In 1996, Neil Muyskens formed the Unicomp company to produce and sell Model M keyboards for PCs, based on technology purchased from Lexmark and IBM. Prior to Unicomp’s founding, Lexmark had made these high-quality keyboards for IBM computers and terminals. IBM had invented the buckling spring Model M keyboard in the 1980s, but Lexmark made them popular with customers worldwide.
Today, tucked away in a 100,000-square-foot building in the midst of Lexington’s residential Henry Clay Boulevard, Unicomp keeps a low profile as it ships orders for its unique keyboards across town and across the world. The company name has changed, but some of the people who helped manufacture the keyboards for Lexmark continue to do the same work for Unicomp. Of the company’s 25 employees, about two-thirds of them worked at Lexmark, including Muyskens.
What makes buckling spring keyboards so special? They feel different. Anyone who remembers typing on an IBM Selectric typewriter will recall that sense of precision and how the keys would keep a typist from making many mistakes. It was easier to type and to type faster on a Selectric keyboard.
The reason for the different feel of the keys on a bucking spring keyboard is their sensitivity to touch. They record the keystroke at the precise instant that the typist feels the tactile change. That means that the typist’s fingers can stop their downward movement well before the keys hit the bottom point of their range. When the typist’s fingers can leave the “old” or struck keys sooner, he or she can type faster and with greater accuracy.
Most regular (aka rubbertone) keyboards require a typist to press the keys all the way down. That can result in “pounding” the keys with harder and slower typing that leads to finger and hand fatigue.
Some customers choose rubbertone keyboards because they are quieter. Unicomp offers this option on most of its keyboards, along with other features that make it a more durable and higher quality keyboard.
Unicomp does not advertise, because its keyboards aren’t sold through retail stores. Muyskens said his company relies on word of mouth and its website for orders from new and repeat customers.
“We sell principally in the large commercial marketplace,” Muyskens said. “These are the organizations that will do a return on investment before buying. They see the economic return for a better product with a much more accurate performance. They want a product that will last longer.”
Many of those commercial customers were in the financial sector. Starting in 2008, they stopped ordering from Unicomp.
“We lost about 25 percent of our business,” Muyskens said. “We’ve gotten about half of that back.”
To protect against those types of losses, Unicomp has worked hard to attract customers from more diverse industries.
“You’ll find our keyboards in the USPS offices, at Chrysler, at Bed, Bath, and Beyond in back office operations — where workload is heavy,” Muyskens said.
Unicomp ships 20 to 30 individual orders per day. Orders arrive via the Internet and are often shipped out the following day. The company’s website says that most orders are shipped within two to five days.
“Our focus is to be more responsive to customer orders,” said Muyskens. “We’ve changed our internal business systems to do that.”
Sometimes orders are delayed because a supplier hasn’t delivered parts when they were expected. Unicomp has suppliers as far away as Korea and as close as Kentucky.
“A lot of the plastic — the key buttons and case work — are made by molders here in Kentucky,” said Muyskens. “The steel baseplates are sourced in Kentucky, too.”
A Denmark-based supplier that also serves IBM and Lexmark provides paper sheets of letters and other marks for keys in different languages. The special dyes in the letterings are baked into the blank keys in a type of kiln. Unlike cheaper screen or laser printing, these letterings won’t fade or rub off.
Most of the firm’s competition comes from cheaper keyboards made in Asia. To compete against lower prices, Unicomp stresses saving money over the long term by purchasing quality keyboards that will last much longer than cheaper models. It also wins orders for its quick service.
Unicomp’s top keyboard is the Ultra Classic, a buckling spring model that sells for $79. Available in black or white, this keyboard has a clamshell cover set that reduces the carbon footprint by 20 percent. It takes about one half-pound less plastic to produce than similar models.
Unicomp keyboards also offer many custom choices in terms of language, special keys, chassis, USB or P2 terminal, track point or track ball, and even a rubberdome instead of a buckling spring, making more than 2,000 configurations are possible. Fortunately, the company’s website has a guide for choosing features.
For more information about Unicomp, check online at pckeyboard.com.