Lightening the Load for Folks Who Work With Their Hands
Equipois
Eric Golden
Eric Golden, a former executive vice-president and general counsel for iconic camera maker Panavision, was sure that the technology advances he witnessed over the three years he spent trying to reinvent the struggling company would be valuable outside Hollywood. Fast-forward to a meeting at a trade show with Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown in 2006. Golden licensed the Steadicam technology, which isolates its user's movement from the camera, with the goal of creating a new tool to protect injury-prone tradesmen doing precise work such as riveting fuselages and grinding metal. He founded Equipois the following year to design and manufacture mechanical arms that make tools feel weightless for users, but don't limit the operators' range of motion. Customers reported dramatic decreases in injuries and increases in productivity—bringing Equipois a slew of innovation and ergonomics awards. During the Great Recession, demand came to a "screaming halt," but picked up in the second half of 2010 and is booming today, says Golden, 42. He estimates that half of sales for the $5,000 and $10,000 systems come from aerospace, automotive, and heavy machinery manufacturers, including Airbus and Boeing, Ford and Toyota, Caterpillar and John Deere. With approximately $10 million in venture capital backing, Golden expects revenue at the 22-employee Los Angeles business to triple this year, to around $4 million, and projects it will be profitable by 2013. Next up: a $2,000 to $3,000 device, launching in March, that makes its user's arm feel weightless. It is intended for use by dentists, surgeons, and other professionals who work for long periods with arms outstretched.
—Nick Leiber (posted on Feb. 4, 2011)
Eric Golden
Eric Golden, a former executive vice-president and general counsel for iconic camera maker Panavision, was sure that the technology advances he witnessed over the three years he spent trying to reinvent the struggling company would be valuable outside Hollywood. Fast-forward to a meeting at a trade show with Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown in 2006. Golden licensed the Steadicam technology, which isolates its user's movement from the camera, with the goal of creating a new tool to protect injury-prone tradesmen doing precise work such as riveting fuselages and grinding metal. He founded Equipois the following year to design and manufacture mechanical arms that make tools feel weightless for users, but don't limit the operators' range of motion. Customers reported dramatic decreases in injuries and increases in productivity—bringing Equipois a slew of innovation and ergonomics awards. During the Great Recession, demand came to a "screaming halt," but picked up in the second half of 2010 and is booming today, says Golden, 42. He estimates that half of sales for the $5,000 and $10,000 systems come from aerospace, automotive, and heavy machinery manufacturers, including Airbus and Boeing, Ford and Toyota, Caterpillar and John Deere. With approximately $10 million in venture capital backing, Golden expects revenue at the 22-employee Los Angeles business to triple this year, to around $4 million, and projects it will be profitable by 2013. Next up: a $2,000 to $3,000 device, launching in March, that makes its user's arm feel weightless. It is intended for use by dentists, surgeons, and other professionals who work for long periods with arms outstretched.
—Nick Leiber (posted on Feb. 4, 2011)
