that’s undeniably ‘Made in the USA’ and embraced by hardworking, fun-loving people around the world – as you suggested. It must mean so much to you and your customers to see that label on the DiamondBack product. For sure. But building a manufacturing company that can provide high value to customers and good, stable wages to employees is an incredible challenge when making products in the USA. The low cost of labor and materials from overseas markets is a reality that any business has to face. Ultimately DiamondBack found it was unable to pursue the traditional manufacturing model of three-step distribution and be able to achieve our goals. We believe strongly that for manufacturing to succeed in the USA, companies have to innovate. For us, this took the form of innovating our business model to be mostly direct to consumer. Creating individual invoices, packing slips, shipping bills, and managing tens of thousands of indi- vidual customers is a challenge most manufacturers don’t want to embrace. We found that it was the key to building a brand that would continue to be made in the USA. Additionally, customers who wish to keep jobs in the USA will often need to make buying choices that reflect that desire. This can sometimes result in higher priced products which many customers do not want to pay. Our industry is fortunate in that our customers, mostly hard working American truck owners, have a great desire to buy fromUS-based companies. You’ve navigated a solid and popular product through one of the biggest storms in modern economic history, came out stronger from the storm, and you’re business plan is consumer and employee centric before anything else – and it works. What does the future hold for DiamondBack? Today, DiamondBack’s vision is oneof long termstability, growth, and profit generation for its employees, the founders and inves- tors. Our mission is to continue to build one of the best manu- facturing companies in Pennsylvania, one that employees love to work for and customers love to buy from. By using the internet to find, connect, and communicate with new customers through Facebook, Twitter – that reminds me to encourage people to check out #DiamondBackReady where customers can also submit and add to the album of photos you asked about earlier, DiamondBack is building lifetime value and a brand that cus- tomers trust and purchase from again and again as they replace their trucks. The company is committed to pioneering a new kind of direct-to- consumer manufacturing, which allows for high wages and high profits through connecting directly with their end users. I know we’ve touched on this, but again the results of this effort have created growth that has placedDiamondBack on the Inc. 5000 list from2013-2017 and are projected to continue to succeed in the markets of the future. I’ve got to say that while the classroom to corporation is a good story – and we like to tell it – that the company today is where it is because of the absolutely incredible team of employees we have. I’m sure many people say that, but we seriously have one of the best teams of people I’ve been
around. They love the company, they love DiamondBack. They work with a passion and determination that exceeds just working for a paycheck. Myself and Matt, at this point, are largely along for the ride with our employees as we all together see where the DiamondBack ship will take us.
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DECEMBER 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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