“We keep a close watch on inventory to make sure we have the bread and butter items customers need.”
Joe Smith
Quimby Corporation
(Portland, OR) |
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“Service is our best sales tool.”
Jim Wooldridge
Pacific CA Systems
(Yakima, WA) |
“Push your people to excel to be the best they can be.”
Jim Kissler
Norco, Inc.
(Bosie, ID) |
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In the Los Angeles County area, there are at least 20 places that sell welding equipment within a 10-mile radius of Craig Welding Supply Company (Los Angeles, CA), according to President Steven Craig. Differentiating CWSC from 19 others when they’re all charging the same low price is easy. “We give customers what they want—products on time at the right price,” Craig explains. “And we get the order right the first time.” Craig is hoping for sales to remain level. He may hire an additional salesperson and add a new product that modulates atmospheric gases for food service customers.
With many small owner/operator customers experiencing slowdowns, Vern Lewis, president of Vern Lewis Welding Supply (Phoenix, AZ), has figured out a way to help them save money while at the same time increasing his own profitability. Lewis purchases demo equipment, discontinued items and distressed equipment, then sells it for much less than the cost of new equipment. “Buying right and giving the customer a deal is increasing sales,” Lewis explains, and he hopes to carry this forward to a 10% increase. Salespeople are out on the street demonstrating equipment and showing customers ways to be more efficient and thus save money, like using an alternative fuel manufactured in-house in place of acetylene.
Paying attention to industrial customers with new projects on the books will pay off for Melo’s Gas & Gear (Bakersfield, CA). An expansion of the pumping facility will improve production and distribution capabilities. With the addition of specialty gases and two branch locations later in the year, President David Melo is looking for a 5-7% increase.
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“We now have a Facebook page to promote our company’s services.”
Dave Fischer
General Welding Supply Company
(Denver, CO) |
“Training is one area that cannot be sacrificed when it comes to expense cuts.”
Patrick Wilke
Sierra Welding Supply Co.
(Sparks, NV) |
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“I ask customers what’s changing the way that they do business. Then we get our processes smoother, faster and cleaner so we are prepared.”
David Melo
Melo’s Gas & Gear (Bakersfield, CA) |
“Biotech customers have become far more sophisticated in their requests, and responding to them requires an altogether different way of doing things.”
Marvin Rodgers
Alliance Gas Products (Oakland, CA) |
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Jim Kissler, CEO of Norco, Inc. (Boise, ID), is looking for an overall growth of 9% and has a clear plan on how to achieve it. “Manage everything a little better, track it, know where it is, and utilize it more efficiently.” New technology will enable drivers to scan equipment in and out, reducing time required to load equipment and potentially enabling more stops per day. Bar codes will be used in every asset category, including durable medical equipment, oxygen supply equipment and concentrators. Says Kissler, “Technology will increase our human productivity so we can do more business. We also have to know our customers’ business and look for opportunities to help them improve their human productivity. It’s our job to make sure we’re providing the best possible solution, and if we’re not, we don’t deserve the business.” Norco is looking at multi-store locations available for acquisition in the home care business.
Pacific CA Systems (Yakima, WA) is bringing out a new product for the apple-growing industry. A CO2 scrubber manufactured in-house removes the excess gas while fruit is put to sleep for shipment. President Jim Wooldridge points to an upsurge in the food industry and is hoping for a 5% sales increase.
Quimby Corporation’s (Portland, OR) plan to revamp its entire IT infrastructure and computer system will provide more information to make better business decisions, give information rapidly to customers, streamline back-office operations and reduce transactional costs. According to Vice President Joe Smith, the end result could be a 3-4% increase in sales. The improved infrastructure will prove vital as the company juggles customers in a variety of industries, including some new business segments like the growing wine-making industry in Oregon. Smith is considering an expansion of Quimby’s specialty gas facility and will be emphasizing preventative maintenance of equipment on site at customer locations.
“We’re working very hard to create excess capacity,” says Richard Lofgren, president, United States Welding (Denver, CO), whose improved systems will contribute to an increase of 5-10%. “We are focusing on moving as quickly and accurately as we can,” he says. The company’s detailed process documentation and measurement system shows exactly how goals are being met and what needs to be addressed. Lofgren will invest around $1 million on capital projects and will hire four or five customer service and sales staff.
Construction on two bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area, along with growth in the propane, dry ice and biotech markets, will result in an increase of 4% at Alliance Gas Products (Oakland, CA). President Marvin Rodgers will also capture business connected with the requalifying of acetylene cylinders. With four customers that went bankrupt during the past two years, Rodgers is very careful when assessing credit, as customers are now demanding higher limits and lower prices.
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“We may do our own hydro testing to eliminate the downtime of outsourcing it.”
Vern Lewis
Vern Lewis Welding Supply
(Phoenix, AZ) |
“Service is the one thing we have to give. Everything else has a charge.”
Steven Craig
Craig Welding Supply Company
(Los Angeles, CA) |
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Dave Fischer, president, is increasing marketing efforts and adding advertising formats to make sure General Welding Supply Company (Denver, CO) remains strong. Fischer recently created a Facebook page promoting the company’s products and services. “We want to have a bigger presence on an electronic platform.” Fischer is reluctant to make a projection for the new year’s sales, as there are still too many unknowns. “We are as efficient as we can be in everything we do, from routing drivers to watching every expense.” He is considering taking advantage of cooperative flyers and will hold an open house to showcase new technologies as soon as the economy settles down. “Timing is everything,” he says.
“Customers used to buy a couple hundred pounds of electrodes at once; now they buy less and come in more often,” says Patrick Wilke, president of Sierra Welding Supply Co. (Sparks, NV), describing the new purchasing norm. “This extends their payment process,” he adds. Having streamlined and improved efficiencies in 2010, Wilke is eager to move forward with new product offerings and technologies. According to Wilke, his company does have the advantage of being the only independent player in the marketplace—a huge boost when it comes to competing on service. Sales are expected to remain steady.
