~ THE SMI NAME ~

The seed of a company is its name, often originating with the surnames of the founders or words describing a specific product or service. Such companies start with the name to define and describe their goals.  Many other companies pick names that have no meaning, or don't disclose the origins of the name. To most people, our name sounds either "quirky" or "technical."  Yet, the words Strategic Modularity, Inc. have a definite meaning, and thus we wanted to share with you where our name came from.

Strategy:
"How a company competes"
   ~ Strategic Planning by Stanley C. Abraham
"The art of devising or employing plans toward a goal"
   ~ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary

Strategic:
 "of great or vital importance within an integrated whole, or to the taking place of a planned or unplanned occurrence..."
    ~ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary

Module:
 "any in a series of standardized units for use together; usually packaged functional assembly of electronic components for use with other such assemblies"
    ~ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary

Modularity:
 "Constructed with standardized units or dimensions for flexibility and variety in use"
    ~ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary

 "The ability to encapsulate sub-systems into exchangeable "black box" components (modules) that then join other system components, or other modules, by way of well defined interfaces.  By piecing together various exchangeable modules, a specific product or system is formed."
    ~ Andy Pattantyus

Modularity Is Strategic
Modularity looks at products in a new way, by asking for flexibility, variety, and adaptability in design and use.  Modularity is found in products all around you: home sound systems, shelving systems, cars, etc.  This efficient mindset saves you from investing in a tool or a component for one product only.  What happens when you discontinue that product or add another?  Victorinox, makers of the Swiss Army Knife, are the embodiment of modularity.  When designing a new pocket knife, Victorinox does not design a new blade every time.  Rather, they pull from their collection of modules and place the module named "blade" into the new product.  Do your products have similar core components?  Could you change them from "similar" to "same?"  You save a great deal of time and resources by creating one component for multiple products rather than multiple components for each product.  The same design principles can be applied to workcells on the plant floor, documentation, contracts, and administrative processes.  By thinking in terms of Modularity, you Strategically plan for the future of your company.

~ THE SMI LOGO ~

The foundation of SMI is same as the foundation of our logo: building blocks.  We like to take one thing and use it with another to create something totally new.  Each cube acts as a module to strategically fit with other modules, forming the new, larger, improved cube.  Similarly, when a company applies thoughts of Modularity and Strategy to their business, a stronger, improved company will form.  Okay, so why the graph paper?  Well, we are a company of engineers after all!

~ THE SMI WEBSITE HEADER ~

CONTINUITY. EVEN FLOW. START TO FINISH. The stream of cubes, which are striking, suggest linkage, flow, and a coordinated orderly process. It's dynamic, where there is a sense of energy, like something is happening, and speaks of carefully planned forward motion. Taking things that are not ordered and not encapsulated and making them ordered -- that's what we are all about: The path to order from chaos is strategic modularity!