[caption id="attachment_165378" align="alignright" width="381"] Photo by Eric Crossan[/caption]

Applied Control Engineering, Inc.
Location: Newark
Ace-net.com

ACE provides process control integration for the manufacturing industry. As an independent systems integrator, ACE helps customers select the right solution and then implement it on time and on budget, from platform selection and design to start-up and validation. Initially focused on process controls in the chemical industry, ACE has grown to provide innovative, cost-effective solutions for system integration challenges across a diverse range of industries.

What have been the biggest obstacles your company has faced over the past three years, and how did you overcome them?
Hiring project-ready engineers who are already acclimated to our industry. There is a steep learning curve, since schools don’t offer degrees in control engineering. Therefore, it takes time to cultivate our new engineers into independent, productive members of our team. In this industry, many individuals performing our line of work are retiring, so the demand for our services is rising. We are overcoming this by hiring more graduates with a balanced background in both engineering and programming.

Looking back, what’s the biggest mistake you made and what would you do differently if you could?
Not investing in some of the internal structures, tools, and processes that could help our engineers. Whether that would have been capital or hiring staff to free up time from key individuals. We’ve basically learned that “the way it has always been done” might not be the right way for a larger organization.