American Electronic Sign Company
Mr. Williams founded American to develop and perfect a display technology that was both light emitting and reflective, for use in on-premise advertising applications. It was Mr. Williams's extensive background in the electronic display industry that gave him the foresight to see the benefits of such a technology. Mr. Williams recognized that to have a display that was pleasing and eye-catching both day and night, it would have to be a hybrid of reflective and light emitting technologies. He was very aware of the limitations, maintenance and high energy expense of light bulb technology, having over 2 million light bulbs on maintenance contracts with AS&I. This knowledge led him to the development of a technology that was rear illuminated through the use of fluorescent tubes and reflective through the us of a hinged reflective "flap". The display technology also was to have the lowest energy consumption of any current technology, while retaining aesthetic quality, high reliability and low maintenance. Mr. Williams saw the potential of such a technology not only, as a businessman but also saw the benefits it would bring to its users and the public. The development of such a product was begun in 1988 and American introduced the first commercially available display in 1989.
In October 1991, Mr. Williams hired Nathan S. Batson as an outside consultant to oversee the development of a second-generation product that was to be brighter, more reliable and more cost effective that the current design. Mr. Batson was Vice President of Engineering for a $150 million input device manufacturer at the time. Mr. Batson possesses a high level of expertise in plastic materials, product design, automation and manufacturing techniques. The current generation of Diamond Brite Electronic Readerboards was developed under Mr. Batson's leadership. This new design was completed in June 1992 and since then has gone through several more product enhancements. It incorporates a proprietary plastic compound for the pixels and bearings that provides for life expectancy well in excess of 300 million cycles or 100,000 hours. It was also under Mr. Batson's leadership that led to the development of outdoor LED and LED hybrid products, fiber optic products, new software and new controls, just to name a few of the enhancements to the Company's products.
Mr. Batson was hired as Executive Vice President and General Manager in June 1992 and in December 1993 was promoted to President and in 1996 to CEO.
In January 1993, American entered into the Transportation market with a portable trailer mounted product utilizing the company's latest evolution. This was a display that was not only light emitting and reflective but also retro-reflective. This meant that the display was now highly reflective to ambient light and passing headlights. This technology was heralded and widely accepted by the Federal Highway Commission and numerous state DOTs.
During this same period, AES recognized the market need for permanent mounted transportation displays that were light emitting, reflective, and reflectorized. Existing technologies used either light bulbs, flip discs, fiber optics, or LEDs. American took its back lighted, fiber optic and LED technologies and enhanced them with its reflectorized pixel that uses 3M Durable Fluorescent Diamond Grade Sheeting. This was the birth of American's patented TriLux family of display technologies.