Past Winner Stories
Grimmer Industries
After 36 years in business, Grimmer Industries had proven its ability to survive most any economic storm, but in August of 2003, a storm of a more unusual type struck. A lightning bolt ignited a fire in the company’s 20,000-square-foot warehouse, and within an hour nearly $3 million in inventory, building and equipment was lost.
A family-owned air and gas compressor manufacturer in Franklin, Ind., Grimmer Industries had reacquired a product line in 2000 that had been sold to third parties some years before. That business was joined with the specialized natural gas and multistage high-pressure compressor business also owned by the family. This transmission of compressed air and gas is commonly known as “the fourth utility,” an invisible but critical component of business and industry.
The newly reacquired line had lost ground under its former owners, but company president Tim Hollingsworth was well on his way to restoring quality and customer confidence when the events of 9-11 and the subsequent war brought an almost instant recession in manufacturing.
Grimmer Industries was persevering that downturn when lightning struck, causing ramifications for not only the company, but the community at large. Another major Franklin-area employer had just announced its closing, and with the Grimmer Industries facilities destroyed, surely more Franklin families would suffer job losses. Sensing this impact, and resolving to prevent it, Hollingsworth and his management team set a series of actions into motion immediately following the blaze. The outcome was an unprecedented recovery – no employee was laid off as a result of the fire.
Two key elements of the plan were immediacy and collaboration. The Monday following the fire, Hollingsworth and his team met to develop a comprehensive recovery plan. Operations would be moved into the manufacturing building and offices unaffected by the fire. The staff would stay on and put their skills and training to work minimizing the impact of the fire on Grimmer customers. Each outstanding order was reviewed and assessed to determine the fire-caused inventory shortages. This generated the immediate re-supply needs and shed light on likely shipping delays.
In a company-wide collaborative effort, each “department” planned and executed its post-fire strategy. Because Grimmer Industries is a small family business, those departments are not separate individuals, but instead are more like hats. Family members and key employees wore several of those hats out of necessity.
The accounting department opened special accounts to track insured and uninsured expenses. Sales made individual contact with each customer, notified them of the event and discussed the expected impact on that customer. Through this effort, close to all outstanding orders were preserved.
At the same time, purchasing undertook the enormous task of ordering and expediting inventory re-supply. Production designed and implemented a new floor layout in the remaining manufacturing facility to absorb lost production space. Materials located 6,000 square feet of temporary warehouse space and rented 10 storage containers for additional inventory.
Legal, finance and real estate worked on the inside, overseeing insurance adjustments, meeting with lenders and bidding for reconstruction. A fire recovery project was opened on the master file server, and assignments and status were tracked online.
By mid-February 2004, the warehouse had been rebuilt and inventory transferred back from its temporary locations. Today, operations have returned to near normal – an achievement Hollingsworth credits to “being blessed with owners and managers prepared and capable of handling multiple responsibilities. We were committed to a principle objective-preserve the business – with our initial and continued focus on the needs of the customer.”
A family-owned air and gas compressor manufacturer in Franklin, Ind., Grimmer Industries had reacquired a product line in 2000 that had been sold to third parties some years before. That business was joined with the specialized natural gas and multistage high-pressure compressor business also owned by the family. This transmission of compressed air and gas is commonly known as “the fourth utility,” an invisible but critical component of business and industry.
The newly reacquired line had lost ground under its former owners, but company president Tim Hollingsworth was well on his way to restoring quality and customer confidence when the events of 9-11 and the subsequent war brought an almost instant recession in manufacturing.
Grimmer Industries was persevering that downturn when lightning struck, causing ramifications for not only the company, but the community at large. Another major Franklin-area employer had just announced its closing, and with the Grimmer Industries facilities destroyed, surely more Franklin families would suffer job losses. Sensing this impact, and resolving to prevent it, Hollingsworth and his management team set a series of actions into motion immediately following the blaze. The outcome was an unprecedented recovery – no employee was laid off as a result of the fire.
Two key elements of the plan were immediacy and collaboration. The Monday following the fire, Hollingsworth and his team met to develop a comprehensive recovery plan. Operations would be moved into the manufacturing building and offices unaffected by the fire. The staff would stay on and put their skills and training to work minimizing the impact of the fire on Grimmer customers. Each outstanding order was reviewed and assessed to determine the fire-caused inventory shortages. This generated the immediate re-supply needs and shed light on likely shipping delays.
In a company-wide collaborative effort, each “department” planned and executed its post-fire strategy. Because Grimmer Industries is a small family business, those departments are not separate individuals, but instead are more like hats. Family members and key employees wore several of those hats out of necessity.
The accounting department opened special accounts to track insured and uninsured expenses. Sales made individual contact with each customer, notified them of the event and discussed the expected impact on that customer. Through this effort, close to all outstanding orders were preserved.
At the same time, purchasing undertook the enormous task of ordering and expediting inventory re-supply. Production designed and implemented a new floor layout in the remaining manufacturing facility to absorb lost production space. Materials located 6,000 square feet of temporary warehouse space and rented 10 storage containers for additional inventory.
Legal, finance and real estate worked on the inside, overseeing insurance adjustments, meeting with lenders and bidding for reconstruction. A fire recovery project was opened on the master file server, and assignments and status were tracked online.
By mid-February 2004, the warehouse had been rebuilt and inventory transferred back from its temporary locations. Today, operations have returned to near normal – an achievement Hollingsworth credits to “being blessed with owners and managers prepared and capable of handling multiple responsibilities. We were committed to a principle objective-preserve the business – with our initial and continued focus on the needs of the customer.”