Profile: Forward Industries Inc (FORD.O)

Forward Industries, Inc. (Forward), incorporated in 1961, designs, markets and distributes carry solutions for hand held electronic devices, including soft-sided carrying cases, bags, clips, hand straps, protective face plates and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits, cellular telephones and bar code scanners. The Company also designs, markets and distributes carry cases for other consumer products, such as laptop computers, metroid prime three (MP3) players, firearms and sporting, recreational, and aeronautical and products. The Company’s principal customer market is original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), of these products that package its carry solution products as accessories in box together with their product offerings or the contract manufacturing companies of these OEM customers. The Company does not manufacture any of the products that it designs, markets and distributes. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Koszegi Industries, Inc. and Forward Innovations GmbH, the Company sells its products globally.

The Company designs and markets to its customers’ order carry solutions for hand held consumer electronics and other accessories made of leather, nylon, vinyl, plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other synthetic fabrics. The Company’s products are used by consumers for carrying or transporting portable electronic and other products, such as blood glucose monitoring kits, cellular telephones, bar code scanners, laptops computers, firearms and other products. The Company’s carrying cases are designed to enable these devices to be stowed in a pocket, handbag, briefcase or backpack or clipped to a belt or shoulder strap, while protecting the electronic device from scratches, dust and mishandling.

The Company sells carrying cases for blood glucose diagnostic kits directly to OEMs (or their contract manufacturers) of these electronic, monitoring kits made for use by diabetics. The OEM customer or its contract manufacturer packages the Company’s carry cases in box as a custom accessory for the OEM’s blood glucose testing and monitoring kits. The kits include a small, electronic blood glucose monitor, testing strips, lancets for drawing a drop of blood and the Company’s carrying case, customized with the manufacturer’s logo and designed to fit and secure the glucose monitor, testing strips and lancets in separate straps, pouches and holders.

The Company sells carrying solutions to OEMs for a range of other portable electronic and other products, including cell phones, laptop computers, bar code scanners, cameras, binoculars, firearms, portable oxygen tanks, MP3 players and a range of other products on a made-to-order basis that are customized to fit the products sold by its OEM customers. The Company ship its products directly to its OEM customers or their contract manufactures, who package its carry solutions products in box with the OEM customer’s products.