Greg Aziz’s Engineering-Focused Approach Fuels Business Growth

Greg Aziz featured image

Talented, versatile engineers are the lifeblood of any manufacturing organization. Design engineers, electrical engineers, and mechanical engineers are involved in the design and fabrication of diverse types of equipment. When necessary, these resourceful professionals troubleshoot problems and keep machinery running smoothly. In addition, engineers initiate upgrades to existing equipment with the goal of improving its efficiency and function. In the North American transportation industry, railcar company owner Greg Aziz has prioritized engineering in multiple phases of business operations. 

Entrepreneur Greg Aziz believes that including engineers on a marketing team enables a better understanding of prospect and customer needs. This approach has set the stage for successful marketing efforts and subsequent customer orders.

“Right from the get-go, we emphasized engineering in order to differentiate ourselves from our competitors,” Aziz explains. “We believe that we’re the leading railcar manufacturer in the world from an engineering standpoint.

“We’re not the biggest railcar manufacturer, but all of our designs are cutting-edge designs. Our engineering department is superior, we believe, to our competitors. We’ve used our position in order to basically maintain ourselves as the top-tier manufacturer.”

Greg Aziz at his home in Caledon

Greg Aziz Navigates the Path to Company Ownership

Greg Aziz is the president, CEO, and chairman of National Steel Car. Headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the railcar manufacturing firm is known for its strong engineering focus and custom car designs. The company’s devotion to product excellence has helped it become a global leader in the highly competitive railcar industry.

Aziz brought a well-rounded business background to his ownership role. First, he earned an economics degree at the University of Western Ontario. In 1971, he entered his family’s wholesale food company, Affiliated Foods, and worked there for over a decade distributing fresh foods throughout the United States and Canada’s eastern region. During his tenure, he learned about the logistics of North American distribution channels.

Next, Greg Aziz developed his financial acumen by spending time in the New York investment banking industry. Equipped with this knowledge and financial resources, he purchased his railcar company in 1994. 

Greg Aziz

A Strong Engineering Focus From the Start

When Greg Aziz acquired his railcar company, the business had the equipment and resources to build 3,500 cars annually. By 1999, the firm had tooled up to manufacture 12,000 cars per year. Besides substantial capital investment, this dramatic production capacity increase stemmed largely from Aziz’s laser focus on engineering.

To Greg Aziz, becoming a railcar industry leader is essentially a numbers game. With a predetermined growth goal in mind, he began increasing the company’s engineering workforce. With more skilled engineers on staff, the business could design and build more high-quality railcars for its customers.

Like most successful business owners, Greg Aziz keeps a watchful eye on economic and industry trends. When necessary, he reduces expenses to keep the company competitive. However, the engineering department is the notable exception to this rule.

Recognizing that more engineers drive more growth, Aziz says the engineering department always has the green light to hire. “The engineering department, no matter how good or how bad the economy is, is the only portion of this company that’s allowed to hire continuously,” he emphasizes.

“I tell them, ‘It’s like the hot light at that doughnut place, the hot light’s on.’ I tell them the employment light is on all the time for engineering. You can hire people. They go after gold medalists from all the universities in Canada to hire. They’re allowed to hire four or five, six people every year.” 

For perspective, Greg Aziz details the number of engineers involved in some aspect of company operations. “Between engineers and people who are coming up the curve from an operating standpoint, from the engineering department, it’s probably about 70 people all-in. I mean, we’ve got engineers in our jigs and fixture department who aren’t actually in our engineering department. [But] they build the fixtures that we use to build the equipment. We have a pretty robust engineering staff,” he concludes.

In contrast, some of the firm’s competitors have minimal (or zero) engineering capabilities. “Some of our competitors have little or no engineering at all. They use outside engineering firms to design things for them. [But] they don’t maintain that burden from an operating standpoint 365 days a year like we do,” says Aziz.

Greg Aziz headshot

Greg Aziz’s Engineering Focus Drives 350-Plus Patented Designs

In a company overflowing with engineering talent, it’s not surprising that Aziz’s firm has produced many innovative railcar designs. A more extensive design portfolio provides more customer options, which in turn encourages business growth. For perspective, the business has patented over 350 railcar designs to date.

However, Aziz notes that obtaining these patents wasn’t a simple process. In fact, he bucked a longtime industry trend when he began to patent the engineers’ railcar designs.

“We patented all of our design innovations,” he shares. “We were the first railcar builder in North America to do this. It wasn’t done in the industry when I came in. The reason we did that was because I started to notice that our competitors were copying our designs. My question was, ‘Why are we not patenting these applications?’

“The answer I was given was, ‘The industry will not tolerate a railcar builder patenting its designs. It’s just not done in the industry.’ We went and did that anyway. It worked out very well for us. We continue to do that,” he says.

In any industry, cultivating (and keeping) satisfied customers is key to business growth. In the competitive railcar industry, Aziz’s company has become known for delivering customized designs tailored to each buyer’s needs.

Most of Greg Aziz’s competitors offer customers a choice of basic models that may (or may not) meet their needs. Some of these firms have merged with other companies, thus fading into anonymity.

“I know [of] the case of a couple of the companies who are no longer in business — not because they went out of business, but they’ve just disappeared through mergers,” he explains. “They had their basic designs on certain types of cars — ‘You can have this car or this car’ — whereas we will engineer to suit the customer. We basically start with a basic design and customize it to our customers’ needs.”

Caledon house

Engineering’s Key Role in Marketing

Marketing big-ticket products can be a complex and lengthy process. First, many vendors are vying for the business of a finite customer base. Aziz says compared to most major industries, the North American railcar sector has a relatively small prospect pool.

“If you look at a traditional big business in the United States, they generally have thousands or hundreds of thousands of customers,” he says. “And in our case, there probably wouldn’t be more than, what, 200 customers. Two hundred customers to shoot at in all of North America of varying sizes.

“So the customer count is quite small, and that’s a double-edged sword. Because once these customers go and commit to, say, one of our competitors, I mean, that customer’s out of the mix maybe for a year, maybe for two years,” he says.

Aziz describes how his firm markets to a customer base extending throughout North America. “We have a robust marketing group that is in locations all over North America, out on the West Coast.

“We have quite a few people in Texas. We have people in the eastern part of the United States. Some people around Chicago, and some people here in Canada, both out on the western part of our country and here operating from our head office.

“We’re able to maintain this with, I think we’re going up to about 16 people all-in … So we have a marketing group that probably is composed of 20 people all-in, including support staff. We’re able to maintain close relationships with people who make the decisions on behalf of the industrial customer or the railroad. And that includes me. We come at this from all angles, from the C-suite to the finance side of things.” 

Greg Aziz: A Customer-First Approach Often Makes the Difference

Viewing a prospect’s operations firsthand is the best way to identify areas that could benefit from improvement. In Aziz’s company, marketing team members frequently travel to prospects’ facilities.

Solutions-focused team members, including engineers, can easily identify how the company’s custom railcar designs can meet a prospect’s needs. The firm’s competitors rarely take this approach, instead offering a limited number of car designs.

Greg Aziz demonstrates how this customer-focused approach got his company a much-coveted contract. “There was a customer a few years ago [who] came out and wanted roughly 3,500 railcars. Our two main competitors both sent in a sales guy to meet with them.

“I think we put three of our marketing people and about three engineers, and a couple of our manufacturing engineers from our manufacturing operations, on a plane. [Our team] flew in to this customer and sat down about eight or 10 people in front of them.

“We got that contract, and that contract was worth about $350,000,000. And that’s something that takes a couple years to build out. I think we got caught in the middle of the COVID thing and all that. So, we had to back off on our ability to manufacture that order. But that order took three-and-a-half years or so to build out. But it was a nice base for our manufacturing operation through that time period,” Aziz summarizes.

With years of success under his belt, Greg Aziz says going the extra mile for each customer makes the difference. “By paying attention to our customers’ needs, that’s what’s enabled us to steer the company into new types of railroad equipment … It steers us to cutting-edge engineering and the ability to produce new car designs that are lighter and shorter … and that’s what’s important,” he concludes.

family home
xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonxosokeonhacaiketquabongdalichthidau7m.newskqbdtysokeobongdabongdalufutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbethttps://bsport.fithttps://onbet88.ooohttps://i9bet.bizhttps://hi88.ooohttps://okvip.athttps://f8bet.athttps://fb88.cashhttps://vn88.cashhttps://shbet.atbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng đá mớibóng đá cúp thế giớitin bóng đá ViệtUEFAbáo bóng đá việt namHuyền thoại bóng đágiải ngoại hạng anhSeagametap chi bong da the gioitin bong da lutrận đấu hôm nayviệt nam bóng đátin nong bong daBóng đá nữthể thao 7m24h bóng đábóng đá hôm naythe thao ngoai hang anhtin nhanh bóng đáphòng thay đồ bóng đábóng đá phủikèo nhà cái onbetbóng đá lu 2thông tin phòng thay đồthe thao vuaapp đánh lô đềdudoanxosoxổ số giải đặc biệthôm nay xổ sốkèo đẹp hôm nayketquaxosokq xskqxsmnsoi cầu ba miềnsoi cau thong kesxkt hôm naythế giới xổ sốxổ số 24hxo.soxoso3mienxo so ba mienxoso dac bietxosodientoanxổ số dự đoánvé số chiều xổxoso ket quaxosokienthietxoso kq hôm nayxoso ktxổ số megaxổ số mới nhất hôm nayxoso truc tiepxoso ViệtSX3MIENxs dự đoánxs mien bac hom nayxs miên namxsmientrungxsmn thu 7con số may mắn hôm nayKQXS 3 miền Bắc Trung Nam Nhanhdự đoán xổ số 3 miềndò vé sốdu doan xo so hom nayket qua xo xoket qua xo so.vntrúng thưởng xo sokq xoso trực tiếpket qua xskqxs 247số miền nams0x0 mienbacxosobamien hôm naysố đẹp hôm naysố đẹp trực tuyếnnuôi số đẹpxo so hom quaxoso ketquaxstruc tiep hom nayxổ số kiến thiết trực tiếpxổ số kq hôm nayso xo kq trực tuyenkết quả xổ số miền bắc trực tiếpxo so miền namxổ số miền nam trực tiếptrực tiếp xổ số hôm nayket wa xsKQ XOSOxoso onlinexo so truc tiep hom nayxsttso mien bac trong ngàyKQXS3Msố so mien bacdu doan xo so onlinedu doan cau loxổ số kenokqxs vnKQXOSOKQXS hôm naytrực tiếp kết quả xổ số ba miềncap lo dep nhat hom naysoi cầu chuẩn hôm nayso ket qua xo soXem kết quả xổ số nhanh nhấtSX3MIENXSMB chủ nhậtKQXSMNkết quả mở giải trực tuyếnGiờ vàng chốt số OnlineĐánh Đề Con Gìdò số miền namdò vé số hôm nayso mo so debach thủ lô đẹp nhất hôm naycầu đề hôm naykết quả xổ số kiến thiết toàn quốccau dep 88xsmb rong bach kimket qua xs 2023dự đoán xổ số hàng ngàyBạch thủ đề miền BắcSoi Cầu MB thần tàisoi cau vip 247soi cầu tốtsoi cầu miễn phísoi cau mb vipxsmb hom nayxs vietlottxsmn hôm naycầu lô đẹpthống kê lô kép xổ số miền Bắcquay thử xsmnxổ số thần tàiQuay thử XSMTxổ số chiều nayxo so mien nam hom nayweb đánh lô đề trực tuyến uy tínKQXS hôm nayxsmb ngày hôm nayXSMT chủ nhậtxổ số Power 6/55KQXS A trúng roycao thủ chốt sốbảng xổ số đặc biệtsoi cầu 247 vipsoi cầu wap 666Soi cầu miễn phí 888 VIPSoi Cau Chuan MBđộc thủ desố miền bắcthần tài cho sốKết quả xổ số thần tàiXem trực tiếp xổ sốXIN SỐ THẦN TÀI THỔ ĐỊACầu lô số đẹplô đẹp vip 24hsoi cầu miễn phí 888xổ số kiến thiết chiều nayXSMN thứ 7 hàng tuầnKết quả Xổ số Hồ Chí Minhnhà cái xổ số Việt NamXổ Số Đại PhátXổ số mới nhất Hôm Nayso xo mb hom nayxxmb88quay thu mbXo so Minh ChinhXS Minh Ngọc trực tiếp hôm nayXSMN 88XSTDxs than taixổ số UY TIN NHẤTxs vietlott 88SOI CẦU SIÊU CHUẨNSoiCauVietlô đẹp hôm nay vipket qua so xo hom naykqxsmb 30 ngàydự đoán xổ số 3 miềnSoi cầu 3 càng chuẩn xácbạch thủ lônuoi lo chuanbắt lô chuẩn theo ngàykq xo-solô 3 càngnuôi lô đề siêu vipcầu Lô Xiên XSMBđề về bao nhiêuSoi cầu x3xổ số kiến thiết ngày hôm nayquay thử xsmttruc tiep kết quả sxmntrực tiếp miền bắckết quả xổ số chấm vnbảng xs đặc biệt năm 2023soi cau xsmbxổ số hà nội hôm naysxmtxsmt hôm nayxs truc tiep mbketqua xo so onlinekqxs onlinexo số hôm nayXS3MTin xs hôm nayxsmn thu2XSMN hom nayxổ số miền bắc trực tiếp hôm naySO XOxsmbsxmn hôm nay188betlink188 xo sosoi cầu vip 88lô tô việtsoi lô việtXS247xs ba miềnchốt lô đẹp nhất hôm naychốt số xsmbCHƠI LÔ TÔsoi cau mn hom naychốt lô chuẩndu doan sxmtdự đoán xổ số onlinerồng bạch kim chốt 3 càng miễn phí hôm naythống kê lô gan miền bắcdàn đề lôCầu Kèo Đặc Biệtchốt cầu may mắnkết quả xổ số miền bắc hômSoi cầu vàng 777thẻ bài onlinedu doan mn 888soi cầu miền nam vipsoi cầu mt vipdàn de hôm nay7 cao thủ chốt sốsoi cau mien phi 7777 cao thủ chốt số nức tiếng3 càng miền bắcrồng bạch kim 777dàn de bất bạion newsddxsmn188betw88w88789bettf88sin88suvipsunwintf88five8812betsv88vn88Top 10 nhà cái uy tínsky88iwinlucky88nhacaisin88oxbetm88vn88w88789betiwinf8betrio66rio66lucky88oxbetvn88188bet789betMay-88five88one88sin88bk88xbetoxbetMU88188BETSV88RIO66ONBET88188betM88M88SV88Jun-68Jun-88one88iwinv9betw388OXBETw388w388onbetonbetonbetonbet88onbet88onbet88onbet88onbetonbetonbetonbetqh88mu88Nhà cái uy tínpog79vp777vp777vipbetvipbetuk88uk88typhu88typhu88tk88tk88sm66sm66me88me888live8live8livesm66me88win798livesm66me88win79pog79pog79vp777vp777uk88uk88tk88tk88luck8luck8kingbet86kingbet86k188k188hr99hr99123b8xbetvnvipbetsv66zbettaisunwin-vntyphu88vn138vwinvwinvi68ee881xbetrio66zbetvn138i9betvipfi88clubcf68onbet88ee88typhu88onbetonbetkhuyenmai12bet-moblie12betmoblietaimienphi247vi68clupcf68clupvipbeti9betqh88onb123onbefsoi cầunổ hũbắn cáđá gàđá gàgame bàicasinosoi cầuxóc đĩagame bàigiải mã giấc mơbầu cuaslot gamecasinonổ hủdàn đềBắn cácasinodàn đềnổ hũtài xỉuslot gamecasinobắn cáđá gàgame bàithể thaogame bàisoi cầukqsssoi cầucờ tướngbắn cágame bàixóc đĩa开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育亚新体育亚新体育亚新体育爱游戏爱游戏爱游戏华体会华体会华体会IM体育IM体育沙巴体育沙巴体育PM体育PM体育AG尊龙AG尊龙AG尊龙AG百家乐AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人<AG真人<皇冠体育皇冠体育PG电子PG电子万博体育万博体育KOK体育KOK体育欧宝体育江南体育江南体育江南体育半岛体育半岛体育半岛体育凯发娱乐凯发娱乐杏彩体育杏彩体育杏彩体育FB体育PM真人PM真人<米乐娱乐米乐娱乐天博体育天博体育开元棋牌开元棋牌j9九游会j9九游会开云体育AG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人爱游戏华体会华体会im体育kok体育开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育欧宝体育ob体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育开云体育开云体育棋牌棋牌沙巴体育买球平台新葡京娱乐开云体育mu88qh88

Share This Post

More To Explore

How to Craft a Severance Package for Your Business
Business

How to Craft a Severance Package for Your Business

Creating a standardized severance package ensures that departing employees are treated fairly and consistently, irrespective of their position or circumstances. Companies uphold transparency and fairness