The purchasing world has been turned upside down lately…lead times of up to nine months – price increases of up to four times normal – product on allocation – normal items not available at all – problems with domestic freight – nightmares with ocean bound freight – staff turnover from key suppliers - long time business relationships strained or even severed – many of our key contacts working from home. Through it all - and I hate to put these words in writing because it could all change in a moment - we have run out of nothing! How could that even be possible considering the environment we are in? It’s a complex puzzle, but it is worth tak- ing the time to paint the picture. We have wonderful suppliers that we have taken years to build relationships with who we know as individuals as well as companies and treat them with the respect they have earned. We are flexible in reacting to tight situations with substitute items and not afraid to build inventories when the situation is right to do so. We have established a team relationship between our purchasing group and our internal customers. As a result, everyone understands the situation we are facing and pitches in to work together. Most importantly, are blessed with a purchasing group that has risen to the demands of the situation. They have a great work ethic, are organized, communicate well, practice Crest Culture and are simply good people to be associated with. Ed Baylor has been with Crest for 35 years and came to us after being an insurance inspector. Matt Richardson has been with Crest for 21 years and came to us fresh from high school. Cory Morris has been with Crest for 3 years and was previously an athletic trainer for college athletics. Evan Knack has been with Crest for a year after having worked in the traffic safety equipment industry. Maurice Millan has been at Crest for 3 months after spending time as a college level student/athlete competing in volleyball. All wonderful people, but none of this group came to Crest with any purchasing experience and oddly enough that is just the way we like it. They have learned Crest – how we operate, who our people are and how to practice Crest culture. They have then used that base to make themselves into the professionals they are today. We’re proud of our purchasing staff and grateful for all they have done to lead us through a most challenging time. And Then There Were 8! by Garett Meiners Back in 2003 we built our state of the art blending facility and attached it to our West Facility Warehouse. Always thinking ahead it was built larger than we needed at the time. For many years we operated using 6 of the 8 blend rooms. The two idle rooms were used as wash bays, storage areas and even had a few production lines in them from time to time. In 2014 we installed the 7th blender and this April we will be starting up the final system in that building. Mixer 8 is a 125 cubic foot ribbon blender which can handle batches up from 1250-3500 lbs. It also has standalone dust collection system, new epoxy floors and a completely new mix stand design to free up more floor space. Looking forward to using our new toy!
2 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
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