More than 46 years ago, Nathaniel Zelazo, founder of the Astronautics Corp. of America (ACA), created his own blue ocean. And because of ACA’s focus on innovation and cutting-edge technology, the Milwaukee-based company is still swimming in that ocean. ACA got its start working on controlling systems for early-generation space exploration vehicles, fighter jets and other aeronautics.
Today, the firm is still working on cutting edge devices for next-generation vehicles, a reflection of its emphasis on innovation. The company manufactures flight control instruments, computers that network those instruments together and other devices to help aircraft, space exploration and other vehicles communicate, receive instructions and control operations.
"At present, we’ve grown into doing the whole cockpit for helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned vehicles, with all of the necessary computers to feed the intelligent instruments," Zelazo said.
Zelazo, 87, immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1928. Today, he serves as the chairman emeritus for ACA and comes to work each day to give advice to the company’s employees.
The focus on next-generation technology has been on the top of Zelazo’s list since starting ACA in 1959. Space exploration and aeronautics were making giant leaps forward then. Speed and altitude records were being obliterated by next-generation jets, and the first generation of satellites was being developed.
Previously, Zelazo worked in engineering for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Navy. While studying for his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Zelazo wrote a proposal to design a computer that would optimize fuel, speed, takeoffs and landings for a potential moon mission. He also worked on a camera system that went into the X15 jet, which set speed and altitude records, and a recording system for the first generation of weather satellites.
His experiences and contacts at the university, along with some gentle pressure to start a Wisconsin-based company, motivated Zelazo to form his own business to design, test and manufacture flight controls and computers to be used in aviation and space exploration.
Zelazo founded ACA with about $4,500. He was the only employee. The company was started in a small building on North Hopkins Street in Milwaukee, just a short distance from the firm’s current headquarters at 4115 N. Teutonia Ave.
Its manufacturing facility is on National Avenue between South 14th and 16th streets.
Although his background was in research and development, Zelazo was intent on producing tangible products that could be sold.
"There was no way for me to be successful just doing research and development," he said. "My intent was very strong to take whatever money I was able to hang onto to immediately design aeronautical instruments and gauges, so I would have the beginning of production."
The focus on innovation and design has been the company’s blue ocean, because its competitors aren’t making products that can perform at the level of ACA’s products, Zelazo said.
"We do not have competition," Zelazo said. "We are ahead of it. We don’t get into competitive (situations), because they can’t afford the complicated types of instruments we build."
ACA’s systems are designed by in-house engineers, software programmers and designers. Because the company is privately held, it is able to devote a large amount of its resources on creating new products and not worry about meeting a quarterly net income target expected by shareholders.
Almost 25 percent of ACA’s annual operational budget is spent on research and development work, Zelazo said.
"We are able to do what is pushing state-of-the art, which is normally the prerogative of extremely large firms who are willing to invest in that sort of thing," he said. "We are a private organization, not public. The moneys we reinvest, (public companies) can’t do that."
Today, ACA employs about 1,700 workers, with 2005 revenues between $190 million and $200 million.
ACA also owns Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corp., which makes guidance, navigation and stabilizations systems. Kearfott has locations in New Jersey, North Carolina and Spain and was acquired by ACA in 1988.
ACA’s systems have been used in countless U.S. military and space exploration craft.
Three ACA systems are used in the space shuttle’s guidance system. Other ACA-built guidance systems have been used in the Navy’s Trident ballistic missile system, as well as the Voyager space exploration vehicles, the first man-made objects to leave the solar system. Fighter jets, transport planes, combat helicopters, tanks and other military vehicles use navigation systems, fuel sensors, flight instruments and other controls designed and built by ACA.
In recent years, another blue ocean strategy for ACA has been in developing guidance and control systems for pilotless craft. It has designed systems for the military, NASA and private companies that are used in remote-controlled, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and underwater exploration devices.
"One of the (underwater) pilotless devices is being used for mining diamonds in South Africa," Zelazo said. "I’m not interested in taking on customers who are interested in taking us on as the lowest bidder – only those who appreciate (a company) who is breaking frontiers with the latest equipment."
The company’s reputation for making highly specialized components used in aircraft navigation and controls may have opened up a door to its next blue ocean. Two years ago, commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing asked the company to develop controlling systems for some of its new airliners.
Boeing recently signed a contract with ACA to install its Electronic Flight Bag pilot information system into a new fleet of 777 jetliners under development for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The Electronic Flight Bag is able to store documents and forms needed by pilots and flight crews in electronic format. The documents and information can be networked to satellite mapping technology, showing pilots exactly where they are located within a specific airport’s runway system. The system can also be connected to in-plane security systems, allowing airlines to meet new security requirements.
Boeing’s primary competitor, Eurpean-based Airbus, has already expressed interest in having ACA design computers for its next generation of commercial airliners, Zelazo said.
"This is a whole new entity of commercial stuff," Zelazo said. "It is (potentially) worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This stuff (ACA’s systems) isn’t cheap."
Go Blue!
Astronautics Corp. of America
Address: 4114 N. Teutonia Ave., Milwaukee
Industry: Avionics designer and manufacturer
Leadership: Nathaniel Zelazo, founder and chairman emeritus
Employees: About 1,700
Annual revenue: Between $190 million and $200 million for 2005
Blue Ocean Strategies:
• The company designs and manufactures controls for aircraft and space exploration vehicles such as the F-14 fighter jet and space shuttle. No other company can compete with ACA’s innovations.
• Almost 25 percent of ACA’s annual operational budget is spent on research and development, keeping it ahead of any potential competition.
• Commercial aircraft manufacturers have recently started purchasing complex, state-of-the-art components from the company, which ACA believes could be a source of future growth and a new blue ocean.
April 14, 2006, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI
The Right Stuff
Astronautics Soars Beyond Competition
By Eric Decker, of SBT
More than 46 years ago, Nathaniel Zelazo, founder of the Astronautics Corp. of America (ACA), created his own blue ocean. And because of ACA’s focus on innovation and cutting-edge technology, the Milwaukee-based company is still swimming in that ocean. ACA got its start working on controlling systems for early-generation space exploration vehicles, fighter jets and other aeronautics.
Today, the firm is still working on cutting edge devices for next-generation vehicles, a reflection of its emphasis on innovation. The company manufactures flight control instruments, computers that network those instruments together and other devices to help aircraft, space exploration and other vehicles communicate, receive instructions and control operations.
"At present, we’ve grown into doing the whole cockpit for helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned vehicles, with all of the necessary computers to feed the intelligent instruments," Zelazo said.
Zelazo, 87, immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1928. Today, he serves as the chairman emeritus for ACA and comes to work each day to give advice to the company’s employees.
The focus on next-generation technology has been on the top of Zelazo’s list since starting ACA in 1959. Space exploration and aeronautics were making giant leaps forward then. Speed and altitude records were being obliterated by next-generation jets, and the first generation of satellites was being developed.
Previously, Zelazo worked in engineering for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Navy. While studying for his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Zelazo wrote a proposal to design a computer that would optimize fuel, speed, takeoffs and landings for a potential moon mission. He also worked on a camera system that went into the X15 jet, which set speed and altitude records, and a recording system for the first generation of weather satellites.
His experiences and contacts at the university, along with some gentle pressure to start a Wisconsin-based company, motivated Zelazo to form his own business to design, test and manufacture flight controls and computers to be used in aviation and space exploration.
Zelazo founded ACA with about $4,500. He was the only employee. The company was started in a small building on North Hopkins Street in Milwaukee, just a short distance from the firm’s current headquarters at 4115 N. Teutonia Ave.
Its manufacturing facility is on National Avenue between South 14th and 16th streets.
Although his background was in research and development, Zelazo was intent on producing tangible products that could be sold.
"There was no way for me to be successful just doing research and development," he said. "My intent was very strong to take whatever money I was able to hang onto to immediately design aeronautical instruments and gauges, so I would have the beginning of production."
The focus on innovation and design has been the company’s blue ocean, because its competitors aren’t making products that can perform at the level of ACA’s products, Zelazo said.
"We do not have competition," Zelazo said. "We are ahead of it. We don’t get into competitive (situations), because they can’t afford the complicated types of instruments we build."
ACA’s systems are designed by in-house engineers, software programmers and designers. Because the company is privately held, it is able to devote a large amount of its resources on creating new products and not worry about meeting a quarterly net income target expected by shareholders.
Almost 25 percent of ACA’s annual operational budget is spent on research and development work, Zelazo said.
"We are able to do what is pushing state-of-the art, which is normally the prerogative of extremely large firms who are willing to invest in that sort of thing," he said. "We are a private organization, not public. The moneys we reinvest, (public companies) can’t do that."
Today, ACA employs about 1,700 workers, with 2005 revenues between $190 million and $200 million.
ACA also owns Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corp., which makes guidance, navigation and stabilizations systems. Kearfott has locations in New Jersey, North Carolina and Spain and was acquired by ACA in 1988.
ACA’s systems have been used in countless U.S. military and space exploration craft.
Three ACA systems are used in the space shuttle’s guidance system. Other ACA-built guidance systems have been used in the Navy’s Trident ballistic missile system, as well as the Voyager space exploration vehicles, the first man-made objects to leave the solar system. Fighter jets, transport planes, combat helicopters, tanks and other military vehicles use navigation systems, fuel sensors, flight instruments and other controls designed and built by ACA.
In recent years, another blue ocean strategy for ACA has been in developing guidance and control systems for pilotless craft. It has designed systems for the military, NASA and private companies that are used in remote-controlled, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and underwater exploration devices.
"One of the (underwater) pilotless devices is being used for mining diamonds in South Africa," Zelazo said. "I’m not interested in taking on customers who are interested in taking us on as the lowest bidder – only those who appreciate (a company) who is breaking frontiers with the latest equipment."
The company’s reputation for making highly specialized components used in aircraft navigation and controls may have opened up a door to its next blue ocean. Two years ago, commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing asked the company to develop controlling systems for some of its new airliners.
Boeing recently signed a contract with ACA to install its Electronic Flight Bag pilot information system into a new fleet of 777 jetliners under development for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The Electronic Flight Bag is able to store documents and forms needed by pilots and flight crews in electronic format. The documents and information can be networked to satellite mapping technology, showing pilots exactly where they are located within a specific airport’s runway system. The system can also be connected to in-plane security systems, allowing airlines to meet new security requirements.
Boeing’s primary competitor, Eurpean-based Airbus, has already expressed interest in having ACA design computers for its next generation of commercial airliners, Zelazo said.
"This is a whole new entity of commercial stuff," Zelazo said. "It is (potentially) worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This stuff (ACA’s systems) isn’t cheap."
Go Blue!
Astronautics Corp. of America
Address: 4114 N. Teutonia Ave., Milwaukee
Industry: Avionics designer and manufacturer
Leadership: Nathaniel Zelazo, founder and chairman emeritus
Employees: About 1,700
Annual revenue: Between $190 million and $200 million for 2005
Blue Ocean Strategies:
• The company designs and manufactures controls for aircraft and space exploration vehicles such as the F-14 fighter jet and space shuttle. No other company can compete with ACA’s innovations.
• Almost 25 percent of ACA’s annual operational budget is spent on research and development, keeping it ahead of any potential competition.
• Commercial aircraft manufacturers have recently started purchasing complex, state-of-the-art components from the company, which ACA believes could be a source of future growth and a new blue ocean.
