American Made by Ocie Mathina VP of Sales
As I am nearing a decade of employment with iCombat I look back I feel not only proud of what we have accomplished as a company in the past 12 years of manufacturing laser tag systems but of HOW we have accomplished it. Being innovative and continuing to push the envelope year after year in the entertainment technology field is challenging, doing so completely here in the USA from development and manufacturing aspect is EXTREMELY challenging. Competing with products from overseas (mainly China and Russia) and their inherently cheap costs is not something that some clients, in most cases, take into consideration when looking for laser tag equipment. For individuals looking to purchase equipment, cost is one of the client’s main concerns. The iCombat equipment includes more than just the equipment it includes our American software engineers (or 4 in our case) and our American employees labor wages, equipment support team and more. Most companies choose to manufacture their products in China and distribute them from the USA, they develop their software in Eastern Europe or India, and still, others have their shells and boards shipped from overseas and assemble their goods here in the USA. iCombat has never gone this route for equipment design, software development or manufacturing. The outsourcing alternative though it provides a more profitable alternative creates issues with equipment maintenance, customer service, communication and product lifetime. Maintaining quality control, providing jobs to American men and women, and maintaining 100% control of the development of our product is important to us. Keeping all aspects of our products production in house makes iCombat different than most other laser tag companies on the market.
Since the first day I stepped into our Whitewater manufacturing plant also known as UEI 1 as we have two plants (I came from working overseas since leaving the Army in 2001), I instantly felt proud walking past Old Glory flanked by the Wisconsin State flag and the green and gold of the Greenbay Packers (replicated in the lunchroom of course). On the floor over 100 workers buzzed around building electronics for fortune 500 companies (as they have been since 1980). 140,000 sq ft of manufacturing space and over 400 employees working in shifts 24/7 in two production plants. This was bigger than just a job in laser tag. I was now a member of the Jensen family!It is extremely important for me to have clients come to Wisconsin and see where and by whom their equipment will be manufactured, meet the team, visit one or all of our own iCOMBAT fields, talk to the techs who will repair their equipment should the need arise, and in general see what American manufacturing is all about. Come visit our location and if you purchase iCombat equipment we will credit you $500 for travel expenses towards your first purchase.
It is extremely important for me to have clients come to Wisconsin and see where and by whom their equipment will be manufactured, meet the team, visit one or all of our own iCOMBAT fields, talk to the techs who will repair their equipment should the need arise, and in general see what American manufacturing is all about. Come visit our location and if you purchase iCombat equipment we will credit you $500 for travel expenses towards your first purchase.
American Made, easy to say, hard to prove.
Want to hear more about our American Made products?
Contact Ocie -> Ocie@icombat.com