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A computer case manufacturer wasn't what Charles Dickens had in mind when he wrote "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." But longtime employees at FCMP Inc., formerly Phelps Technologies Inc. can appreciate the phrase.
The company went from winning the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award in 1994 to bankruptcy by April 1998.
Today, Jerry Lee, vice president and general manager, and the rest of the management team at FCMP, are trying to reclaim those good times.
They are implementing a strategy they hope will improve the company's bottom line as well as its market share. But the road to better times is mostly uphill and sometimes rocky.
The company, which still manufactures cases for servers and personal computers, faces stiff competition as well as its own fiscal limits.
"Frankly, we aren't making any money yet," Lee said, explaining that many of his overseas competitors pay a fraction of the labor costs he pays in Kansas City. Even many of his U.S. competitors are in areas with ready access to cheaper labor.
"Right now our goal is to break even and increase our market...