A fresh perspective

Originally Printed in

TACTICAL ADVANTAGES IN THE MILITARY MARKET

September 1st, 2019 By Jeff Moravec

This medical shelter by UTS Systems supports U.S. Air Force expeditionary medical support hospitals. Photo: UTS Systems.

When Tom Eggers and his colleagues founded UTS Systems in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to sell shelters and accessories to the military, he figured they had a leg up—after all, most of the company, including Eggers, had served in the armed forces. He was right. His experience in chemical/biological collective protection for the U.S. Air Force gave him good ideas about what products the military might be interested in. But Eggers also found out that some things had changed since he served, and it was important to keep adding staff with more recent experience. “The mission changes, and needs and wants and technology change,” Eggers says. “So we hire new folks who have been in the field recently, to get the perspective we need.” It’s one thing for a product to look good on paper, Eggers says, and another to know that it’s going to work in the field. Take tent installation. “Everybody’s got something better to do than set up tents, but that’s usually the first thing that needs to be done by troops in the field,” Eggers explains. “If we can bring innovation to the things they need, and make their life easier, they can be faster to what the mission really is. But you need the opinion of the guys who have done it recently.” Eggers says UTS also wants to be proactive, getting systems out to troops preparing for exercises or deployments, which can influence what specifics a later proposal may call for. “You see if it’s going to work for them versus sitting back and waiting for a request for proposal to come out. We wouldn’t get repeat customers if we just proposed our standard products all the time. Instead, we tailor our systems to improve their mission.” Eggers notes that the people in the field are not afraid to express their opinions about what works and what doesn’t. “You have to have pretty thick skin,” he laughs.

IFAI SEPTEMBER 8, 2019