A Conversation with Solve Industrial Motion Group CEO, Ernie Lauber

Since taking over as CEO of Solve Industrial Motion Group in June 2024, Ernie Lauber has focused on continuous improvement, predictive maintenance and growing the legacy brands within Solve.

Combining brands such as IPTCI, MasterDrive, PTI and TRITAN together with the LMS, SST, SPB-USA and USA Roller product lines, Solve Industrial Motion Group is a provider of high-quality metric and American Standard power transmission components and industrial-grade bearings.

With a comprehensive product catalog, highly honed supply chain, ISO 9001 certified quality control, advantageous pricing and the ability to custom manufacture bearings and components to fit virtually any need, Solve delivers products to meet demanding service requirements in areas such as agriculture, automotive, mining, aggregates, material handling, food and beverage, forestry/wood products and more.

A Focus on Continuous Improvement Lauber’s career has prepared him for this role as CEO in the mechanical power transmission market. “I’m a mechanical engineer undergrad, a tactile, hands-on, visual person, right? My mechanical background has always served me well, problem solving, critical thinking, analytical, etc.,” Lauber said. “I spent 20 years at Danaher, and, you know, I saw the company grow from 1 billion to 24 billion. This really afforded me the ability and experience to fill my toolkit.” Lauber said he has a knack for unlocking potential. “Aspirational growth, continuous improvement, everything I do is rooted in the customer. Where is the transformation? Where does it happen? I’ve sat in a variety of seats from product management to manufacturing to strategic marketing to senior sales leader. I took on a president’s role for a company called JBT Food Tech, a big vertical in the food processing industry. Capital equipment manufacturing and heavy aftermarket really prepared me for this opportunity at Solve.” Specific to the CEO role at Solve Industrial, Lauber is setting his own personal and company goals for continuous improvement and brand growth.

“What’s going on here is rather unique. There have been five acquisitions in the last three years—really strong brands—and in the next two to three years, we want to double this. It’s about being a platform, a destination, and a one stop shop for bearing and power transmissions solutions,” Lauber added. “There’s been heavy investment in a 300,000 square foot distribution center in Charlotte. We’ve invested in a new director of engineering and an engineering team, as well as the addition of myself and some other senior leaders.”

Market Challenges and New Technologies

In terms of specific challenges in mechanical power transmission, Lauber cites the global supply chain and talent acquisition as two areas in need of attention.

“This supply chain has a heavy global component and a heavy Asian component. We’ve made investments in people, trading partners and in Asian manufacturing, so we feel that we’ve got good feet on the street and the right investments,” Lauber said.

“We’re going to be further diversifying, outside of China, outside of Taiwan, and making sure we’ve got a well-balanced, manufacturing portfolio. We’re also being aggressive with manufacturing here in the United States and we’re going to be expanding that.”

By hiring new leadership and engineers, Solve Industrial will transform into an integrated, flexible destination for talent.

“It’s one thing to be a $20 million, multigenerational, family-owned company, but now, when you bring in five, six, 10, acquisitions and integrate them into our portfolio strategy it’s about growth for the entire organization,” Lauber said.

Condition monitoring and predictive/preventative maintenance will be areas that should offer technology benefits moving forward.

“Has IIoT evolved like everyone thought it was going to because of firewalls and data and all the cybersecurity risks? Maybe not, but what it has done is helped us in the MRO space. So now people have a better understanding from a predictive standpoint when you need to replace components based on vibration, heat and all these other factors,” Lauber said.

Lauber also sees great potential in AI.

“As far as understanding the needs of our customers today—a lot of these new software tools have an AI interface where we can recognize what kind of equipment our customers have and this lets us have a better grasp on how we properly maintain this equipment. Do they need a bearing repaired or fully replaced? AI will be extremely beneficial in the aftermarket space moving forward.”

Lauber cites a very thoughtful, lean implementation taking place across Solve Industrial. “We’re starting with our Charlotte distribution center to make sure our teams are working with a kind of kaizen mentality. How do we develop the right kind of Gemba boards, the right kind of visual management. We had someone tell us we didn’t need to pull any additional data other than the data that was already in front of us. I’m a data junkie, so I’m fascinated by the notion that continuous improvement is not just on the plant floor, it’s also going to be in our leadership, in the review of our initiatives and how we plan to support our customers in the future,” Lauber said. Brand vs. Product Solve Industrial has additional expansion plans in the coming years and is also working on methods to bring other PT components under the umbrella. “We’ve shifted to a product category focus versus a brand focus. And that doesn’t mean we don’t honor and understand the legacy of our brands. We just need to examine the notion that we have different price points and value propositions in the bearing space,” Lauber said. In addition, Lauber plans to pay close attention to what the power transmission space will look like in the coming years. “Gearboxes, material handling, new equipment builders, for example. There’s plenty of opportunities for components and systems that transmit power. So, what I can tell you is, we’re not just going to focus on the bearings and the sprockets. We’re going to be exploring linear motion. We’ll be exploring gearboxes. We’re going to examine these markets to understand what is needed out there for us to be that engineering, consultative, one stop shop we discussed earlier.” While major change isn’t always seamless, Lauber believes the company is making the right kind of investments for future growth. “People are extremely excited about our long-term plans at Solve Industrial. These legacy brands will continue to provide the right solutions for the right markets. We’re investing in new technologies as well as new talent. Our vision of becoming a power transmission platform is for real. The energy and passion around here have been incredible,” Lauber said. Lastly, we asked Lauber how the organization plans to evolve in the future. “It builds upon that reoccurring theme, creating a platform, a destination, you know, and it’s easy to say, it’s hard to do. Suddenly you have several new acquisitions and you’re growing organically. How do you maintain the kind of support and service your customers are accustomed to at a greater scale? This is how I’m challenging the team to think,” Lauber added.