Temperature-recording veteran looking for new opportunities
Temperature-recording veteran looking for new opportunities
Dan Vach?, who started working for Ryan Instruments 37 years ago and remained with the firm and its successors ever since, left Sensitech Inc. Sept. 30 and said he is pursuing other opportunities.
Mr. Vach? began his long career with the Redmond, WA-based recording instrument company in the summer of 1971 while he was attending a nearby community college.
"At the time, the company was still owned by the Ryan family," he said. "Marilyn Ryan Taylor, who was founder T.F. Ryan's daughter, and her husband, Art Taylor, owned and ran the company. There were 14 employees at that time."
Despite its small size, Ryan was the giant in the recording instrument business in the 1970s, with its name being synonymous with the product it sold. Mr. Vach? was introduced to the company by his older brother, Pat Vach?, who was an executive with the firm who eventually rose to the top position.
Mr. Vach? worked at Ryan every summer while he was in college as an instrument technician. "I graduated from Eastern Washington in 1976 with a teaching credential and began to look for a teaching job, but they were difficult to come by at the time."
While looking for a teaching position, he continued to work at Ryan and was offered a full-time sales position in the Fresno, CA, sales office in the spring of 1977. "So I moved to Fresno and stayed there for 12 years in a sales rep/sales management position."
In 1989, he moved back to the headquarters in Redmond to become vice president of sales. Although his responsibilities shifted over the years, he held that same title when he left the company at the end of September.
While Mr. Vach? was a constant at Ryan throughout the years, the firm went through a number of changes. "The company was founded in 1926 and remained a family-owned company until right about the time that I came to work for them," he said. "In 1971, they were bought by Peabody International and became a Peabody company."
About seven years later, Peabody sold the firm to the Pullman Corp., which is famous for its rail cars, and in 1987, a private investment firm bought the organization and created Ryan Instruments LLP. Mr. Vach? became a limited partner at that point, and the company began operating again similarly to how it was run when it was a family-owned business.
While owned by Peabody and Pullman, Mr. Vach? said that the Ryan management team remained intact and the company operated somewhat autonomously. But it was part of larger corporations, which always brings its own challenges.
Through this entire period, the Ryan name retained its leadership position in the produce industry's temperature-recording instrument business, and was the name of the company itself.
In 2000, however, Sensitech Inc., a competing temperature-recording company headquartered in Beverly, MA, bought Ryan. The company name was changed and the Ryan name was utilized as a brand for specific products.
Mr. Vach? said that while the recording instrument technology has changed significantly during his years in the business, the concept remains the same and the product itself hasn't fundamentally changed.
"Since T.F. Ryan hired an engineer to build the first instrument in 1926, it hasn't changed that much. It still consists of basically three parts: a timing mechanism, a temperature-sensing devise and a scribe to record the information."
He said that while advancements have moved the product beyond the inkwell element of 80 years ago to digital record keeping today, the temperature recorder still provides the same function for the industry: To record the in- transit temperature of a produce shipment primarily to help assess responsibility in the event of a problem.
"Today, the industry uses more instruments than it ever did before," Mr. Vach? said. "In the first place, the price has gone down. And secondly, shippers can't afford not to put one on a load to record in-transit temperatures. When I started, the rule of thumb was to use a recorder on any load [from California] going east of the Mississippi. And then it became any load east of the Rockies. And then it became any load that was leaving the state. Today, a recorder is used to monitor the in-transit temperature if the load is going from Salinas to Tracy (fewer than 150 miles)."
For his part, the 55-year-old veteran wants to stay in the food business, preferably in a sales management position in the fruit and vegetable industry.
"I've looked at a number of different options," Mr. Vach? said. "Over the years, I've had extensive experience in not only produce but in other businesses where temperature was a factor, such as the pharmaceutical industry and frozen foods. But fresh produce is where I'd like to stay."
Mr. Vach? began his long career with the Redmond, WA-based recording instrument company in the summer of 1971 while he was attending a nearby community college.
"At the time, the company was still owned by the Ryan family," he said. "Marilyn Ryan Taylor, who was founder T.F. Ryan's daughter, and her husband, Art Taylor, owned and ran the company. There were 14 employees at that time."
Despite its small size, Ryan was the giant in the recording instrument business in the 1970s, with its name being synonymous with the product it sold. Mr. Vach? was introduced to the company by his older brother, Pat Vach?, who was an executive with the firm who eventually rose to the top position.
Mr. Vach? worked at Ryan every summer while he was in college as an instrument technician. "I graduated from Eastern Washington in 1976 with a teaching credential and began to look for a teaching job, but they were difficult to come by at the time."
While looking for a teaching position, he continued to work at Ryan and was offered a full-time sales position in the Fresno, CA, sales office in the spring of 1977. "So I moved to Fresno and stayed there for 12 years in a sales rep/sales management position."
In 1989, he moved back to the headquarters in Redmond to become vice president of sales. Although his responsibilities shifted over the years, he held that same title when he left the company at the end of September.
While Mr. Vach? was a constant at Ryan throughout the years, the firm went through a number of changes. "The company was founded in 1926 and remained a family-owned company until right about the time that I came to work for them," he said. "In 1971, they were bought by Peabody International and became a Peabody company."
About seven years later, Peabody sold the firm to the Pullman Corp., which is famous for its rail cars, and in 1987, a private investment firm bought the organization and created Ryan Instruments LLP. Mr. Vach? became a limited partner at that point, and the company began operating again similarly to how it was run when it was a family-owned business.
While owned by Peabody and Pullman, Mr. Vach? said that the Ryan management team remained intact and the company operated somewhat autonomously. But it was part of larger corporations, which always brings its own challenges.
Through this entire period, the Ryan name retained its leadership position in the produce industry's temperature-recording instrument business, and was the name of the company itself.
In 2000, however, Sensitech Inc., a competing temperature-recording company headquartered in Beverly, MA, bought Ryan. The company name was changed and the Ryan name was utilized as a brand for specific products.
Mr. Vach? said that while the recording instrument technology has changed significantly during his years in the business, the concept remains the same and the product itself hasn't fundamentally changed.
"Since T.F. Ryan hired an engineer to build the first instrument in 1926, it hasn't changed that much. It still consists of basically three parts: a timing mechanism, a temperature-sensing devise and a scribe to record the information."
He said that while advancements have moved the product beyond the inkwell element of 80 years ago to digital record keeping today, the temperature recorder still provides the same function for the industry: To record the in- transit temperature of a produce shipment primarily to help assess responsibility in the event of a problem.
"Today, the industry uses more instruments than it ever did before," Mr. Vach? said. "In the first place, the price has gone down. And secondly, shippers can't afford not to put one on a load to record in-transit temperatures. When I started, the rule of thumb was to use a recorder on any load [from California] going east of the Mississippi. And then it became any load east of the Rockies. And then it became any load that was leaving the state. Today, a recorder is used to monitor the in-transit temperature if the load is going from Salinas to Tracy (fewer than 150 miles)."
For his part, the 55-year-old veteran wants to stay in the food business, preferably in a sales management position in the fruit and vegetable industry.
"I've looked at a number of different options," Mr. Vach? said. "Over the years, I've had extensive experience in not only produce but in other businesses where temperature was a factor, such as the pharmaceutical industry and frozen foods. But fresh produce is where I'd like to stay."
