N America News April 2017

14 NORTH AMERICA NEWS / APRIL 2017 , Guy Cramer is President and CEO of Hyperstealth. He talks to us about the fascinating industry he operates in, and tells us about a few of his most successful projects to date. The Invisible Man Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp is a world leader in Camouflage, Concealment and Deception (CCD). Hyperstealth has developed over 14,000 camouflage patterns and over 5,000,000 military issued uniforms using Hyperstealth camouflage to militaries all over the world, including: The Kingdom of Jordan, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Jamaica, Afghanistan and the Philippines. Hyperstealth also designed the Optifade hunting line camouflage for WL Gore (Goretex) for their Sitka products which is also used by Beretta, and the firm has developed patterns for Vans Shoes OTW (Off The Wall) Collection, Columbia Sportswear PFG (Performance Fishing Gear) and LBX Tactical (a division of London Bridge Trading Inc.). Guy Cramer is President and CEO of Hyperstealth. He tells us more about the company and its business strategy. “Given that Hyperstealth is primarily about camouflage design I don’t require much staff and thus I can keep our overhead to a minimum so revenues are being built up and not being offset by huge wage requirements,” he explains. “I have been called an expert disruptor; someone who is innovating the industry of camouflage and not only staying ahead of the competition but changing the way business is done in the industry. “We can print on demand any one of our 14,000 patterns in a matter of hours, not days or months as the large print factories require. One would think that this would upset the large print factories but our quick turnaround actually saves them time and money as the process of development no longer pulls their machines out of production for the many days it would often take to get patterns developed and colored correctly. Their large print machines are often running three shifts a day for most of the week so any downtime for them to carry out development is lost production and lost revenue. We save our clients time and money by rapid development and short run production. We can print 1 yard or 100 yards at the same cost per yard but the large printers typically require 10,000 yard minimums, so we don’t even compete with their business and we’ve changed their business by being able to provide them a final product that they just need to match to, which can save them 80-90% of the time it used to take them to do this.” The motto of the company is ‘Making The Best Better’ and Guy strives to do this constantly. “My job as a CEO is to run the company on behalf of the shareholders. We have about 130 and each of them put faith in Hyperstealth so my focus must be on behalf of each shareholder to provide the best products, the best science and the best representation, which in turn will create the best value for the company and thus the benefit the shareholders.” When undertaking a new project, Guy has a very set process that he follows in order to quickly and accurately assess the client’s needs, but Guy won’t take on just anybody. “We used to take anything that came our way but I now carefully pick and choose based on past experience, for example I ask myself ‘How long do I anticipate this will take?’ ‘Will it interfere with our core business?’ ‘What is the current focus and will this distract me from that?’ Once I have determined that it meets our criteria I have to determine what the client’s expectations are: do they want to have me develop something unseen before or do they want to pick from my library of 14,000 camouflage patterns? Where will the camouflage be expected to operate in? Are there surrounding countries that use our patterns and if they do I need to make something that won’t be confused with those? “Most country programs take 2-3 years before the uniforms start being issued so it can take a lot of patience and the term “loose lips sink ships” is something we practice, you won’t hear me speak of a new country until uniforms are being issued, so what is happening now will only be revealed between tomorrow and three years from now. Even when I travel I don’t post on social media where I’m going or take photos when I’m there unless there is no requirement from that country for a new camouflage pattern, in which case I am there for other reasons that don’t show up on any radar.” Recently, Guy was voted Aerospace and Defence CEO of the Month – an accolade awarded to him by readers of Corporate Vision magazine. How does it feel to have won this award in your jurisdiction? “It is an honor to be recognized in this industry, which has so many intellects and top-quality people in it that while our business is in the area of concealment and hiding (camouflage), our company ironically has become quite well known around the world,” he laughs. “I have been involved in this Aerospace and Defense part of the business for 14 years now and, while my focus is on survivability and effectiveness, I also understand that you need to listen to your mentors and advisors and I have the best possible people in that area to allow me to make the best decisions I can.” Guy has faced many challenges in his life as CEO of Hyperstealth. Initially it was his age and inexperience. “We formed the company in 1999 right when the dot com craze was happening and being a young President and CEO was considered the new and improved way of taking on the business world. Many people discovered that these 30-year old CEO’s were making huge mistakes, they had the drive but not the experience and the years of dealing with people and companies.” Guy was fortunate in his upbringing and he tells us of the mentors and life coaches who had a huge influence on him and have helped to make him the success he is today. “My first mentor was my Grandfather, Donald L. Hings CM MBE, inventor of the 1703CV16