Loparex 2010 Business Update
To Our Valued Customers,
Now that we’ve had a month to decide whether to call this new year “twenty ten”, “two thousand ten”, “two 0 one 0”, or “0-10”, the good news is we don’t have to call it 2009!
The past year certainly had its share of challenges for all of us. Every link within our mutual customer and supplier value chains experienced some level of reduced order rates, idled capacity, insufficient inventories and general uncertainty.
However, without sounding too optimistic, I think most of us would also agree, as we closed out the 2nd half of last year, and now have a few weeks of 2010 in the books, there are some encouraging signs of economic improvement.
Loparex would like to sincerely thank you for your business, your hard work and persistence through these challenging economic times. Together, we took on the challenges of 2009 and have created some great momentum for continued growth.
We’d also like to thank you for your support and enthusiasm as Loparex made many changes and investments last year that we feel will bring additional value to our customers to help drive mutual growth not only in 2010, but for many years to come:
Investments in Quality and Operations
Each of our plants has executed multiple Lean Manufacturing and 5S practices that have enhanced plant safety, product quality, manufacturing efficiency and both employee and customer satisfaction.
Our manufacturing teams are now measured on Customer-based metrics; with dashboards tracking these “outside-in” metrics. Management reviews are held on a daily basis, with the customer truly defining our performance.
With the implementation of supply chain tools such as Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), our on-time/full delivery rates have improved dramatically in 2009, with even higher goals set for 2010.
Our Quality Document Management System (QDMS) has been consolidated and automated as all of our sites (including HQ) have been consolidated into a single ISO-compliant registration. Returned material as a % of sales, one of our primary customer satisfaction metrics, was improved dramatically.
We continue to accelerate the implementation of aggressive, measurable “green” manufacturing initiatives, which have greatly reduced company-wide waste, emissions and water usage. Look for new products in 2010 which will help our customers be more “green” as well.
Investments in Customer Growth
We’re proud to be in our new headquarters in Cary, NC. Our new facility not only gives us a modern, efficient place to do business, but offers great opportunity for our customers to visit our Eden, NC plant and meet with all functions of Loparex in a single trip. We have also refined numerous cross-functional business processes to enhance customer responsiveness.
We have added a best-in-class global marketing and product management team (based in Cary) to drive segment-based business strategies, including new product development and global product positioning.
We’ve maintained the industry’s largest and most experienced product and process technology team working in tandem with our commercial team and customers to drive innovation and productivity.
Our world-class customer service team has been synergized with the move to our new Cary-based customer service center. Senior customer service representatives continue to facilitate seamless, hand’s-on training with our new team members creating a very flexible, solutions-oriented team.
An inside sales team is being added to complement the industry’s largest and most experienced field sales team to improve our “hands-on” service to even more customers.
Although 2009 was a challenging year, Loparex’ industry-leading technical, commercial and global manufacturing resources, combined with a very solid financial base, put us in our strongest position ever to drive long term growth for our customers. We are excited to share the benefits of the investments we have made in our business and look forward to growing with our customers in 2010 and beyond.
Thanks again for your business and support.
Mike Werner
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Loparex LLC