From Industrial Supplies To Process Improvement,

ALCOM Looks To CW Hayden As Valued Partner

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ALCOM has worked closely with CW Hayden since 2006. As their aluminum trailer manufacturing business grew, so did their relationship with CW Hayden. Now CW Hayden does $2M in sales with them a year, providing them with an extensive range of tapes and sealants, as well as safety products and cleaning supplies.

In addition to their supplier relationship, the CW Hayden team provides a number of other services, including safety training, testing and process improvement.

Supplies Tailored To Each Factory's Needs

ALCOM operates three factories - their flagship in Maine, one in Montana and one in South Dakota. With each operation comes a specific set of product needs and inventory management, said Mike Bouchard, ALCOM's director of sourcing.

CW Hayden stepped in and not only took the time to understand each factory's unique operational needs, but they became actively involved in managing their inventory.

"CW Hayden has invested so heavily in the relationship between each of the inventory control and production personnel teams at each facility," Bouchard said. "They learned to anticipate our needs and satisfy them before we know it."

Meeting Demanding Production Timelines

Unlike others in the industry, ALCOM builds its broad range of trailers with very short lead times of just two weeks. They also offer an unlimited degree of customization, creating trailers tailored to their client's specific requirements.

With this level of customization and the demanding production turnaround, it's critical that ALCOM always has supplies ready. CW Hayden's team has stepped in and delivers supplies when they see gaps to avoid production issues.

This proactive approach has helped ALCOM avoid production issues more than once, Bouchard said.

Invested In ALCOM's Business

In addition to their seamless inventory management, Bouchard said their CW Hayden rep, Chris Brackett, is known for hosting pizza parties on-site.

"He'll fly out and do a pizza party and shake hands with our workers and ask them how their applications are working," Bouchard said. "He's absolutely fantastic."

Brackett's on-site visits strengthen his understanding of each factory's staff, process and operational needs.

When 3M was planning a major system upgrade, Brackett anticipated that this may impact deliveries, so they took on extra inventory at their cost and were prepared to ship products for ALCOM's upcoming products. This inventory gave them a welcome buffer, Bouchard said.

In another situation, ALCOM needed some roof sealant but it was out of stock. The CW Hayden team stepped in and evaluated several alternate products and presented them to ALCOM to use on a trial basis at no extra charge.

Having this interim solution scoped out and approved ahead of time was a tremendous stress-reliever, even when they didn't have to use it, Bouchard said.

An Eye For Inventory

CW Hayden takes their inventory management a step beyond just making sure ALCOM doesn't run out of supplies. They know the business well enough that they'll call when a factory doesn't make their normal weekly order. They also notice spikes in ordering and quick to place a call to check in and see what's driving the demand.

Bouchard said Brackett knows ALCOM's business so well, that he just tours their stockroom on his visits to see what they're using and make product recommendations.

Promoting Safety

ALCOM also relies on CW Hayden for their safety products and training. Their team regularly travels to ALCOM's sites to assist with hearing tests and they provide both earplugs and safety glasses.

In addition to safety training, the CW Hayden team works with the ALCOM employees on biannual retraining programs.

Process Mapping And Improvement

Periodically, ALCOM looks at ways to improve its manufacturing process. Recently, they wanted to improve their roof seal process. Their primary goal was to create a simpler and more consistent process that would ensure the trailers don't leak. CW Hayden worked with the ALCOM team to test out a variety of products until they found the right one for their needs.

Building A Trusted Team

Bouchard has worked closely with Brackett for more than five years, and knows that any call is returned in minutes.

"Other companies run very lean and balls get dropped, but not with CW Hayden," Bouchard said. "When I call Chris, I never have to wait. I know he'll call back in a few minutes."

While issues are extremely rare, CW Hayden's team always goes out of their way to remedy it immediately. Once when an order was late, Chris put the supplies in his car and drove it up to factory the next morning.

"Weekends, evenings - no matter who caused the issue, CW Hayden deals with it as if it was their issue," Bouchard said. "They have near-flawless delivery performance."

"CW Hayden really does rank at the top of our list of really good quality suppliers - and there are only a very, very few that fall into that category. Their delivery is outstanding, their customer service is outstanding. I worry about other things but I don't ever have to worry about CW Hayden."

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