Orange-based Data Aire Inc. isn’t the kind of company that stirs memories of the dot-com heyday.
At the company’s factory off Glassell Street, workers use large stamping machines to make air conditioners that are packed into crates for shipping.
But when the late 1990s boom took hold, Data Aire found itself catering to new customers,operators of data centers serving Internet and other companies.
Data Aire went from around 50 workers before the technology boom to more than 300 by 2000.
Then the bubble burst in 2001. Data Aire cut more than 230 workers to stay afloat.
“Almost overnight, it was a meteoric rise and a meteoric decline,” said Duncan Moffat, president of Data Aire since early 2002. “What that required on both ends of that was just real quick, decisive action.”
Data Aire cut costs and then some. Moffat, who had worked at Proctor & Gamble Co., said he helped modernize management at the decades-old company.
That meant corporate changes, expanding marketing and broadening sales.
“We try to focus on things we can control,” Moffat said. “We’ve prepared ourselves for growth.”
The air conditioner maker has seen sales grow by around 20% annually for the past couple of years, Moffat said.
Data Aire has yearly sales of about $25 million and employs about 100 people. Moffat said that could grow to 150 in a few years time.
The company makes specialty air conditioners that control humidity and temperature in rooms full of servers. Unlike an office, data centers have to stay dry and cool enough to prevent short-circuiting and other damage.
Data Aire’s air conditioners control temperatures within two degrees, instead of the typical five.
The company still faces a tough market. Liebert, an Emerson Electric Co. unit, dominates the segment with a 60% share, according to Data Aire. The company believes it is No.2.
“It’s like David and Goliath,” Moffat said. “I like our position.”
And the market is growing again, according to observers. That’s thanks in part to blade servers, which are stacked in racks in data centers and other computer rooms. They require precise cooling, said Jill Eckhaus, president of AFCOM, an Orange-based trade group for data center management.
“There’s a cooling problem because the equipment is burning so much hotter,” she said.
Data Aire’s founders worked with IBM Corp. to help start the specialty air conditioning market back in the 1960s.
The company, which was sold to New Jersey-based C/S Group in 1979, never became that big with just 55 or so employees by the mid-1990s.
Then came the Internet rush, and a wave of Web hosting companies that sprang up to serve Internet hopefuls and big corporate customers alike.
From 1998 to 2000, Data Aire saw its sales more than triple. It moved from Lake Forest to two sites in Anaheim and Orange, each with 100,000 square feet or more.
The Anaheim site was shed after the bust. Data Aire took a financial hit to get out of its lease, according to Moffat.
There were times when Moffat said he worried about the company’s viability, even after the layoffs and scaling back. But he said he never verbalized it.
Now Moffat said he hopes to see more measured growth.
To take on Emerson and other rivals, he said he’s deploying skills honed at Proctor & Gamble.
One of the first areas he addressed: marketing. Like many in manufacturing, Data Aire had a stodgy approach.
When Moffat arrived, the company didn’t even put its name on the outside of its air conditioners. Its name practically was hidden near the temperature control gauge.
So Moffat and marketing manager John Martin went to work on a logo and advertising. Its ads now feature big pictures, less text and fewer price quotes.
Data Aire also broadened its marketing. Traditionally, the company went after mechanical contractors. Now it aims at others who might decide on which air conditioner to buy, including developers, building owners and general contractors.
The company also is looking to tap global markets it has ignored up to now. About 5% of sales come from other countries, mostly from customers that seek out the company.
Another effort: shaking up management. For Moffat, that meant getting departments to stop acting independently and working together.
When he arrived, he said engineers basically came up with products and told the sales department to market it. Now, they combine their efforts during engineering.
Not everyone liked the new emphasis, Moffat said. A few managers left. But the changes were needed, he said.
“It’s basic blocking and tackling,” Moffat said.
