As an independent company we can be responsive to sudden changes in the economy. In 2009, we proceeded cautiously to find new markets and we pursued them with high quality and a welcoming spirit. A New Years tradition at Skolnik, last week our staff gathered to toast a farewell to 2009 and welcome 2010. We looked back at the achievements accomplished in the past 12 months — and even we were impressed with the changes.
We started the year by electing to completely rewrite our Quality Assurance Program (NQA-1) and expand the reach of QA throughout the company. Within manufacturing, we are nearing completion of an MRP (Manufacturing Resource Planning) implementation which will allow us to track incoming orders, inventory, scheduling and shipping. Like on-line ordering, we will have 5-point order tracking to give customers accurate delivery status information.
Mechanically, we installed new interior lining equipment to further improve our application process, we began the installation of a new paint booth, installed new ovens for curing our interior linings, fabricated new “360 Degree” testers for our leakproofness testing and expanded the tool capacities for all our machines. We rethought our web site ( www.skolnik.com) and rolled out a new format that easily leads visitors to buy our products, or research packaging information. Our web site continues to be the #1 industry resource for steel drum packaging. The new web site lead to an increase in special requests and services which translated into new and varied products.
Customer audits were plentiful, all with positive outcomes. As a corporation, I am very grateful for the integrity that we share with our employees. We continue to creatively seek out new opportunities, develop new products, new processes, and focus on customer retention through improved quality and accuracy. As we begin 2010, you can bet that we already have a list of projects to keep the energy “glowing.”
