30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY: FROM HUMBLE TOOL SHOP TO GLOBAL BRAND SUPPLIER
As CIT begins our 30th anniversary celebrations, we wanted to look back at our journey from a humble two person tool shop in Dayton, OH to now being a supplier for global brands such as Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Rolls Royce and Volvo.
Our extraordinary growth and success is in no small part due to the incredible vision, innovation and commitment of our team.
When faced with customer problems they’ve used innovation even if it meant breaking rules or straying from common industry practices.
Company Values
That’s why our company philosophy is: Stay Customer Focused. Everyday.
It’s this simple phrase that drives us to put the customer first and solve problems with innovation. It’s also due to this philosophy that quality is a focus too.
Company culture is centered around this phrase: “Quality is our contract with you ensuring customer satisfaction.”
Today, CIT is one of the leading employers in Richmond, Indiana including 4 executive positions and 8 management positions.
As part of the accomplishments of the company, CIT has implemented a quality program which has reached compelling results.
“I started with CIT 9 years ago and could not believe the true team approach that existed,” Mike Owens, VP of Sales & Marketing, said. “Kim Wuertemberger and Mike Catey, the two principles of the company, truly have an open door policy and are willing to entertain any new idea or suggestion. The ‘can due’ spirit of CIT is direct reflection of culture that has been fostered here by the owners.”
As part of the evolution from tool shop to global brand supplier, it is worth noting the values of design and thought. CIT puts engineering to work to solve complex problems.
Whether it’s developing a custom built robot to a laser cutting system to other complex material handling systems, CIT has always focused on the customer needs. The company plans to grow by 20 percent over the next 18 months with plans to expand as well.
Our President Kim Wuertemberger is dedicated to being hands on and involved in all of the little details of the company.
“I’m basically a shop floor kind of guy. You’re most likely to find me working with our team on process improvement or reverse engineering,” Wuertemberger said. “I’m obsessed with the details of how things work with safety and efficiency, and of course, we have to think about profitability- not just our own, but our clients’ profitability. It’s this type of design and process thinking that has been at the heart of our success.”
Our Story
CIT began as a small, two-person operation that specialized in light contract manufacturing in Dayton, Ohio in 1987.
A few years later, the company relocated to the “L” Street facility in Kim’s hometown of Richmond, Indiana where they began expanding their service offerings to include the manufacturing of containers for the Automotive industry and custom shipping racks.
Due to its continued impressive growth, the company is now in an 118,000 square foot facility. CIT’s services now also include the manufacturing of medical tables, lift gates and CAB enclosures.
The CIT story is one that truly embodies the American ideals of constant creation, small business, free enterprise and inventiveness.
Here’s to 30 years of innovation at CIT.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating our accomplishments from the past 30 years as we acknowledge our prior achievements and look to the future to provide more products of the highest quality and continue to revolutionize the industry.