Firm Has Successfully Risen From The Ashes To Drive Healthy Profits

By Kathy Hagood

VDC Display Systems in Cape Canaveral has successfully risen from the ashes of a failed Space Coast company to drive healthy profits for its parent company, Video Display Corp. (VDC), based in Tucker, Ga.

The division’s high-resolution MARQUEE Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) projection equipment is used for virtual reality, simulation, training, and entertainment in a wide spectrum of military and civilian applications around the world.

“ We are well known internationally for the quality of our products,” said Bryan Sorensen, director of market development for VDC Display Systems, pointing to the division’s record for “product reliability, cost-effectiveness and innovation.”

The division was created in February 2000 with members of Melbourne-based Ampro Corp.’s staff and capital equipment purchased from AmPro after the company went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Because AmPro could not fulfill a major U.S. Navy contract for ship training simulators, the contract was put up for bid again and VDC Display Systems was chosen to provide projection equipment.

“ The new division was a natural fit for VDC,” said Sorenson, who formerly worked for AmPro.

Currently one of 17 VDC divisions, VDC Display Systems generates about a quarter of VDC’s annual revenues of more than $90 million through the CRT projection equipment it manufactures or modifies for specialized uses, Sorensen said.

The division’s high-quality projection equipment primarily is purchased by training system integration companies, including The Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin, and Rockwell Collins, for those company’s Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration contracts. The equipment, for example, is used for F-15, F-15E, T-38, F-16, F-18 and F-22 training simulators as well as Apache Longbow and Comanche training simulators. It’s used internationally by U.S. allies for military and aviation training.

CRT projectors are often used with a cockpit or other environment to create a highly realistic, immersive training environment.

“ The systems our projection equipment is used in are able to simulate a wide variety of scenarios and environments,” Sorensen said.

Additionally, the division’s projection equipment is used for virtual reality and three-dimensional engineering design centers, planetariums and home theaters.

While the demand for training and other simulation projection equipment continues to increase, the division’s home theater sales have fallen in recent years with the emergence of ever-better flat panel technology.

“Technology and demand is always changing and we continue to respond to that,” Sorensen said.

The division is able to custom-tailor its products and alter the equipment of others for its various customers’ needs. Of its 60-member staff, about 15 are engineers, including thee PhDs.

VDC Display System’s 36,000-square-foot Cape Canaveral facility houses the division’s research and development, design, testing and manufacturing operations. Additionally the facility operates an authorized original equipment manufacturer sales and service center for Christie Digital, JVC and Hitachi and offers standard and customized versions of their projection systems.

Parent company Video Display Corp. was founded in 1975 by current Chief Executive Officer Ron Ordway. He first carved a niche for VDC by refurbishing color and black and white CRTs for televisions. Over the years the company has recycled more than 10 million CRTs, which has prevented 150,000 tons of hazardous waste glass out of the country’s landfills.

“ VDC continues to perform an important service that helps protect the environment,” Sorensen said.

The company, which trades under the symbol VIDE, has acquired numerous small companies and divisions over the years. It currently markets CRTs in more than 3,000 sizes and 12,000 types, manufacturing and/or selling more than 80,000 CRTs annually. Uses for those VDC CRTs include broadcast, computer, air traffic, defense, medical, display, instrument and radar.

VDC markets and sells direct replacement CRTs for the consumer television market, including for Chungwha, Philips, JVC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Orion, Toshiba, Clinton, NEC, Panasonic and Sony. VDC also supplies industrial monitors and provides support for DEC, Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, Wells-Gardner, Data-Ray, IBM and NCR. Always responding to a changing technology marketplace, these days VDC also manufactures flat-panel displays.

For more information on VDC Display Systems, visit www.vdcdisplaysystems.com. For more information on Video Display Corp., visit www.videodisplay.com