Business name: Amfit Inc.
Each week, The Columbian offers a brief snapshot of an interesting Clark County business. Send ideas to Mary Ricks: mary.ricks@columbian.com; fax 360-735-4598; phone 360-735-4550.
President: Arjen Sundman.
General manager: Robert Catchings.
Current address: 5408 N.E. 88th St.
What the business does: Amfit designs and manufactures equipment for the measurement and manufacture of custom foot orthotics. The company has a device to measure the contour of the foot, called a contact digitizer; software to modify that shape, providing relief under a painful part of the foot; and a milling machine to grind the custom insole. Amfit also provides milling services and it provides insole blanks to those who have the company’s equipment.
Steps to building the business: When economic challenges hit in 2007 and 2008, company president Arjen Sundman said, the company redirected sales efforts to export markets. That strategy paid off, he said, and Amfit ran smoothly and profitably through the recession. Sundman said the company is now positioned to use the lessons it learned in export markets to grow the business.
Greatest challenge: Staying as many steps ahead of potential competitors as possible and figuring out new ways to build business are the company’s biggest challenges. The challenges are especially large in foreign markets where the economics of making custom foot orthotics may be entirely different from those in the United States.
