TAPCO Signaling For Success

Founded in 1956, TAPCO has made its name as a provider of parking and traffic controls for the automotive industry. It manufactures and distributes these controls from its Elm Grove, Wis., headquarters; TAPCO also services the devices. "What we are is an A-to-Z traffic and parking control provider, " owner Rick Bergholz says. "Anything that has anything to do with traffic or parking controls, we're involved in it. Some of it we're manufacturing, [and] in other areas, we represent other companies."

Bergholz's father, Raymond, founded TAPCO when the automotive industry was booming. "We've just been kind of riding the wave of the auto," Rick Bergholz says, "We haven't changed our basic formula of trying to come up with new products - we've been doing that for 52 years.

TAPCO has customers worldwide. "It seems as though the rise of [overseas] countries is kind of helping our overall growth," Bergholz says. "I feel that [other] countries have a lot more infrastructure to build, [whereas the United States is] trying to save our infrastructure."

The company has three divisions: signals and intelligent transportation systems (ITS, which connect all signals in an area; parking and security systems; and traffic controls, which include blinkersigns®, software products and streetscape equipment and controls. Its streetscape equipment and supplies include custom street signs, posts and lighting. TAPCO recently began manufacturing V-Loc sockets, which are placed into the ground to support signposts or mailboxes.

SMART SIGNS
The company's work on parking systems is designed to make parking easier and safer. for example, TAPCO designed and installed two parking guidance systems shopping centers, in St. Louis and Milwaukee. The systems include street signs that tell drivers where to park and how many stalls are available; if no stalls are available, the signs tell drivers to keep driving.

"It's very innovative," Bergholz explains. "I don't believe I've seen that in the United States yet. [They get people parked as quickly as possible and make it a minimum hassle. If [customers] have more time in stores instead of parking, that's good for everyone".

TAPCO also designed and installed an intricate system at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport. The system links signs, gates, revenue takers, security devices, emergency lighting and air-traffic controls. Bergholz says it's estimated that up to 50 percent of airport revenue comes from parking, so controlling and monitoring the parking devices is a big undertaking.

SUSTAINABLE CONTROLS
TAPCO's product line includes a wide selection of green technology, a movement that's just an "embryo compared to what it could be," Bergholz says. The company's focus on sustainability is a big factor in its success today, he adds. "The reason I believe we're doing so well in a bad economy is [our] innovative, green products."

The company holds a patent on LED traffic signs and has a line of LED products that includes signs, street name signs and lighting. Bergholz explains that until a few years ago, traffic signals used incandescent lights, which used a significant amount of energy. Red incandescent lights were 169 watts and had a life of just a year. In comparison, red LED lights use 2 watts and could last up to 20 years, he says.

"Everyone's going to become a watt counter in the near future," he predicts. TAPCO also is working on LED retrofit kits for overhead streetlights.