3 unchanged sentences
The businesses of the Company design, manufacture and sell unique engineered solutions for industrial markets.
−Removed: Today, the Company maintains 17 physical locations across North America, Europe, and Asia.
+Added: Today, the Company maintains fifteen physical locations across North America and Asia.
BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS
+Added: On June 29, 2023, the Company acquired certain assets of Sureflex, Inc.
+Added: (“Sureflex”).
+Added: Sureflex, which manufactures tractor-trailer electrical connection cable assemblies, is part of Eastern’s Velvac subsidiary.
+Added: On May 1, 2023, the Company announced plans to close Associated Toolmakers, Limited, its European mold tooling service facility based in the U.K.
+Added: The closure was completed in the second quarter of 2023.
On October 19, 2022, the Company sold its Argo EMS business (“Argo”).
−Removed: Argo supplies printed circuit boards and other electronic assemblies to original equipment manufacturers in various industries, including measurement systems, semiconductor equipment manufacturing, and industrial control, medical, and military products.
−Removed: On November 3, 2021, the Company sold its Greenwald Industries division (“Greenwald”).
−Removed: Greenwald is an original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) offering a range of payment solutions from coin-vending products to smart card systems and payment applications.
−Removed: On November 22, 2021, the Company sold its Frazer & Jones Company division (“Frazer & Jones”).
−Removed: Frazer & Jones is a high quality ductile and malleable iron foundry located in Syracuse, NY.
−Removed: In the second fiscal quarter of 2021 the Company determined that the companies included in its Diversified Products segment, including Argo, Greenwald, and Frazer & Jones, no longer fit with our long-term strategy and met the criteria to be treated as held for sale, and that the assets held for sale qualify for discontinued operations.
+Added: Argo supplied printed circuit boards and other electronic assemblies to original equipment manufacturers in various industries, including measurement systems, semiconductor equipment manufacturing, and industrial control, medical, and military products.
Description of Business
2 unchanged sentences
Eastern manages the financial, operational, and strategic performance of its businesses to increase cash generation, operating earnings, and long-term shareholder value.
−Removed: Among other things, Eastern monitors financial and operational performance of each of its businesses and instills consistent financial discipline.
+Added: Among other things, Eastern monitors the financial and operational performance of each of its businesses and instills consistent financial discipline.
Eastern’s management analyzes and pursues prudent organic growth strategies and works to execute attractive external growth and acquisition opportunities.
1 unchanged sentence
We look for leaders who are accountable, maintain cost discipline, act quickly, and build strong followership.
+Added: The Eastern Company has one reportable segment:
+Added: Engineered Solutions.
+Added: The Engineered Solutions segment provides engineered solutions to support our customers’ needs primarily in the commercial transportation and logistics markets.
+Added: The Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM) uses both segment gross profit and segment profit or loss from operations before interest and income taxes to allocate resources (including employees, property, and financial or capital resources) for the Engineered Solutions segment predominantly in the annual budget and forecasting process.
Company Operations
−Removed: The Company’s operations consist of Big 3 Precision, including Big 3 Precision Products Inc.
+Added: The Engineered Solutions segment consists of Big 3 Precision, including Big 3 Precision Products Inc.
(“Big 3 Products”) and Big 3 Mold Services, Inc.
−Removed: (“Big 3 Mold”), Hallink Moulds, Inc.
−Removed: (“Hallink Moulds” or “Hallink”), and Associated Toolmakers Ltd.
−Removed: (“Associated Toolmakers”);
+Added: (“Big 3 Mold”), and Hallink Moulds, Inc.
+Added: (“Hallink Moulds” or “Hallink”);
Eberhard Manufacturing Company (“Eberhard Manufacturing”), Eastern Industrial Ltd, World Lock Company Ltd., Dongguan Reeworld Security Products Ltd., and World Security Industries (together, “Eberhard”);
4 unchanged sentences
Big 3 Mold is a global leader in the design and manufacture of blow mold tools.
−Removed: Hallink Moulds is a leader in innovative injection blow mold tooling and is a leading supplier of blow molds and change parts to the food, beverage, healthcare, and chemical industry.
+Added: Hallink Moulds is a leader in innovative injection blow mold tooling and is a leading supplier of blow molds and change parts to the food, beverage, healthcare, and chemical industries.
Hallink specializes in the design, development and manufacture of 2-step stretch blow molds, and related components for the stretch blow molding industry offering integrated turnkey solutions to its customers worldwide.
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The Board established an Environment, Health, and Safety Committee in 2019.
+Added: This committee is responsible for reviewing the overall performance of the Company’s health and safety program and making recommendations to management.
There is a high level of leadership engagement, ensuring installation and maintenance of appropriate safety equipment at all our manufacturing sites worldwide combined with vigorous reviews of root causation and systemic corrective actions of any safety incidents that may occur.
−Removed: In response to the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020, we implemented a proactive internal procedure and complied with local, federal, and international governmental guidance that has enabled us to operate safely.
−Removed: Each of our facilities continues to adhere to such guidance as it has evolved, and we have also adjusted our remote worker safety procedures to ensure that remote employees are better integrated into our safety and health systems.
Employee levels are managed to align with business demand and management believes it currently has sufficient human capital to operate its business successfully.
6 unchanged sentences
No business operation is dependent on any patent, nor would the loss of any patent have any material adverse effect on the Company’s business.
−Removed: During the second fiscal quarter of 2021, the Company announced plans to sell the companies included in our Diversified Products segment, these assets met the criteria to be treated as held for sale and reported as discontinued operations.
−Removed: Subsequently, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company sold Greenwald and Frazer & Jones.
−Removed: In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company sold Argo.
The Company’s businesses are not subject to seasonal variations.
Customers of the Company are broad-based by geography and by market, and sales are not highly concentrated by customer.
−Removed: Only one customer exceeded 10% of accounts receivable for each of fiscal 2022 and 2021.
−Removed: Foreign sales were not significant for fiscal years 2022 and 2021.
−Removed: The Company encounters competition in its businesses.
+Added: Only one customer exceeded 10% of accounts receivable for each of fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022.
+Added: Foreign sales were not significant for the fiscal years 2023 and 2022.
+Added: The Company encounters competition in its business.
Imports from Asia and Latin America with favorable currency exchange rates and low-cost labor have created additional pricing pressure.
4 unchanged sentences
Availability and prices of raw materials and outside services were affected by measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as by global trade restrictions, for some of the Company’s businesses during 2022.
−Removed: We expect raw materials and outside services to be more readily available in 2023 unless resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic occurs or trade restrictions continue, but prices may remain elevated or increase further.
+Added: Raw materials and outside services were more readily available in 2023.
The Company’s ratio of working capital (current assets less current liabilities) to sales was 25.6% in 2023 and 26.1% in 2022.
1 unchanged sentence
Other factors affecting working capital include our average days’ sales in accounts receivable, inventory turnover ratio and payment of vendor accounts payable.
−Removed: In some cases, the company must hold extra inventory due to extended lead time in receiving products ordered from our foreign subsidiaries to ensure product is available for our customers.
+Added: In some cases, the company must hold extra inventory due to extended lead time in receiving products ordered from our foreign subsidiaries to ensure the product is available for our customers.
The Company continues to monitor working capital needs with the goal of reducing our ratio of working capital to sales.
4 unchanged sentences
Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.