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Customer-Driven Success
Listening to the customer - a successful growth strategy for manufacturers.
For
many manufacturing companies, finding the next big project to grow
business can be quite a strategic challenge. At Alexandria Industries,
their strong growth is driven by how well they've listened to their
customers.
"We're telling our customers, 'demand innovation,'"
says Alexandria Industries CEO Tom Schabel. "If you've got a problem,
bring it to us. Challenge us. Put it before us. We have the systems in
place and the people to figure it out."
Schabel, one of several
executives who spoke at Enterprise Minnesota's Business Event Growing
Profitably: Four Manufacturing Success Stories, shared his company's
success through expansion over the last several years, and how the
company plans to keep growing.
Formerly known as Alexandria
Extrusion Company (AEC), Alexandria Industries rebranded to represent
newly added capabilities. Since 1966, the company had supplied precision
aluminum extrusions, including advanced engineering services and
innovative value-added operations. Under the new Alexandria Industries
umbrella, services include plastic injection and foam molding. In
addition, a facility in China serves customers in Asia.
Schabel
says that their growth and acquisition of new capabilities - even the
new facility in China - resulted from customer needs. Each year, he
spends nearly half of his time on the road visiting clients and finding
out where Alexandria Industries can provide a solution.
"Our
mission is to satisfy our customers, continually improve quality, and
ensure positive growth," Schabel said. "It's continuous improvement."
Minneapolis-based
WW Johnson Meat's chief operating officer, Kent Mogler also shared with
the Business Event audience that his company is growing through a
customer-centric strategy. Customers include food distributors, and
large food sellers that provide fresh hamburger patties to restaurants,
schools, hospitals, and grocery stores. On any given day, WW Johnson
runs orders for 25 different sizes of hamburger patties using 20
different ground beef recipes. In total, the product line includes about
300 unique SKUs.
Making fresh hamburger patties is a tricky
venture. The product life is limited, meaning that getting the
hamburgers out quickly to customers benefits both the buyer and the
seller. Lean process improvement comes naturally in that setting. Orders
are out on the product floor within five minutes, and can be shipped on
the same day.
Customers demand product variety, and WW Johnson
knows that its success lies in being able to meet orders with speed and
flexibility. "We take ground beef - which should be fairly simple - and
make it complex," says COO Kent Mogler.
The company's strategy
relies on a simple principle: help their customer control the center of
the plate. Hamburgers and other meat products do not make a lot of money
for WW Johnson's customers, but by having their product as the center
of the meal, food distributors can sell items such as napkins and other
higher margin products to restaurants. In other words, the customer's
goal drives WW Johnson's strategy.
"There's some white space for
us to participate," Mogler said. "We know that need, and we want to fill
that need. The more dominant that we can make the hamburger, the more
our customer is making money."
Click here to see presentations from all speakers.
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The Leader Within: Training Effective Employees
December 14, 2011
8:00am-11:00am
RJF (7225 Northland Drive North, Suite 300)
$79 Early Bird Rate (Before December 7) or $110 Regular Come
learn about leadership, communications, conflict resolution and problem
solving - skills you want to gain for yourself and have your employees
embrace. The objective: to make lean the focus of every employee, and to
develop a systematic approach to identifying and removing problems.
Our
expert consultant will share the principles of Training Within Industry
(TWI), including Job Methods, Job Instruction, Job Relations, Job
Safety, Social Styles, and Problem Solving. You will also hear from
manufacturing company leaders about how they employed TWI and Problem
Solving to help their company compete and grow profitably.
Speakers:
John Norris, President & Owner, Atscott Manufacturing
Bill Shafer, Process Engineer, CPP
Lori & Traci Tapani, Co-Presidents, Wyoming Machine
Jan Hepola, Business Growth Consultant, Enterprise Minnesota
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Industry NewsEnterprise Minnesota president named one of 200 Minnesotans to Know:
Enterprise Minnesota president & CEO Bob Kill was recently named one of 200 Minnesotans You Should Know by Twin Cities Business magazine. Click here to read the entire list of 200 individuals.
Ecolab merges with Nalco:
Ecolab
Inc. announced that it has completed its merger with Nalco Holding
Company, a water treatment company that serves industrial and
manufacturing customers.
Carlson & Stewart Refrigeration Acquires Central Minnesota Refrigeration, Inc.:
Carlson
& Stewart Refrigeration, with headquarters in Marshall, MN, and a
branch office in Sioux Falls, SD, has acquired Central Minnesota
Refrigeration, Inc., Sauk Rapids, MN. The new company, now operating
solely as Carlson & Stewart, maintains the Sauk Rapids location and
its 15 service technicians and customer service employees. Both
companies provide industrial and commercial refrigeration systems to the
meat packing, poultry, dairy, beverage, bakery and cold storage
industries as well as refrigeration equipment for supermarkets and other
merchandisers.
Donaldson names new VP:
Donaldson
Company, Inc., announced that it has appointed Wim Vermeersch as Vice
President for its European, Middle Eastern, and North African business
effective January 1st. Most recently, Vermeersch was Director of Engine
Products for Donaldson's European Operations. Vermeersch will assume the
leadership of Donaldson's European, Middle Eastern, and North African
business from Tod Carpenter, who was appointed Senior Vice President,
Engine Products, as previously announced.
Upcoming EventsEnergy Harvesting and Solid State Batteries for Advanced Medical Devices
Presented by LifeScience Alley
December 3, 2011
7:30-9:30am
Hamline University Minneapolis
First Tuesday- Eric Kaler, President, University of Minnesota
Presented by the Carlson School of Management
December 6, 2011
11:30am-1:00pm
McNamara Alumni Center
Innovation Critical: A One Day Master Workshop on Leading Innovation & Being an Innovator
Presented by the Minnesota Council for Quality
December 6, 2011
8:30am-4:30pm
Twin Cities
A Window on the World
Presented by TiE Minnesota
December 6, 2011
6:30pm-9:00pm
Windows on Minnesota
Building a Culture of Engagement
Presented by RJF Agencies
December 7, 2011
8:30am-11:30am
Golden Valley Country Club
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