While there are many companies in our industry that have evolved from within the same family, from one generation to the next, few got off to an earlier start than the Windheim Tool Company. Started back in 1949 by Joe Windheim, the Company soon became a major distributor of tooling and related supplies to the machine industry of Western New York. Joe's son Jay served as a regular office sweeper and all-around helper - but at the age of 5 his assistance was limited. As the years passed and Jay matured, his knowledge of a business geared to the needs of an ever-changing industry grew. Following Joe's death in 1975, Jay stepped up to the company presidency and grew it into a business as involved in providing services as in the sales of tooling products. Helping their customers achieve their greatest productivity was as important as the actual sales of the products they distributed. With a well experienced staff of 17, four of them working out of the Elmira office established in 1981, the Windheim group keeps busy covering just about all of New York State plus a neighboring portion of Pennsylvania. The Company's colorful directory of supplies and suppliers under the banner "the right tools to do the job right" covers just about every facet needed in a machine shop from abrasives, drilling, threading and milling to turning and boring, reaming and burnishing, to sawing and measuring.
Windheim's catchy slogan, "If you drill, mill, bore, cut, grind or machine, Windheim has the right tool for you, " only tells part of the story. "We consider ourselves "problem-solvers." In this business there's more than one way to machine a part. We like to give them the most efficient way." Working with customers right in their shop makes a big difference. "If we don't have the answers," he adds, "we rely on the factory sales and service reps. Working together, we get the job done - the right way." The staff make their selling point by continuing one of Windheim's popular promises, "We work with the shop floor in increasing their productivity, getting the job done faster or having better tooling to help them do the job on a more competitive basis. Or, as President Jay Windheim explains the company philosophy, "If we can save the customer money by helping them produce that part cheaper, it's a "Win-Win" situation." Located in a roomy warehouse/sales office suburban site and now utilizing a state-of-the-art computer system with EDI, bar coding, etc., Windheim is enjoying a 40 percent increase in sales over the past three years. Part of that growth steins from a current "downsizing" trend which has reduced their customers' engineering staffs and relied more on the suppliers' expertise. Some customers have a Vendor Reduction Program, cutting back to a single supplier or relying on a smaller number of suppliers who can supply a wide variety of products. That philosophy has led to Windheim doing more business than ever.
It's little wonder that Jay Windheim has used the first syllable of the Company name to promise all customers a "Win-Win" situation.
Rochester Business Journal 2002
