Friday 24 January 2014

Celebrating 25 Years In Business





With 2014 now upon us, IMA is not only celebrating a New Year but also a significant company milestone. Founded in 1989 by Jim and Judy Calvert, IMA Ltd. is proud to celebrate its 25th anniversary and many more successful years to come.

Before founding IMA in 1989, Jim Calvert spent several years working within industrial distribution, where he quickly became aware of the materials management challenges that manufacturing organizations faced. It was not long until Jim recognized the high demand for a service that would assist manufacturing organizations to properly identify, organize, and manage maintenance stores inventory. Soon after, Jim made the bold decision to leave his stable employment position and follow his vision of building a niche company that would serve a unique void in the industry.

Like any long-standing business, IMA experienced many ups, downs, challenges, changes, and accomplishments throughout the past 25 years. What began as a small consulting company, which provided onsite crib crawl and inventory surveying services, eventually grew into what is now an industry-leading data management company, specializing in MRO data cleansing, catalogue management, and inventory optimization services. As the technology evolution began and continues, so did the scope of IMA services. IMA acquired a team of software developers, who changed the face of the company and the way services were implemented. Today, internally developed software programs assist IMA’s industry expert project managers and teams to complete data cleansing projects at the most accurate, consistent and efficient level possible. It is this quality and flexibility that differentiates IMA from competing vendors and allows us to deliver the greatest project results, tailored to specific client requirements.



In July of 2012, at the age of 66, Jim Calvert officially announced his retirement from IMA Ltd. and handed the President & CEO position over to his daughter, Charlene Freeman. When asked to comment on his retirement and the history of IMA, Jim Calvert said, “Retiring from the company was a bitter sweet moment for me but I couldn’t be more proud of what my wife and I have built and we are honored that our daughter Charlene Freeman made the decision to keep the company in the family.” Jim went on the say, “As we reflect on the past twenty-five years, it is extremely satisfying to see how far IMA has come since Judy and I started it out of a small home office in 1989. I am amazed by what Charlene and her team have been able to accomplish in such a short time since my retirement and I am confident in the direction that the company is headed.”

For Charlene Freeman, who spent many years working for the family company as a data cleanser, team leader, and general manager while growing up, the President & CEO position came very naturally. “Taking over the company in July 2012 was all about leaping forward into growth, for the company and myself,” claimed Charlene Freeman. “As much as the company continues to grow and evolve with the implementation of new services and software, the one thing that will never change are the core values that have been instilled within me by my parents. They created a company that was committed to providing customer value and satisfaction, but just as important was their dedication to honoring employee relationships, integrity, and compassion. These are the values and principles that have made IMA successful and have enabled us to be celebrating this huge 25th anniversary milestone.”

As IMA celebrates twenty-five years of excellence in 2014, we would like to thank all of our clients, partners, and staff for your hard work and contributions. You are ultimately the reason for IMA’s success over the past twenty-five years and we could not be more grateful for your continued support. Moving forward, we hope to provide many more years of exceptional services to assist manufacturing organizations in their effort to reduce costs and improve maintenance efficiency.

For more information on IMA Ltd. and the services offered, please visit www.imaltd.com or contact info@imaltd.com.