Smart Business Magazine, February 2021

34 Smart Business February 2021 2 0 2 1 E V O L U T I O N H O N O R E E S Company Company Company When Seth Uhrman took over as CEO of State Industrial Products in 2013 there were big shoes to fill with the commercial cleaning products tracing its roots back to his great grandfather in 1911 But with over 40 years of experience working his way up through States ranks he was ready to take over Then as the COVID 19 virus emerged it became clear that people would be heavily relying on cleaners sanitizers and disinfectants and Uhrman focused his leadership on two goals Helping customers and helping to ensure healthy employees State bolstered its inventory of raw materials for the production of cleaners sanitizers and disinfectants many of which were approved by the EPA to be effective against the virus that causes COVID 19 As customers needs skyrocketed State expanded production efforts manufacturing key items 24 hours a day seven days a week following strict safety protocols As the second part of his goal Uhrman took steps to support employees and keep them healthy Two care packages of sanitizer and disinfectant were sent to employees with a letter thanking them for their efforts They also received company branded masks And while unemployment soared State employees continued to work safely without having to worry about their jobs pay cuts or loss of benefits Seth Uhrman CEO State Industrial Products Jay Nordholt Vice President Continuous Improvement Quality Swagelok Steve Peplin CEO Talan Products Inc Guided by its core values of customer focus quality integrity respect innovation and continuous improvement Swagelok continues to evolve its manufacturing operations and adapt to the global economy to benefit all stakeholders With the help of Vice President Continuous Improvement Quality Jay Nordholt Swageloks core values of respect and customer focus were at the forefront of its response to the COVID 19 pandemic It prioritized the safety of associates and their families and committed to supporting customers that perform critical work around the world Its dedicated COVID 19 crisis team made decisions and adapted quickly as information about the pandemic evolved Early actions included completing supplier assessments to understand long term supply chain risks Measures included hedging on purchasing and mitigating risk for suppliers that were not deemed essential Swagelok acted quickly to help ensure the health and safety of associates allowing the company to continue to unlock features with its SAP system implemented in 2015 For example Swageloks Connected Factory program focuses specifically on shop floor data to improve responsiveness reduce setup times and improve quality by providing associates with the right information at the right time And Swageloks simplification programs aim to reduce nonvalue added process steps and compress operations on the shop floor to improve responsiveness quality and profitability Talan Products Inc has had to continually evolve to remain a high growth company for 34 years staying on the cutting edge of its industry Onshoring has been increasing a significant change to the 160 billion a year global market for metal stampings that Talan Products operates in While Talan still had to compete with suppliers from Asia it had to be a low cost producer in the U S as well Manufacturers in the U S have been further evaluating their offshore supply of component parts due the effects of COVID 19 shutting down long supply lines To compete Talan led by CEO Steve Peplin focused on what makes the company the best value supplier of its products Being efficient and removing labor costs is key focused on areas including the handling of incoming raw material minimizing material movements and reducing handling Talans efficiency measured by sales per employee is at the top of its industry more than three times the industry average By reducing labor hours from the process of manufacturing parts Talan Products maintains a well compensated U S workforce while being globally competitive Talan also reduces costs with an energy efficient plant And the company invests in materials markets analysis reports and reviews them to make the best material purchasing recommendations to its customers