A Perfect Match
     According to Toney and Dave Cone, CEO of Camstar, their companies’ four-year relationship --which has included several collaborative projects -- evolved into a mutual respect and admiration for the each other’s people, expertise and services. The merger, they imply, could just be a match made in e-heaven. 
    "We came to the conclusion that in order to better serve our customers we needed an expert implementation and service arm to control deployment and provide clients with an overall solution," explains Cone. "Unifi Technology Group was an obvious fit. By combining Camstar’s industry-leading software with Unifi Technology’s proven value assessment and integration methodologies, it creates a comprehensive collaborative manufacturing solution, which is what our clients want."
    Over the last few years, there were brief discussions between the two companies regarding the possibility of a merger, but no official meetings were ever held. In December 2000, Unifi Technology Group began aggressively marketing the company for funding. At the same time Camstar received investment funds from individuals open to company expansion opportunities. After months of being courted by several venture capital firms, Unifi Technology was approached by Camstar with an attractive deal.
    "In this case, it makes more sense to leverage off of other people’s efforts and success to grow our business than simply to have a venture capital firm back us," explains Toney. "I believe this opportunity is a better answer for our employees and provides more stability.
    "We are very excited about becoming part of Camstar and we know that we are a key element in their strategic plan. We’ve known them for a long time and have had many successes with them. It is a nice fit and it solidifies each company’s vision to serve our clients," he says.
    The formation of Camstar Solutions Group is a key tactic in Camstar’s strategy to provide multi-plant manufacturing companies with real-time information to plan and execute customer orders more effectively. The company chose to base its new business unit in Charlotte for several reasons, including the cost of living, quality of life and its central location to the Northeast and Midwest, according to Cone.
    "There are many things we like about Charlotte, particularly the fact that the city and the state of North Carolina has a great pool of highly educated technical people which we hope to tap when recruiting new employees," he says. Cone sees the recruiting and growth of Camstar Solutions Group to be in line with their overall business plan. "We plan to have at least a 50 per cent increase in revenue this year," he says.
     With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Camstar targets companies in the optoelectronics, semiconductor and electronics, textiles, automotive and metals industries. Examples of their clients include Agilent, Amkor, Corning, IBM, JDS Uniphase, Nortel Networks and Tellabs.
    Indeed, global manufacturers may be the ultimate winners of the two companies coming together, admits Toney. "Having evaluated a wide range of collaborative manufacturing applications for customers over the past several years," he explains, "we know from first-hand experience that solutions offering a combination of strength, flexibility and functionality are shaping the future for global manufacturers. By combining the InSite application with Camstar Solutions Group’s enterprise expertise it provides a solution that will only increase and accelerate the value we bring to customers."
    Because Camstar also relies upon several third-party systems integrators to deploy InSite applications to clients around the world, Cone says that Camstar Solutions Group will provide valuable resources to aide in their success.
    "We will now be able to provide our third-party integrators with the best-practices tools, templates and methodologies that were developed by Unifi Technology. They will use these resources to accelerate deployments, increase installation efficiencies and maximize return on investment for more customers."
    Even though this is not the first merger of its kind in the industry, analysts are talking about the competitive advantage Camstar has just bought itself. Currently, no one company dominates the industry, and market share is there for the taking. 
    "This is an important step for both companies," says Greg Gorbach, director of e-manufacturing for ARC Advisory Group, a Boston, Mass.-based strategic planning and technology assessment services firm focused on manufacturing. "They have had a good relationship over the years and I believe this reinforces their team and will make them stronger as one company."  
    Gorbach says that global manufacturers, particularly those seeking to realize greater collaboration in their manufacturing enterprises, have begun to carefully scrutinize potential information technology solutions and prioritize project investments based upon the ability to rapidly deploy and quickly deliver value and ROI.
    He acknowledges that the creation of Camstar Solutions Group and the packaging of its reusable tools, templates and methodologies, give Camstar the ability to quickly deliver solutions that allow manufacturers to integrate collaborative manufacturing solutions with the rest of their enterprise system architecture.

Staying At The Top of His Game
    Being at the center of an acquisition is nothing new to Scott Toney who two years ago found himself immersed in a deal with Greensboro, N.C.-based Unifi, Inc., one of the largest producers of textured polyester yarn in the world. At the time Toney was president and part owner of CIMTEC, Inc., an automation solutions provider based in Charlotte. CIMTEC was engaged, along with Camstar Systems, Inc., to help Unifi with its systems integration at its Yadkinville, N.C. plant. The project was so successful in improving Unifi’s level of automation and resulted in such tangible benefits that Unifi decided they wanted a piece of the action. They acquired CIMTEC, combined it with their in-house technology team, and created Unifi Technology Group in the spring of 1999.
     Finding himself and his companies so highly respected reassured Toney that his entrepreneurial instincts were right on target. "I was inspired to start and build my own businesses because I believed that if I put together a good team and if we had a unique offering, then we could be successful in meeting the needs of our clients," he explains. "It is satisfying to have people interested in our company because it confirms that we’ve operated with integrity and that people see the value in what we do."
     For Toney, creating real value is at the core of his personal business philosophy. "You must always work in the best interest of your clients," he asserts. "And as long as you create real, tangible value for clients – versus simply a perception of value – you’ll always have value."
     Toney’s road to entrepreneurialism began in 1994, when after ten years with Procter and Gamble, he set out on his own to start Qualtrol International, aninternational automation hardware company. He later sold the company, merging it with CIMTEC Control Solutions and CIMTEC, Inc. in Charlotte. He also founded and remains a part owner of Software Toolbox, a company which sells computer software via the Internet, based in Matthews, N.C.
     Toney credits his alma mater, Georgia Tech, and his former employer with fostering his ability to think strategically and tactically, and apply it successfully to the marketplace. The world of high technology may be a far cry from the sales and development function at Proctor and Gamble, says Toney, but the business principles are the same.
"My partners and I combined technical prowess with business savvy and that was what helped us become and remain successful. Many organizations break down because they don’t have a strong combination of these key elements," he says.

Maintaining an Edge
     Toney faces his new challenge of building Camstar Solutions Group with the same enthusiasm and strategies that have made him a player in his industry. "We will work hard to stay on top of the latest technology and figure out how best to utilize that technology to provide real benefits for clients," he says. His approach to growth involves always keeping one eye on the bottom line while growing at a steady incremental pace. This year, the company has targeted a 38 per cent growth rate and expects to meet, if not exceed, its goal based on the first and second quarter results.
     Creating and maintaining a positive culture in an organization where "nearly 80 per cent of the people travel 80 per cent of the time" is difficult, says Toney, yet he utilizes what he knows best – technology – to keep the team together. "We utilize the Intranet to really over-communicate with employees in an effort to keep them informed and feeling involved in the company," he says. "We’re in a people business and we want our employees to feel valued.
    "What we do is difficult, and we make sure that we offer our associates the training and support they need to do their jobs the best they can for their clients." To foster trust and loyalty, Toney concentrates on communicating a clear vision, setting attainable goals and maintaining an open-door, supportive relationship with employees.
     "I am motivated to be in business because I like the personal involvement with the people who work with me to help us grow and be strong," he says. "It is the team that we build that makes the difference."