Oklahoma business briefs for Sept. 6, 2012

EDMOND — Traffic signal hardware manufacturer Pelco Products Inc. was awarded second place in the annual lean best practice competition of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Using lean practices in its warehouse, Pelco reduced inventory costs by more than $537,000 and annual labor costs by $93,600, while improving the quality of employees' order fill rate by nearly 33 percent. A finalist for IIE's 2011 award, Pelco is the only two-time finalist in the contest's history.

EARNINGS

MATRIX SERVICE CO.

TULSA — Matrix Service Co. on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter income of $1.8 million, or 7 cents a share, thanks to revenue growth in its storage and chemical segments. That is down from $5.7 million, or 21 cents a share, for the same period of last year. Matrix earned $17.2 million, or 65 cents a share, in fiscal year 2012. With six consecutive quarters of bookings growth, Matrix expects its earnings for fiscal year 2013 to be between 83 cents and 98 cents a share. “The solid revenue and backlog growth in the quarter and fiscal year is the result of our outstanding people and commitment to providing quality services to our customers,” CEO John R. Hewitt said. “We continue to execute our strategic plan, including our new brand rollout last month.”