C-56 Part 4: Case StudiesCASE 5
Fisk Alloy Wire, Inc. and Percon
Reprinted by permission from the Case Research Journal. Copyright by Susan F. Sieloff and Raymond M. Kinnunen and the North American Case
Research Association. All rights reserved.Susan F. Sieloff, Raymond M. Kinnunen
Northeastern University
Fully owned by brothers Eric and Brian Fisk, Fisk Alloy
Wire, Inc. focused on the development and manufac-
ture of copper alloy wire for electronic components and
conductors. By year-end 2008, projected sales were $28
million. Fisk Alloy had developed a copper alloy wire
that was cadmium free (cadmium was a known carcin-
ogen affecting both processing and disposal), but also
met the characteristics of strength, conductivity, and
elongation that defined a high performance wire. The
product family was called Percon and was introduced
into the market in 2006 around the time the European
Union passed the Restriction of Hazardous Substances
(RoHS) directive and the related Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives went into
effect. By August 2008, the market potential for Percon
was still not really known because it had a broad vari-
ety of potential applications.^1 Although Fisk Alloy saw
Percon as the source of its future growth, because of the
unknown timing of the development of potential mar-
kets and the related issues of having adequate staff and
production capacity to meet demand the Fisks faced a
choice: should they grow, slowly and opportunistically,
or more aggressively? President Eric Fisk commented:
We want to be the top dog but not necessarily the biggest
dog. Companies that manage only for the bottom line often
lose sight of the core strengths that got them there. We
are a quality house and that’s what got us where we are.
We also have a core competency in copper alloy wire.
Fisk ran the company to be profitable, but not with
the typical short term bottom line mentality that forces
growth in many companies. At the same time, he knew
there was a critical mass necessary to be sustainable over
the long term. He felt there was a huge market potential
for Percon, and at some point that market would emerge.
He knew that by the summer of 2008, Fisk Alloy was
ready to meet that challenge, and he commented on the
gatekeepers in the conductor business:The first gatekeeper is the alloy—if you do not have the
alloy, you are not going anywhere. Secondly, you have to
have the equipment, which is as scarce as hen’s teeth or
far too expensive. Finally, you must have the management
and skill set to run the equipment at the required quality
levels.The Company
Fisk Alloy Wire was started in 1973 by John Fisk (father
of Eric and Brian) to produce precision square, round,
and flat copper alloy wire for electronic connectors
and components. At the time he started the business,
John Fisk was considered something of maverick in the
wire industry for his insistence on product and process
quality in wire manufacturing. Although not originally
started as a family operation, both brothers (Eric, cur-
rent CEO and Brian, VP of engineering, respectively)
later joined the business. Eric graduated from the
University of Washington in forestry and economics
and had worked in Alaska in banking. He later took
an executive MBA from Columbia University and now
handles sales and general administration. When the
company was a start-up, Brian took a year off from the
engineering program at Purdue University to become
the Fisk Alloy’s first and only production employee.
After graduating and working as an engineer at Alcoa
and Boeing, he returned to lead Fisk Alloy’s produc-
tion. By the time John retired late in the 1980s, the wire
mill had grown from 8,000 to 125,000 square feet, and
had integrated manufacturing operations from initial
rolling through finish drawing, annealing, and elec-
troplating, and was expanding its alloy development
capability.^2
Initially, the business focused on the development
and manufacture of copper alloy wire for electronic com-
ponents and conductors. By 2008, projected total sales
were $28 million (see Exhibit 1 for financials) and the
company had 150 employees in three related divisions.
Fisk Alloy Wire, Inc. (FAW) produced the original cop-
per alloy wire in flat, round, square, and specialty shapes.
Fisk Alloy Conductor, Inc. (FAC) produced high perfor-
mance wire that could be stranded or braided. Fisk had
also incorporated the Electroplated Wire Corporation,
an internal unit that electroplated wire with copper,