Little Chute, WI–When John Wiley purchased Elipticon Wood Products, Inc. back in 1993, it is very likely he could not have envisioned just how much the company would change both under and after his leadership. Located here, the facility originally focused almost exclusively on radius moulding, a popular wood product that for years sustained the growing business. But when the financial crisis of 2008 hit, Wiley and his team realized that they needed to broaden their product offerings to help ensure the long-term viability of the company.
Joe Hanson, who started with Elipitcon in 1999 as a hand sander and who now serves as co-president of the company, recalled that the Great Recession marked a turning point for the business.
Elipticon Wood Products Inc. in Little Chute, WI, which purchases about 1.5 million board feet of upper grade domestic Hardwoods in a wide variety of species, is on track to mill about 2,700,000 linear feet of mouldings.
“I think the way in which we take our product to market has changed obviously. When I started, we did not run any straight moulding; radius casings represented 80 percent of our business,” he recalled. “In 2008, John bought a Weinig moulder and a Weinig rip saw, and said, ‘If we’re going to survive, we need to offer more.’”
Although Elipticon does produce and sell stock moulding, its niche is truly found in the custom moulding market, working directly with lumberyards to produce pieces for high-end residential projects, as well as some commercial jobs.
Hanson’s co-president, Patricia Heckner, who has been with the company since 1996, said Wiley recognized that Elipticon had to adapt to best serve its customers’ needs.
“The housing market was changing and people were going from circle-top window, which were very popular to squared-off windows. Even though we had the business for the specialty market and the curved, we knew we needed to get into another product offering, and that was straight millwork,” she said.
Today Elipticon enjoys growth in all arenas. Hanson and Heckner continue to build on John Wiley’s legacy, working with a dedicated team of more than three dozen fellow employees to take Elipticon into the future. The company includes a 16,000 square-foot manufacturing facility and an 11,000 square-foot fulfillment center. Even as they grow, however, employees are holding true to the values that first attracted them to the company.
One of those values, they said, involves producing an unparalleled custom product. Although Elipticon produces and sells custom mouldings to the high-end residential and commercial markets through lumberyards, their niche is producing and selling stock mouldings through their Just-In-Time inventory programs.
To that end, employees grind on average 10 new knives a week, creating an impressive library of custom blades that can be tapped into at a moment’s notice.
It also means processing a lot of lumber. Elipticon Wood Products, which purchases about 1.5 million board feet of upper grade domestic Hardwoods in a wide variety of species, is on track to mill about 2,700,000 linear feet of mouldings. Fortunately the Elipticon team is more than up to the challenge. At the same time the company is always looking for new opportunities to grow for the future. This is especially important as the company’s employees are also its owners. When Wiley retired in 2015, Elipticon became a 100 percent employee-owned company. This means that everyone at the company shares in the decision-making process through employee engagement, as well as the benefits of being part of a thriving business.
Attention to customer service includes prompt delivery by Elipticon’s fleet. 
High quality craftsmanship, as shown in this curved mantle, is key to Elipticon’s success, where three dozen fellow employees are taking Elipticon into the future.
Heckner and Hanson said that Wiley always saw the value in running the company as a team, and that as an ESOP, that approach has continued. They noted that the company operates in teams and cross functional teams, so when there are problems, the straight and round departments, as well as sales, customer service and fulfillment, all come together. As Hanson noted, “There is an old saying from The Great Game of Business: people support what they help create. At Elipticon, we have cross functional teams that solve their own problems.”
Heckner echoed that sentiment.
“John always was a visionary. This is his legacy – to ensure employment of the employees at Elipticon. He always believed he should have good people, so he hired people who could make a difference,” she commented.
The company includes a 16,000 square-foot manufacturing facility and an 11,000 square-foot fulfillment center. Even as they grow, however, employees are holding true to the values that first attracted them to the company. One of those values involves producing an unparalleled custom product.
That philosophy also applies to looking out for the collective future of the company. A couple of years ago, employees realized that the market for mouldings was starting to become saturated, and that the custom work orders were beginning to level off. As a result, Heckner noted, the company decided to add a line of finished products as part of a larger effort to expand its existing customer base. Hanson added that they also are looking to further develop Elipticon’s stock programs with some of their customers so that they can offer shorter lead times for them, as well as more predictable work flow for the company.
“We have intentions to grow in our specialty, straight, and round millwork arenas. We realize that having in-house finishing is an opportunity for us to gear up and help out our customers,” Heckner said. “It will pretty much be a one-stop shop.”
Underlying all of that success will be the team-oriented environment that has pervaded the company for years.
“I always joke with my kids that I don’t like working here; I love working here,” Hanson said. “I came into a team atmosphere with people who care, and like any company, we have struggles, but when we approach them together, the solutions are better. We are always trying to get better and we use challenges as opportunities to get better. We ask, ‘What did you learn from this? What are you going to do differently?’ If you learn something every day, you’re smarter, quicker, and can respond better.”
Heckner concurred, adding that this gets to the heart of the Elipticon difference.
“Many companies say they have values and they have a culture, but to know that the values and culture make a difference is very empowering,” she said. “It is exemplified in the ability of our employees to truly make a difference.”
Learn more about this company at www.elipticon.com.
