Excerpt from “Insights and Inspiration: How Businesses Succeed - The 1996 Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative” Published in June 1996 by Nation’s Business Magazine on behalf of MassMutual and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ADTEC - An Unknown, Costly ProductTop State Winner, Tennessee      As student president of the Residence Hall Association at Tennessee Technological University, Ron Johnson developed a closed-circuit television system to inform students about campus-related activities. He discovered he could increase viewership by adding movies to his presentation and putting it on at various times.       Two fellow students shared his interest in that type of communication, and they developed an automatic-control system that television stations could use in scheduling videotaped programs.       After graduation, Johnson, David Cook, and Andre Ancelin raised $10,000 and founded Adtec, Inc., in Nashville, Tenn., to market automated-broadcast equipment.       Their biggest marketing challenge, Johnson say, was that “no one had ever heard of our products or our company,” and managers operating under company-set budgets were not receptive to buying a $7,000 product that had no track record.       Adtec’s answer was a sales technique usually associated with more routine items: a free trial. It worked. Sales took off.       Cable-television stations use Adtec products to insert local commercials into cable programs, with the timing determined by a signal in the program being aired. Broadcast stations use them to coordinate live and taped reports from news events.       Hospitals, hotels, businesses, and schools use Adtec products to control the flow of video information throughout their organizations. A hospital might use such equipment to control showing of patient information in appropriate rooms at appropriate times.       There are other uses for the system, too, such as recording a college professor’s lecture for later showing in different schools according to their own class schedules.       As sales surged, Adtec soon faced growth problems that included inadequate production facilities.       One solution to production bottlenecks was subcontracting certain components, including circuit boards. More work space was rented until the company bought a building that met its needs.       Engineering and manufacturing operations were moved to Jacksonville, Fla.       That produced a bonus. In establishing communications between Jacksonville and Nashville, the company used techniques that could be applied to its dealings not only internally but also with customers.       As Adtec went international, for example, the company redesigned its products to allow service via telephone lines, a capability that has increased its overseas sales.       The three founders divide responsibilities, with David Cook serving as president; Ron Johnson, vide president/marketing; and Andre Ancelin, vide president/engineering. Kevin Ancelin, Andre’s brother and an investor, is vice president for operations.       Innovative technology and intensive marketing are important to the company, Johnson says, but the key reason for its success is “our commitment to a low-cost, high quality product that does more and does it more reliably.”