Leader Letters are monthly letters from the Maintex Leadership team. This month, Maintex CEO Stu Silverman discusses how Maintex is staying adaptable in the face of changing technology.
The world of business is moving forward on a daily basis and we at Maintex are working hard to stay relevant and competitive.
Within the last year, we have made a number of changes to allow us to work better, smarter, and faster. One of those changes is the adoption of truck routing software, which will enable us to wait until later in the day to route our delivery trucks. Because of this new capability, we will be able to handle orders that come in later, when needed.
Of course, adapting to change can be difficult. Skills that enabled us to get jobs done in the past have to be adapted to new methods and processes. Usually, new solutions involve software and learning how to master that software. The process is not easy and it may not be painless, but as you will soon see, the results speak for themselves.
With the new routing process we have adopted, we will be able to ship more products more accurately. We will also have visibility on all of our vehicles at all times. If you have ever ordered from Amazon, you know what I am talking about - Amazon will inform you when your order was received, your package shipped, and your package delivered. That is the capability we have now adopted.
We have changed a number of other processes in recent years. We used to keep pallets and pallets of records (including invoices and receivers) for years. Those records took a large amount of space and were difficult to access. All of that information is now stored digitally with almost instant access.
We used to process payroll in house. That process is now handled by an outside vendor who is able to work just as accurately and faster than we could do internally.
And of course, there is our online ordering and Maintex online store. It was not so very long ago that a large number of customers faxed in their orders. Now, many customers are moving to our online store to place orders and shop for products quickly and conveniently. This is just another example of how technology is changing rapidly.
All of these changes require an investment of time and money. Fortunately, we have some very smart, very industrious people here at Maintex. They have taken the lead in bringing about changes and improvements to the company.
The Clean Up:
Be prepared. The world of business is moving quickly and Maintex intends to keep up.
