We are excited to report that our new expansion is on track and will be finished March 1, 2012.  The expanded capacity will allow us to provide quicker lead times, expanded manufacturing capacity enabling us to pursue and deliver an expanded product line, paint line improvement, a higher level of customer service and add approximately 30 manufacturing positions.

Positioning a business for each stage of life is a challenging thing. The growing pains a business must go through can be overwhelming but here at Steele Solutions, we have gone about it with some tried and true strategic planning, common sense and some unconventional processes. Like most businesses, the next stage of business requires management to strategically work on each and every business process, department and the people who work in each area — challenging all to reach heights they may not have thought they could attain.  As usual, our people completely grasped this challenge and, as we mark our 15th anniversary, we are already seeing challenges met.  

We found while watching Rory McIlroy play a spectacular round of golf over the weekend how similar the game is to our business. For instance, when playing golf, a player has to prepare for the outing with a certain strategy. He must consider how to play the particular course, challenges that course might present and equipment to bring. Most important, the game must be approached with a mindset of success. As a manufacturer of high quality mezzanines and steel structures, each day of our work week presents similar challenges.

What does “customer service” mean to you? A lot has been written about it over the years, and the term takes on different meanings, depending on what market you’re in. It can get really complicated.

But at Steele Solutions, we think it’s pretty simple.

Here’s the customer service directive the Steele Solutions team lives by as we work with clients on mezzanines and other steel structures:

“Do what you said you were going to do for a customer. Be up-front and honest, no matter what it is you are talking about.”

In a couple reports and depending upon who you ask steel and other raw materials may be lowering later in the year while manufacturing orders have remained at a high level for several quarters in a row.   

Though the show may feel the same to many others to me each ProMat is more fun and productive.  This is because of the relationships that we have with distributors.