Itronix Corp., of Spokane, is projecting substantial growth in fiscal year 2002 after recently ending its 2001 fiscal year with a record backlog of new orders.


The manufacturer of durable wireless computers is armed with a couple of new products and is entering some added markets this year that are expected to spur a sizable increase in overall revenues.


David Dayton, the companys CEO, says, Were projecting that the market will grow 25 percent this year, and we expect to at least maintain market share and probably increase it.


If that projected increase in its sales occurs, he says, Itronix would post about $150 million in revenues during fiscal 2002, which started April 1.


Such a jump would be a dramatic improvement over the companys 2001 fiscal year, during which Itronix suffered a slight dip in sales compared with the previous year, Dayton says. He declines to disclose exact revenues, but says that for fiscal 2001, the companys sales came in at between $110 million and $120 million.


Dayton attributes the slight decline to the fact that Itronix had finished a two-year, about $75 million order for Atlanta-based communications giant BellSouth Corp. during fiscal 2000 and hadnt secured other contracts approaching that magnitude to fill the void.


Sales picked up noticeably in the last six months, though, to make up for the earlier drop-off in sales, and the company carried several new orders into the current fiscal year.


In a departure from the past, the durable computer maker attributes much of its second-half surge last year to a new, lighter-duty laptop computer called the GoBook. Its also staking much of its growth projections for fiscal 2002 on that product.


Late last year, Itronix introduced the GoBook as a durable computer that meets military standards. By comparison, the companys fully ruggedized laptop computer, the XC-6250 Pro, exceeds most of those standards. Though not quite as hearty as the 6250 model, the GoBooks modem and processor are much faster, and it costs less than its more rugged counterpart.


To describe the companys market demands, Dayton makes an analogy between the rugged-computer market and vehicles. He says that prior to the GoBook, customers had a choice between standard computers that other manufacturers make, which he compared to Ford Tauruses, and Itronixs high-end 6250 model, which he likened to a Hummer.


What our customers said is, Could you give us a sports-utility vehicle? Dayton says. We started shipping that (the GoBook) in November. Weve been wildly successful with that product.


With the product, the company can serve customers for which the 6250 either is too slow or too expensive, Dayton says. He adds that the new product is more similar in appearance than the hefty 6250 model to a conventional laptop computer, which appeals to some customers.


Itronix has sold its conventional lines of rugged computers, which include a handheld model called the T5200 in addition to the 6250, to utilities, telecommunications companies, and commercial field services. Bob Morrow, previously Itronixs marketing communications manager, is heading up a recently formed team thats pursuing sales of the GoBook and other products to the federal government, the military, and local governments.


Morrow says the four branches of the U.S. armed forces either have granted or are in the process of granting Itronix government purchase certification, which basically would give military units the authority to buy the companys computers. Itronix also is talking with some state and local government agencies, both in Spokane and elsewhere, about the possible use of its products in agencies ranging from law enforcement to building-inspection departments.


Dayton says that in addition to the GoBook, rugged handheld computers that Itronix makes through a Coventry, England-based operation it acquired just over a year ago, which is now called Itronix Ltd., are expected to be an engine for growth, both in the U.S. and internationally.


Products made there carry the Husky name and include a line of durable hand-held computers, some of which are similar in design to the T5200. The newest of those products, the Husky fex21, is a hand-held unit that uses a Microsoft Windows CE operating system.


Becoming less lumpy


Its difficult to determine how Itronixs projected sales growth will affect the number of employees it has here, because the companys temporary work force absorbs most of its employment swings, Dayton says.


The company currently employs about 600 permanent workers, some 340 of whom work here. Currently, it also has 120 temporary employees who work in its Liberty Lake manufacturing plant here, but that number has fluctuated from about 20 to 130 workers over the last couple of years. The number of permanent Itronix employees here has grown by about 40 people in the last two years, he says.


Dayton says the companys temporary work force has fluctuated in recent years because of the lumpy nature of its business.


He says Itronixs customers typically have been big companies, such as BellSouth and Sears, that have ordered computers in large volumes, or lumps on a sales chart.


With a broader range of products and new markets, Itronix hopes to smooth out some of those dramatic swings in business.


More consistent sales and growth are needed before Itronix can go public, which is the goal of both the Spokane company and its parent company, Acterna Corp., for Itronix. Acterna, a Burlington, Mass.-based global communications equipment provider that recently changed its name from Dynatech Corp., bought Itronix from Telxon Corp., of Akron, Ohio, in 1996. Itron Inc., of Spokane, started Itronix as a business unit in 1989 and spun it off in 1992.


Shortly after taking over as Itronixs CEO almost three years ago, Dayton said that the company could go public in about three years. Now, however, he says the company doesnt have a time line in mind for that.


Its not something that either our company or the (stock) market is ready for right now, he says.