Cutting Edge - Jan 12Industry Week`s Best Plants Winner

www.kleinsteel.com
First Quarter 2012 • Vol. 4, Issue1
Mission
Klein Steel strives to be the premier supplier of metals by providing solutions
to meet our partners’ needs. We attract and engage the best teammates, suppliers,
and customers while embracing innovation and continuous process improvement.
Look inside on pages 2 and 5 for details of Klein Steel’s 2012 – 2014 Strategic Plan
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Klein Steel Receives
IndustryWeek Best
Plants Award
Klein Steel is the winner of the 21st
annual IndustryWeek Best Plants award,
a national honor for manufacturing
excellence and an “unwavering pursuit
of continued improvement.”
Announced in mid-January 2012,
this prestigious award seeks to recognize North American manufacturers
with documented exceptional leadership, quality, continuous improvement,
customer service and competitiveness.
IndustryWeek’s competition is dedicated to recognizing the success stories
in manufacturing.
“The IndustryWeek selection process
was very detailed and specific,” said
John Batiste, president and CEO, Klein
Steel Service Inc.,“and we are honored
to be named a winner for this prestigious award. It’s a testimony to the
hard work our team here at Klein Steel
has completed over the past few years,
and it is especially gratifying to be the
first metal service center to make the
list in the competition’s history. We also
appreciate that this award is all about
the partnerships we have forged with
our suppliers and customers.”
As one of just 10 award winners
throughout North America, Klein Steel
is the only winner from New York State
and the first metals service center to be
named a winner in the 21 year history
of the annual award. Other 2011 award
finalists included: Lockheed Martin
Corporation’s missiles and fire control
operation, Texas facility; John Deere’s
Horicon, Wisconsin facility; La-Z-Boy
Chair Company, Tennessee; Boeing
Philadelphia; Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg. Inc., Columbus, Indiana,
among others.
The annual competition for North
American manufacturers recognizes
world-class companies that are on the
leading edge of the work to increase
competitiveness, set the standard in
customer satisfaction, and create stimulating and rewarding work environments with a commitment to continuous improvement and team member
empowerment. It also encourages other
manufacturers to emulate the success of finalists and award winners by
adopting world-class practices, technologies, and improvement strategies.
Todd Zyra, Chief Operating Officer
at Klein Steel, notes that the award
criteria cover over three years of results
concerning safety, accuracy, quality, on
time delivery, productivity, and more.
“We started working with a deliberate focus on continuous improvement
several years ago and every member of
the Klein Steel team has contributed to
this win,” explains Todd.
“All the hard work has paid off
in the form of greater efficiency, better
quality, and improved customer satisfaction. We have worked very hard
to grow stronger for the success of
ourselves, our suppliers, and
our customers.”
Klein Steel will accept the award
at IndustryWeek’s annual Best Plants
conference scheduled for April 23 -25
in Indianapolis, Indiana.
President’s
Message
We launch into 2012
with great momentum and a
common destiny. That destiny
is codified in our Strategic Plan
for 2012-2014. This plan gives
great focus as we collectively and
deliberately grow the business.
Our plan includes clearly defined
mission, intent, values, and
culture. It further defines performance commitments and goals,
guiding philosophies, and Key
Result Areas (KRA) to focus our
work. Within each KRA, are specific strategies and action plans to
direct the work of cross-functional
teams designed to take Klein Steel
to higher levels. We all have skin
in the game.
Our company mission (who,
what, and how) and intent
(purpose and end-state) are
fundamental to success and we
all embrace these concepts. Our
values define who we are, at
work and within our families and
communities. We understand the
importance of “doing the right
thing when no one is looking.”
Our culture centers on our
number one imperative of safety,
our core values, the importance
of initiative and learning from
our mistakes, profit sharing based
on results, and the team-member
centric organization that we
are working to build. We have
a shared destiny, we believe in
decentralization and empowerment, and we embrace a culture
of performance with high expectations, recognition, and reward
for results. Our special culture sets
us apart from our competition.
This edition of The Cutting
Edge is dedicated to the future
and the implementation of our
Strategic Plan. Last year’s momentum is significant with Klein Steel
recognition in national, state,
and local competition, including
the winner of 2011 IndustryWeek
Best Plants in North America, a
Best Place to Work in Western
New York for the 3rd consecutive
year, 2011 Rochester Business
Ethics Award finalist, and a Raffles
safety loss ratio of only .02 percent. These results define a high
performing team with enormous
potential.
Together, there is nothing
outside our reach. We truly
“get it”.
All the best for 2012!
John
Farewell
Advisory Board Provides Guidance
Senior managers at Klein Steel consult periodically with a group of outstanding business leaders who give input and
guidance for the company to achieve its mission. Since 2008, four board members serve Klein Steel through their
professional feedback and expertise from their respective industries. Klein Steel’s advisory board members are Sue
Hartman, Robert Johns, Bruce Merrifield and Gerry Wenzke. The Cutting Edge recently asked each board member:
Dear Team Members,
By the time you read this I will
be settling into our new home in
Florida. Don’t be jealous…(Okay,
maybe a little jealous) be happy
that we can retire with good
health.
I will stay connected to Klein
Steel and Buffalo Armory in the
years ahead. You have been my
friends and my family— sharing
great joys, and helping each other
through the sorrows, as a family
does. Many have expressed to me
how much our relationship has
meant, and I can sincerely say
that it has been in both directions.
You’re a great team and I will
miss our daily interactions.
Before I leave, allow me these
few words of wisdom:
1. You can’t retire unless you can
afford to retire. Whatever you
are putting into your 401(k)
plan, invest more. Forget about
the market ups and downs
and continue to save. You get
old one day at a time—and
no
one sees it coming.
2. Be passionate about your job.
You don’t have to be the best
in the world, but you owe it
to yourself to be the best you
can
be.
3. Be a giver: give friendship, give
assistance, give of yourself.
It will come back to you in
spades, and if it doesn’t come
back, then it doesn’t matter.
4. Don’t forget that the roots of
Klein Steel are in entrepreneurship. Finding better ways to
do things is what we do. Being
good isn’t sufficient. Remember,
“Good is the enemy of great.”
Thank you for your kindness
over the years. I will remember
each of you!
What is the most important aspect you’ve learned
about Klein Steel in your role as a board member?
“Klein Steel, like many
other companies, has
invested in best-inclass equipment, facilities, processes and
systems. These are
all important to the
company’s continued
success. But what really differentiates
Klein in the marketplace is the strength
of its culture and the commitment
of its people. Klein’s culture supports
investment in its people— giving
associates the knowledge, tools and
opportunities to grow both personally
and professionally plus ensuring that
associates have a safe and healthyenvironment in which to work.”
Sue Hartman, President
The Hartman Group
Evergreen, Colorado
www.thehartmangroup.com
Working with Fortune 500 companies,
both as a manager and consultant,
Sue has been a catalyst for both
operational and strategic change.
Through the Hartman Group, companies
have defined their future direction in an
integrated framework for success.
“The most impressive thing about
Klein Steel Service is
the depth of the Klein
Steel team and the
exceptional focus Klein
has on those things that
contribute to the success
of the company. Klein’s dedication
to the development of the team has
resulted in nothing short of an exceptional company run by an exceptional
team –at all levels. We’ve seen examples where great teams out-perform
others that, on paper, have nothing but
“super stars.” Klein routinely out performs its competitors because it works
as a unified team - unified as to purpose, direction and strategy. It comes
full circle as to the quality of both the
individual team members at Klein and
their combined outcomes being greater
than any single part. Klein’s focus on
the continuous improvement of team
members and the team as a whole will
serve it well now and into the future.”
Robert (Bob) W. Johns
Romar Consulting, LLC
romarconsulting@msn.com
Bob is a former senior executive
of Nucor Steel.
“With the excellent use
of Waypoint Analytics,
Klein has done a much
more precise targeting
of what customers
it can serve best to
maximize the difference between “value
the customer perceives they are receiving” and
“Klein Steel’s cost-to-serve its customers”—the difference is high, sustainable net profits. Better net profits, in
turn, get reinvested in the business to
support more sales and margin growth
from which all stakeholders can receive
more job security, pride, growth and
compensation. Klein is on the way
to selling a lot more volume on a lot
more profitable basis to fewer customers. Instead of selling a little bit of steel
to all types and sizes of customers,
Klein is doing an ever better job of selling all of the steel to fewer and bigger
customers who really appreciate
the targeted, fine-tuned service value
that the Klein team is producing.”
Bruce Merrifield
Merrifield Consulting
Boston, Massachusetts
www.merrifield.com
Bruce worked more than 30 years in
the world of independent distribution
+channels, meeting thousands
of distributors through his trade
association work (such as MSCI).
As a distribution chain owner and
professional speaker, Bruce has a
comprehensive sense of the elements of
a successful high-performance company.
“I think the most
important aspect
I’ve learned is
the depth of
the Discipline of
Aligned Execution,
which is ingrained
into the Klein
culture. There is an unwavering
commitment to execute plans that
are appropriately aligned with
organizational goals. This is enhanced
by an understanding amongst team
members of the importance of
helping each other get it done. This
combination of commitment and
mutual respon-sibility runs deep in
the Klein culture and it is a significant
competitive advantage.”
Gerry Wenzke
Distinctive Strategies LLC
Rochester, New York and
Naples, Florida
gwenzke@distinctstrategies.com
Gerry is the former CEO of Hatch
Leonard Naples Inc.
Klein Steel to Achieve Nuclear
Quality Assurance
Your friend, Dave
Previously Chief Financial
Officer, David Feinstein
retired in December after
over 11 years of service
with Klein Steel.
Quality
Corner
with Jim Sloan
For 2012, Klein Steel announces a commitment to establish and implement additional processes and procedures above our
current Certified Klein Steel and become
ASME NQA-1 compliant. We’ve scheduled
the implementation process within the
first quarter of this year and the entire process should take approximately six months
to complete.
Nuclear Quality Assurance, NQA-1, is a
specialized field dealing with a higher level
of quality and product assurance. It’s a system of checks and double-checks to ensure
the products purchased by our customers
meets all the purchased and mandated
requirements. This accreditation is a step
above ISO with the addition of several
mandatory procedures and enhancements
to our existing procedures. The NQA-1
compliance will pave the way for selling
other power sources such as wind and
solar. NQA-1 will take a large effort and
focus on the way we work and conduct our
business. A strong dedication to document
control, supplier focus, customer requirements and product traceability is the largest measure of the NQA1 compliance. Once
the gap has been bridged and compliance
has been verified, continual auditing of
our systems will be required to ensure
continuity of processes. Overall, this accreditation will enhance our company and
improve our current business practices.
Once complete, NQA-1 will increase Klein
Steel’s business and take the company to
a higher level of Quality assurance. This
allows us to expand into new areas of
technology, new customer bases and new
territories. The capacity of Nuclear Quality
has been and will continue as an area of
growth as we face the need for additional
energy resources.
Jim Sloan is Klein Steel’s Quality and
Engineering Manager.
3
Winter Increases Home
Heating Fire Risks
With cooler weather here, the risk
of structure fires is up because
home heating is a leading cause
of fires during the months of December, January and February—
second only to cooking related
fires, according to the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Over 5,000 heating equipment-related residential fires are reported
yearly resulting in injury, death
and millions of dollars in damages. Space heaters are the most
common type of heat source as
the leading cause of fire and fire
deaths. The NFPA reports that two
out of every three home heating
fires— and, three of every four
fire related deaths— were caused
by space heating equipment
such as portable electric heaters,
portable kerosene heaters, wood
stove, fireplaces and fireplaces
with inserts, along with single
room gas heaters.
A handy rule of thumb: Just
remember the “safety zone” recommended by the NFPA. That is,
no combustible material, children
or pets should be within the three
foot “Safety Zone” around space
heaters, candles, and light bulbs,
and even cook stoves.
Another common cause of
home fires comes from a lack of
regular cleaning and preventa-
tive maintenance,
especially for wood
burning devices
such as fireplaces
and inserts for chimneys. NFPA
recommends annual inspection of
the chimney and cleaning.
Blow Out the Candle
With today’s emphasis on
candles and other mood lighting techniques, candle safety is a
priority, especially around small
children and pets. Candles should
be placed out of reach of both
children and pets. Use burn proof
footers or plates, even if they are
already inside a decorative lantern or other luminary housing.
When a candle burns dangerously
low, discard it. The “safety zone”
rule of thumb doesn’t always
apply when using candles. Make
sure that candles are not allowed
to burn in unoccupied rooms. If
you leave the room, even for a
short time, blow out the candle!
Don Barber is Klein Steel’s
Safety Manager.
School #52 Pencil
Partnership – Preparing
the Next Generation
Through the Pencil
Partnership, Klein
Steel supports the Frank
Fowler Dow School #52 in the
Rochester City School District. This
K- 6 elementary school has approximately 300 students and is located
in a pleasant neighborhood near
Irondequoit. The Pencil Partnership
allows Klein Steel to give back to
our community by having a positive impact on the students at
this school.
One way that Klein Steel helps
School #52 is through volunteer
tutors for the summer reading
program. Many team members and
their family and friends have volunteered to help with this fun summer
activity which helps the students
retain and improve their reading
skills. We also provide “judges” for
the school’s annual talent show,
sponsor a mitten and hat collection
for the past two winters (with more
than 200 hats and mittens donated!) and participate in Principal for
a Day as well as taking part in other
activities. This year several math
students will tour Klein Steel and
we are supporting the school’s
Club activities.
Klein Steel has set up easy ways
to help School #52. At the Vanguard
location, look for a box labeled Box
Tops for Education (near the front
copier) and another called Soup Labels. Each little box top or label can
be redeemed by the school for cash,
which is useful for special projects
and activities. You’ll find these special labels on many products from
Campbell’s Soup to printer paper to
cereals. Even one label is a big help!
Compliance Manager Debbie
Kurvach coordinates Klein Steel’s
support at School #52.
The Pencil Partnership Program builds and supports
customized relationships between business leaders and principals,
providing a flexible, yet structured, way for members of the business community to contribute and leverage their unique expertise
and resources to help meet school needs. PENCIL means “Public
Education Needs Civic Involvement for Learning.” For more information, visit www.pencil.org
4
Retail Division Growing in 2012
In 2012, Klein Steel Direct
is on track to grow both
revenues and profits in
each current KSD location,
Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse, as
well as open a new store in Albany
as part of Klein Steel’s expansion.
Although we face strong competition
in the current steel markets, our advantage is offering the widest selection
of prime and surplus metals, along
with multi-processing and delivery
capabilities that meet almost any
customer requirement.
Our direct customers can expect
continued expansion within Klein
Steel’s product offerings. For example,
customers will see the addition of the
new Forney welding and safety accessories line at all KSD locations. The
company will increase advertising efforts through direct mail, social media
and Internet communications to create
broader awareness of the business and
attract more walk-in visitors to specific
stores. Our objective is to increase the
numbers of repeat customers by providing the products and high service
level they desire.
Bob Valeri is the General Manager for
Klein Steel Direct.
A Healthy You for 2012 and Beyond
It’s that time of year again—
the time when almost everyone makes
resolutions to improve themselves
(physically, financially, and/or emotionally). Or, it’s that time to undo
some of the overindulgence from the
holiday season!
Klein Steel’s wellness efforts will
continue as we move toward consumer
driven healthcare in 2013. The Company began this journey in 2010 with
the introduction of a High Deductible
Health Plan (HDHP), which offered
lower weekly premiums, while still
maintaining access to insurance. This
year, Health Saving Accounts (HSA)
were packaged with the HDHP as another vehicle for setting pre-tax money
aside to cover medical expenses both
now and in the future. Additionally, all
Excellus plans that are offered have the
Healthy Rewards® component, which
puts cash back in your pocket for doing
healthy stuff that fits into you day.
These offerings are ways to reduce
health care costs and give us some
control over our expenses. However,
we have more power over this by the
daily choices we make and the lifestyle
we live. This year’s wellness efforts will
give us opportunities to seek knowledge, understand our health picture
more clearly, and give us the ability to
make healthier choices.
Klein Steel is working with our
benefits broker, insurance carriers and
service providers to create a strategic
wellness plan for 2012 and beyond.
Look forward to opportunities this year
to complete a health risk appraisal
(HRA), participate in health screenings, attend seminars on health and
fitness topics, and of course, sign up
for Healthy Rewards® to get cash back
by being active.
Happy New Year...the time for a
new and better you!
Rob Sihto is Klein
Steel’s Human Resources Manager.
Mary Accorso Directs
Staff Services
Describe your role at Klein
Steel and how it impacts
team members.
In my position, I have the opportunity to meet almost everyone in
the company because Staff Services
provides their necessary business
tools. Staff Services is responsible
for uniforms and boots for warehouse team members when they
join the company; we coordinate
cell phones and office furnishings;
we’re responsible for Department
of Transportation (DOT) compliance
with our driver’s files and fleet, and
handle the coordination of company cars.
Another aspect of Staff Services
is maintaining the building and
grounds to include signage and
repair and maintenance contracts.
Security also falls in my realm, as
does back-up for Jim Fantauzzo as
MRO buyer— and, anything else
that doesn’t seem to have a home!
What do you like best about
your work?
I love the diversity of my work and
the opportunity to get to know
people and vendors on a different
level because of frequent contact
with them.
Provide a few facts about Staff
Services that Klein Steel team
members may not realize.
Staff Services aims to get things
done before they need to be done.
It’s not enough at Klein Steel to
remain the status quo. Staff Services
tries to exemplify that high quality of service. Many things happen
behind the scenes—whether it’s
cleaning related, touch-up painting,
decorating, getting a new vending company on board, evaluating
different coffee or choosing new
signs or different mulch or simply
making sure the products we use
are environmentally safe. Many
avenues intersect with the
Staff Services Department.
What do you like to do for fun
and relaxation? Being Italian, I love to eat good
food and drink good wine. I also
enjoy power walking, reading a
good book (when I take the time
to slow down), shopping, and
spending time with my family and
friends. My new church is great too
and helps give me perspective and
much needed peace.
Strategic Initiatives Keep Company
Direction in Focus
Picture yourself on the bridge of a large, commercial ship
departing port to go out to sea without a planned destination
or a set course. How could everyone possibly survive? Think
about the many life-threatening dangers and risks involved
in managing equipment and cargo, navigating unpredictable
weather, staying on course and providing provisions for the crew.
Obviously, the ship wouldn’t disembark without a specific plan.
Running the business at Klein Steel is no different. Since
1974, Klein Steel has grown at a steady rate and needs a detailed
plan of action to manage the risks and take the company to the next
level. Knowing this direction allows the team to focus resources on the
desired outcome. Our company has spent considerable time and effort
to carefully craft that direction with the development of the 2012 –2014
Strategic Plan.
What you will read in this issue gives an understanding of the direction of Klein Steel over the next three years. The plan must be clearly
understood in order to move forward as a team. As we guide our ship
through very challenging seas, our strategic plan must be adjusted and
tweaked to match the changing conditions. Therefore, our team has
created a Strategic Plan process that can be adjusted quarterly, keeping the intent of the next three years in clear focus. A living guide, such
as our strategic plan, is one of the keys to maximize opportunities as
conditions change.
We are all in this adventure together. The best companies know
where they are going and why. Klein Steel is now among the “best”
managed companies with a focus on mission and intent to achieve
its goals.
Al Mangiamele is Klein Steel’s Vice President of Strategic Initiatives.
Buffalo Facility Transitions
to Star Armor
Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
—Henry Ford
Over the next 12 months, Klein Steel
will transition to service the Buffalo
region from Rochester in order to
reduce the company’s cost-to-serve
and focus on the successful launch of
Star Armor.
During this change, we will simultaneously launch the Buffalo Armory,
which will be ready to produce the
new product, Star Armor, in early
2012, while transitioning the Klein
Steel Buffalo base business to Rochester. Brent Nicholson joined the Klein
Steel team last July as the new general
manager of Buffalo Armory.
“The new Buffalo facility will be
producing specific materials for the
Department of Defense agencies and
customers,” notes Brent. “This is our
main goal, but there are additional
exciting opportunities vying for
our time.”
The company’s high-performing
base sales team located in Buffalo will
continue to provide excellent sales
and customer service to the Buffalo
market. A Klein Steel Direct store in
Buffalo, co-located with Buffalo Armory, will continue to offer individuals and customers a direct outlet for
their metal requirements. In addition,
our Buffalo facility will maintain the
necessary depot operations required
to support the base business.
To ensure success, we have
created a cross-functional team to
guarantee that we safely complete
this critical project with no accidents.
The team is also working hard to
synchronize the timelines of consolidating the base business and standing
up Buffalo Armory to protect team
member jobs and conserve resources.
Most importantly, this shift needs to
be seamless and transparent to our
customers. Therefore, we will take
every measure possible to continue
the focus on Klein Steel’s imperatives
of safety, accuracy, quality, on-time
delivery, and productivity.
Todd Zyra is Klein Steel’s Chief
Operating Officer.
The Cutting Edge is a quarterly
publication of Klein Steel Service Inc.,
designed to bring company news to its
employees and families.
Managing Editor
Deborah Mangiamele
Contributors
Mary Accorso, Don Barber,
Ken Carpentier, Mary Castaldo,
Pat DiLaura, David Feinstein,
Debbie Kurvach, Pauline
Malone, Al Mangiamele, Rob
Sihto, Jim Sloan, Todd Zyra
Newsletter Team
Pat DiLaura, Debbie Kurvach,
Blair Ragan, Joe Rodibaugh,
Jim Sloan, Dolores Starks,
Wende Weber
Graphic Designer
Yasmin Jung
We welcome employee
comments and submission
ideas. Please contact
newsletter@kleinsteel.com
Klein Steel Service Inc.,
105 Vanguard Parkway,
Rochester, New York 14606
585-328-4000
2
Materials Management Key to Success
Materials Management is a key component
of Klein Steel’s success. Although this
process is led by the procurement department, strong results come from
the cross-functional teams that give
us critical input.
Working with many job shops,
material forecasts are often difficult
to obtain. With that in mind, focus
on material planning, drop minimization and control, back ordered
items, customer owned material flow,
aging material, branch transfers, and
lowering quality defects are all areas
to keep in focus. Each category has
opportunities to control and improve
internal cost. Inventory turns and
positive cash flow are essential to
a healthy service center. Improved
steady cash flow is obtained by
continuous improvement, including
decreasing man hours and eliminating paperwork.
Information Technology impacts
every process and improvement that
Klein Steel incorporates into our
standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The Material Management KRA includes bar coding, inventory control
team development, NQA-1 processes,
and the making of kits for customers.
Each area requires a cross-functional
team to be successful. Teams include
Procurement, Operations, Quality,
Sales and Finance departments.
Product analysis utilizing Waypoint
Analytics assists procurement with
internal forecasts and pricing strategies highlight costs to handle each
category of material.
Being a full line service center,
Klein Steel handles plate, bar grating,
structural products, mini mill, stainless, aluminum and many others.
With the diverse selection of items we
need to understand each category’s
cost structure. From receiving, storing, processing, loading, shipping
and billing each step has an internal
cost that we can improve upon.
Another area of concentration is
the company’s Maintenance Repair
and Operations (MRO) purchases.
As Klein Steel continues to add new
processing capabilities, our costs
for MRO can quickly grow. We must
internally focus on our costs for these
areas. Procurement works side-byside with the Quality, Engineering
and Operations departments to select
vendors and test different products to
improve processing lead times.
Pauline Malone is Klein Steel’s Vice
President of Procurement.
Budget Reflects Roadmap
Klein Steel’s management team
worked together during November
and early December to create a budget for next year. This is our annual
process. Business as usual, you might
ask? Not quite.
The 2012 budget is different from
prior years’ budgets in three important ways, including: the linkages to
our Strategic Plan, the components
of the budget, and the process that
has been established to manage the
budget during 2012.
With our Strategic Plan established as a roadmap for the next
three years, the management team
reviewed its major components and
projects in establishing the assumptions that underlie the 2012 budget.
A very deliberate exercise took place
to determine which components
were concrete enough to reflect in
the budget. The resulting 2012 budget
is appropriately connected to the
Strategic Plan.
For 2012, the budget will again
reflect our base and direct businesses. In the base budget, however,
rather than reflecting location-based
information, the budget has been
established in a departmental manner. There are certain expenses in
the budget, such as travel expenses
and team member training, that all
departments incur. In the past, our
budget has reflected one line item
for those expenses for the whole
company, which created difficulty in
holding those expenses to budgeted
levels. In other words, when everyone is in charge, no one is in charge.
Team Members Remain
Central Focus of Company
Additionally, there are
certain expenses that
only one department is
responsible for managing
(for instance, equipment
maintenance, managed
by Operations). In those
cases, the budget of these items is
reflected in the budget of the responsible department.
With the budget established as
the financial roadmap to accompany
our strategic roadmap, achievement
of the budget will only be possible if
we are flexible and nimble in response to our ever-changing environment. Each month, in connection
with our review of the Strategic Plan,
the management team will review
not only our recent performance
against the budget, but will also make
proactive decisions about spending
levels over the next three months.
Nothing is written in stone simply
because it is in the budget. Rather,
the budget is our best plan for 2012
according to the view we have today.
We will modify that plan, as needed,
as our view changes.
As we look back at a very successful 2011, and forward to another
successful year in 2012, we think that
the processes we’ve established for
creating and managing the budget
will truly help us to be “Stronger.
For your success.”
Laurie Leo is Klein Steel’s Chief
Financial Officer.
We’re off to a great start in 2012.
As in recent years, the company
will continue to focus time, talents and resources on
positioning Klein Steel
as a team membercentric employer
of choice.
What exactly
does that mean? In
2012, it means continuing to emphasize wellness and education, as we begin
our transition to consumer driven
healthcare in 2013. It means
continuing to share the profits
with all eligible team members
through our new profit sharing
program, as well as providing the
necessary benchmarking and pay
systems to ensure that we are
compensating team members
commensurate with their level
of contribution and in line with
the external job market. It also
means expanding our Klein Steel
University (KSU) offerings, to include both internal and external
course offerings. It also means
expanding our efforts in the area
of career development, such as
using career development data
captured in Performance Appraisals for talent planning, Team
Member Profiles and PeopleTrak HRIS search capabilities to
identify internal talent for open
positions. In addition, continuing
to implement bi-annual talent
planning and the job awareness
program to move our qualified
talent into open positions. We will
continue to ask you, our team
members, how we are doing
along the way.
Finally, Klein Steel will
continue to find new and more
efficient ways to deliver our
services, just as we have done in
the recruiting arena by eliminating costly job board subscriptions
(saving over $26,000 annually)
and by negotiating “preferred
vendor” rates with carefully
selected search firms (saving over
$40,000 annually). Similarly, we
have achieved considerable cost
savings by rebidding insurance
rates with different carriers and
by working to improve the health
of our team members through a
variety of wellness initiatives.
Yes, 2012 promises to be
another great year for Klein Steel!
I want to thank you, our valued
team members, for making
Klein Steel— Stronger. For
Your Success.
Patrick DiLaura is Klein Steel’s
Chief Talent Officer.
Pricing Accuracy Key to Successful 2012
Pricing and determining market
opportunities are critical result
areas in 2012. As we study pricing,
market trends, customer’s needs
and customer uses, we analyze
this information and accurately price Klein Steel
products in accordance to this valuable information. Klein Steel’s concept for pricing in support
of our strategic plan will incorporate the following steps:
Segment Klein Steel customer
purchasing habits.
The purpose of this effort is to ensure like
or similar customer buying habits are tracked and
adequate pricing matrices are incorporated. This
will benefit our customers by making sure they are
getting the appropriate price for the way they buy
and use our products and services.
Organize customers by buying power.
Buying power is an indicator of customer potential and is important information to track. By
organizing customers in different groups based on
buying power, we are able to leverage anticipated
volume. This allows our procurement department
to buy more strategically and in turn helps to make
us more competitive – and in turn our customers
win too with better and more accurate pricing.
Itemize the products by class.
Using this strategy we will organize the
company’s products by product class and allows
us to monitor pricing by each individual manufacturer. We will then be able to offer “spot sales” on
particular lines, by taking advantage of targeted
manufacturing pricing – again benefitting our
customers with more accurate and market
sensitive pricing.
Identify the sensitivity of the
product classes.
Product price sensitivity can be broken down
into several categories, from most critical core items
to least critical non-core items. This helps keep our
focus on the items – and pricing – that our customers find most important.
Analyze the market price
for each item.
Klein Steel’s goal is to take a market price
analysis and make sure that we stay in balance
with what is happening with the market. Our
customers know that metal products have price
fluctuations due to market changes, yet they do
not always have time to track the market. We are
committed to providing our customers with the
most accurate pricing, taking into account what is
currently happening in the market and also
future projections.
Proper, accurate pricing is a process of updating
and analyzing the appropriate data. It is continuous process improvement – helping us to be Stronger. For Your Success.
Ken Carpentier is Klein Steel’s Vice President
of Sales.
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In the News
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November / December 2011 issue of Forward
magazine, the official publication of the Metal
Service Center Institute, featured Klein Steel
along with several Metal Service Centers who are
tapping into the power of social media to promote their business, communicate with customers and other business partners, and keep team
members informed.
First Quarter
2012 Anniversaries
Congratulations to all Klein Steel
team members who have served
the company for five or more years
this quarter!
January
Robert Jones Michael Berg John Yeager Quyen Dinh John Suter Andy Yu Michele Hoy 1/20/1987
1/6/1992
1/28/1998
1/18/1999
1/1/2005
1/24/2005
1/15/2007
February
Mary Anna Mills Richard Argus Sergey Shuvalov Danielle Adams Dolores Starks John Jakubowski John Sparling Henry Hammond Brad Cooper 2/3/1992
2/20/1995
2/27/2000
2/28/2000
2/3/2003
2/21/2005
2/21/2005
2/6/2006
2/19/2007
March
Mikhail Sidorishin David Donaldson Terrence McElligott Jeffery Bowen 3/10/1993
3/1/2004
3/7/2005
3/2/2006
to find qualified employees, such as the Veterans Outreach Center, RochesterWorks and the
Warrior Salute program.
September 2011— Klein Steel received
media attention throughout the Upstate region,
when IndustryWeek magazine announced that
Klein Steel is a finalist for the Best Plants competition. Albany’s WYNT Channel 13 included
the news during its nightly television program.
Renee Remillard, KSD-Syracuse, celebrated her marriage to Michael Dawalga
on the coast of Maine on September
24, 2011. Renee, Michael and their son
Jacob are pictured here.
Thomas (TJ) and
Jessi Turner welcomed
Kayla Renee Turner on
November 20, 2011.
Welcome New Team Members
As Klein Steel continues its growth, we extend a warm greeting
to the newest employees of our team!
Name
Hire Date Location Position
David Milillo Peter Wanamaker
Geoffrey Grambo Amy Lepiane Brian Mosher Amy Jones Nick Muscarella Stacy DiPasquale Bob Valeri James Mitchell Pat Penkszyk
Andrew Castner Mark Mossow 9/12/2011 Vanguard 9/26/2011 Vanguard 9/26/2011 Rochester 10/3/2011 Vanguard 10/10/2011 Vanguard 10/10/2011 Vanguard 10/10/2011 Vanguard 10/24/2011 Vanguard 10/24/2011 Vanguard 10/24/2011 Vanguard 10/24/2011 Vanguard 11/14/2011 Vanguard 11/14/2011 Vanguard Stacy
Nick
6
October 7, 2011 issue of the Rochester Business Journal (RBJ) featured Joe Klein in conjunction with Joe’s induction into the Rochester
Business Hall of Fame.
October 28, 2011 RBJ interviewed Pat DiLaura along with other area leaders addressing
the issues of hiring talent during a challenging
economy. The article highlighted Klein Steel as a
company hiring despite the economic downturn
spotlighting the less-traditional sources utilized
Team
Member
Milestones
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Saw Operator Haas Operator KSD Counter Sales
Front Reception Credit Manager
David
Call Center Rep Finisher Packager Operations Supervisor
KSD General Manager
Burn Table Operator Kasto Operator Saw Operator Burn Table Operator Amy L.
Bob
Peter
Brian
Pat
James
Andrew
Geoffrey
Amy J.
Mark