Commitment to complete customer satisfaction drives this distributor to leading-edge technology.
Founded in 1948 by Ralph Chase and Ralph Knight (“C” and “K”) as a distributor for National Cylinder Gas Company, a manufacturer of industrial, medical and specialty gases and welding equipment, Cee Kay Supply has always been driven by a strong and clear commitment to customer service, along with well-defined strategies fueled by innovative technologies.
In 1951, Chase and Knight sold the assets of the company to Homer Fudge. Paul Dunn was a sales representative with National Cylinder Gas Company, and Cee Kay Supply was one of his customers. In 1953, Dunn joined Cee Kay Supply as the company’s sales manager. In 1955, he purchased the company’s stock from Fudge, becoming Cee Kay’s sole stockholder.
At the time Dunn purchased the company, there were two employees besides himself: a truck driver and a bookkeeper. For the next 24 years, Paul Dunn’s strategy was to grow the company. Sales quickly grew from $100,000 per year to $2.6 million, and the roster of employees expanded to 18. Cee Kay soon outgrew its original location and moved to new facilities.
Cee Kay Supply headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Seven stores are located throughout Missouri and Illinois.
In an interview some 20 years prior to his death in 1999, Paul Dunn said, “When I purchased the shares of Cee Kay Supply, I focused on two objectives: first, to provide our customers with the best value; and second, to stand behind every product.”
In 1979, Paul Dunn passed the reins of the company over to his son, Thomas P. Dunn, the company’s then president and current CEO. Tom was no stranger to his father’s business. “I was born to it,” he laughs. Tom worked in the store throughout high school and college. He learned the business while painting, repairing and delivering cylinders. After graduating from college, he worked as an inside salesperson.
Tom Dunn inherited two traits from his father: a commitment to customers, and a talent for developing strategies in order to insure the company’s success. Soon after becoming Cee Kay Supply’s president, he embarked on an aggressive growth and diversification program that led to a broad expansion and overhaul of Cee Kay’s facilities and activities, doubling the company’s revenues within five years.
The first step was a complete analysis of where the company was headed, as well as a study of the economic climate in which it would operate. “We simply look at where we are now, where we want to be, and how we are going to get there. Because we rely on customer input to enhance our operations, we will always live by the rule of meeting those customer expectations. Their goals are our goals. Our commitment to meeting our customers’ expectations has played a key role in our growth over the years, and will continue to do so.”
The Cee Kay Supply Management Team has a combined total of 167 years of industry experience. (l-r) Jean Lindsey, Larry Greiner, David Teson, Tom Dunn, Ned Lane, Hil Bax, Steve Gianino.
In 1995, Ned Lane, an industry veteran with 13 years of experience, joined Cee Kay Supply. He became the company’s president in 2000. Lane’s assignment was simple: help Cee Kay transition from a family business to a company with family values.
Today, Cee Kay Supply is the largest independently owned supplier of industrial gases, welding equipment and supplies in Missouri. Headquartered in a 120,000 square foot facility in St. Louis, Cee Kay now has over 100 employees who are responsible for more than $20 million in annual sales. Six branches are located throughout Missouri and Illinois, along with a Specialty Gas Division, Repair Center, and Technical Service Center. As Cee Kay continues to grow, one concept has never changed—the customer always comes first!
Quality Products, High Standards
From complete welding solutions for large and small companies to bulk and specialty gases for a variety of applications, Cee Kay Supply offers a combination of products, technical expertise and services designed to exceed customers’ expectations.
The Repair and Service Center is a certified warranty repair center for gas and welding equipment. Customers also benefit from on-site repair and service when equipment cannot be transported to the main facility. A 24-hour hotline is available to customers who require assistance off-hours. Eight certified weld inspectors are on staff.
A Specialty Gas Division, established in the early 1990s, adds product diversity, offering a wide range of specialty and high purity gases for the medical and research markets. A broadened product offering and customer base supports the company’s sales efforts during construction slowdowns.
John Gabris receives a liquid level reading from the customer via e-mail.
The Technical Service Center, located in St. Louis, was implemented to provide general and specialized training opportunities, hands-on product demonstrations and process enhancements, all of which can be performed at Cee Kay’s facility or at the customer’s work site. Technicians provide assistance in design, set-up and use of dedicated or specialized welding equipment. The Technical Center also provides a work area for customers to “try before you buy.”
Dunn says, “We not only help customers address the challenges they face today, but we have the research and development capabilities to help them prepare for the future. We want to be their long-term partner in business. Our Technical Center is proof that we are serious about building a meaningful relationship with our customers.”
Cee Kay Supply provides more than a product. Says Dunn, “Customers reap the benefits of our entire team of technicians and service professionals. They remain accessible to the customer and dedicated to the customer’s total satisfaction.”
Employees Creating Solutions
When asked what makes a good Cee Kay employee, Dunn responds, “We look for people who are self-starters, who possess a positive attitude, and who are willing to accept diversity in order to expand their horizons.” In other words, Cee Kay hires people who are willing to step forward and put themselves in the customers’ position in order to understand their challenges and needs. Dunn continues, “It’s important to educate customers on whatever it is they are purchasing. Customers will come back if you show them you are concerned about them.” The company also looks for good communicators, self-starters and team-players.
The Cee Kay sales force listens to customers to find out what issues or concerns are blocking their production goals. Says Cee Kay Supply’s President Lane, “We help customers solve their operational problems. We show them that it’s not about price; rather, it’s about the process savings that we can bring to the table.”
Gas Express Drives Market Share
The Gas Express system, in operation since 1997, has brought valuable savings to Cee Kay’s customers, both in time and money. Replacing on-site, high-pressure cylinders, gas is delivered to the customer’s location and piped in to each welding station. A tanker truck delivers and transfers product to a stationary liquid container through a wall-mounted fill box connection. This process can be accomplished without interruption to the customer’s operation. Since the gas is piped to each work station, employees can focus on production without delays.
Cee Kay's Gas Express trucks deliver oxygen, nitrogen and argon, and make the transfer without any interruption to the customer's process. Dispatcher Dave Gregor also makes deliveries.
“Our goal,” says Lane, “is to create solutions for our customers.” One of those solutions enhancing the Gas Express system is satellite technology. The new satellite feature, known as Level Devil, alerts Cee Kay when product reaches a specified level. The customer no longer has to monitor a gauge, nor contact Cee Kay when levels are low. Cee Kay already knows and delivers the needed gas to the customer’s site. “Our focus on innovative solutions to customer’s challenges will continue to set us apart from our competition,” says Lane.
Cee Kay Supply became aware of this satellite technology several years prior to introducing the technology to its customers. Already in use with oil tanks at remote locations, Cee Kay employees asked if something similar could be developed for the gas industry. Cee Kay soon became a beta site, first with nitrogen, then with argon and finally, oxygen.
Currently, more than 100 Cee Kay customers are taking advantage of the Gas Express system, and their responses are, as expected, positive. The program is saving them time and reducing job-related injuries; i.e., no more heavy tanks to carry. Tanks which hold the liquid can be costly, as much as $15,000 each. Cee Kay is able to charge rent for the tanks over the course of a multi-year agreement.
While the investment may be considered expensive, Dunn points to customer retention as a major benefit. Most Cee Kay customers utilizing the Gas Express system agree to a seven-year contract. Since the system’s inception in 1997, Cee Kay’s gas business has increased 75 percent.
Palm Pilots Keep a Hand on Cylinders
Many Cee Kay customers depend on high-pressure cylinders. Those in the construction industry work at several job sites on a daily basis, and swap tanks. Often, cylinders are lost soon after they are rented. When Cee Kay Supply’s sales team visited customers and discovered this problem, their response was to develop a better method for tracking their customers’ cylinders.
Gas Express Product Manager Mike Hefele with Superskid, which can provide argon/CO2 blends, pure argon, and CO2. Vessels are filled on-site and monitored by a satellite telemetry system.
A decision was made to institute cylinder bar coding. Cee Kay is placing two bar codes on each cylinder. These bar codes have a number associated with each tank. The bar code number is logged into a computer database which has information associated to it indicating where the cylinder has been, whom it belongs to, the gas type, and the last cylinder test date. Each bar code is mounted on the side of the cylinder. “Two of the same bar code numbers are placed on each cylinder,” says Dunn. “If one bar code label is removed, the other label is still there.”
With 30 to 40 thousand cylinders, Cee Kay invested not only dollars, but time. Driven by its commitment to customer service, the choice was easy. It took two years to get Cee Kay’s inventory bar coded and to build the database. This new initiative is currently being introduced to select customers.
While bar coding has been around for a while, the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) is new. Each driver carries a Palm Pilot used to scan the cylinders at the customer’s site. Computer software enables the data in the cylinder’s bar code to be transmitted to the Palm Pilot. When the driver returns to home base, the data is downloaded from the Palm Pilot into the main database.
It’s easy to tell if a cylinder is missing or an extra one was picked up. All cylinders are scanned to determine if they need retesting and if they originated from Cee Kay’s facility. Bar coding and use of Palm Pilots saves time, and customers don’t have to worry about paying for lost cylinders.
Pushing the Envelope for Success
Both Dunn and Lane point out that Cee Kay Supply is willing to invest money in an effort to reduce a customer’s pain. “If we don’t, we become a commodity, similar to the larger billion dollar companies that base their products and services solely on price. Price wars only lead an organization in one direction, and that is out of business,” says Dunn.
Dunn knows the importance of creating solutions to customer challenges. “Solutions like bar coding and satellite technology will continue to set us apart from our competition. There are many tasks that our larger customers used to do for themselves, but stopped. We can fill that void.”
A strategic-planning process with the company’s seven-person senior management team has formalized the core values of Cee Kay Supply, and allowed senior management to share with all employees the envisioned future for the company. Cee Kay has a goal of tripling the number of target accounts within the next eight years. To accomplish this goal, Cee Kay plans to leverage its “success triangle”—the combination of Cee Kay’s people, products and solutions.
An enhanced website which will support e-commerce, located at www.ceekay.com, is also on the drawing board. Online sales will not eliminate Cee Kay’s sales force; though it will change the sales team’s focus. As the company continues to search for opportunities on its customers’ behalf, it is clear that for some customers, the convenience of ordering online is a priority.
Dunn is taking advantage of a slowing economy which has stimulated industry consolidation. “Some of the largest players in our market were bought out,” he says, “which gives Cee Kay Supply an extraordinary opportunity to demonstrate an even greater focus on customer service.”
Tom Dunn learned many lessons from his father, Paul, but the most important continues to drive the company today. In the welding and industrial, medical and specialty gases industry, leading-edge technology, innovation and empowerment are all important. But for Cee Kay Supply and its employees, “The customer always comes first.”
