-pressure hydraulic products. IDI hydraulic liquid pumps, meanwhile, are an essential component in EIS-designed and -manufactured equipment that provides reliable, repeatable insertion of these plugs to meet strict military, government and corporate specifications. The two companies frequently bounce ideas off of one another and share expertise.
"Our relationship with IDI goes well beyond the typical customer-vendor dynamic," Kirilichin said. "We know that each other's products are going to work, and that we both stand behind them. It's a relationship built around fairness and trust – not out of trying to squeeze every last dime out of each other. The better we do, the better they do, and vice versa."
To illustrate this dynamic: when IDI was recently contemplating a new equipment purchase, EIS invited IDI to "test drive" the same machine at their facility. Likewise, when EIS identified a need to develop and manufacture a hydraulic press to insert their plugs into customers' products, they consulted with IDI.
Inserts, filters, strainers and pneumatic mufflers manufactured by Vic Kirilichin's companies.
Mike Hotchkiss, VP of Sales and Marketing at IDI, agrees with Kirilichin. "Perhaps the most interesting aspect of our relationship with Vic and EIS is that we had this special bond from day one. There is almost no favor they could ask for that we would not attempt to help with, and I know the feeling is mutual."
"It's more than a business relationship," Hotchkiss added. "It's true friendship."
"If more companies worked together like this, they would be better off in the long run," Kirilichin said. "It would probably really help the economy if more companies had relationships like ours.
Kirilichin also manages other manufacturing efforts, including filters, strainers and pneumatic mufflers.
