Georgetown Instrument Services • Taylor

Georgetown Instrument Services • Taylor

By K. Jenney Friday, 11 September 2009

At Georgetown Instrument Services you will not find a time clock anywhere in the 4,000 sq. ft. facility. That is because founder and president Efrain Lopez has a team that “knows what needs to be done.” He doesn’t need to account for their whereabouts; he just requires they are meeting customer deadlines with the highest quality expectations.

Founded in 2002, GIS is a Federal Aviation Administration–certified shop that provides repair, testing, overhaul and exchange services on aviation navigation instruments, specializing in altimeters and panel-mounted and remote gyroscopes or gyros.

Lopez entered the aviation instrument repair field at the age of 19 when he moved from California to Texas. He found a job at a family-owned, Austin-based company.

“The first time I held a gyro in my hand and felt that gravity-defying resistance, I was hooked,” he said.

He started working in the company’s shipping department and was soon sent to school to study electronics. When the company was sold to BF Goodrich, Lopez transferred to customer service and then outside sales, a progression that allowed him to receive a hands-on education in the instrument repair business.

That training proved valuable in 2002 when he was laid off from Goodrich.

“A lot of the people I had worked with at the time were joining other companies or transferring to other Goodrich locations,” he said. “I did my homework and identified a need for this kind of service in the Georgetown area.”

By 2005, it was necessary to expand, so Lopez secured a piece of property just off the southeast corner of the Taylor Municipal Airport.

“It’s not necessary to have a business like this located adjacent to an airport, but it doesn’t hurt when clients are willing to fly in to pick up a much-needed product,” Lopez said. “We just walk out to the runway and meet them.”

Lopez classifies his shop of 12 employees as a “mid-level mom and pop shop,” providing service for aircraft as large as corporate planes that carry four to five passengers. He is proud of the fact that they even have state-of-the-art rotor balancing equipment that enables them to do repairs on instrumentation for commercial aircraft.

He considers his biggest accomplishment to date surviving the current economic downturn.

“We’re a small company with low overhead, so every day presents a series of challenges,” Lopez said.

In an industry where an average shipping box with a single instrument runs upward of $10 per box, it is important to “run a lean machine to face these economic challenges.”

Another cost-saving measure involves staff taking off Fridays, but according to employee Gene Czimskey, nobody seems to mind.

“When you work for someone like Efrain, it’s a pleasure to come in every day and do something you truly love,” he said. “All of us have either worked with him or for him in some point in our careers. For us, GIS is like our extended family.”

What is a gyroscope?

A device that consists of a spinning mass, or rotor, which is mounted on a base so that its axis can turn freely in one or more directions. No matter how the base moves, the gyro maintains its orientation. Some planes may use as many as 12 gyroscopes in different navigation instruments.

Georgetown Instrument Services, 210 Airport Road, 352-9000, www.georgetowninstruments.com