Growing Pains Spark Opportunity for Team-Building - Modern Distribution Management

Growing Pains Spark Opportunity for Team-Building

Electrical distributor's need for space creates opportunity to improve culture.
jenel-white

For most growing companies, eventually space will become an issue. Good businesses look for ways to either expand or reconfigure their space; great ones turn the challenge into an opportunity to improve their culture, as well. Such was the case for 2016 MDM Market Mover Paramont EO.

Just two years after an acquisition moved the Chicago, IL-based company into a new warehouse, space was at a premium for the electrical and decorative lighting distributor. So the company decided to redesign the existing space to improve efficiency and utility.

Rather than hire an outside firm to do the work for them, they turned to their employees to not only do the heavy lifting, but also to help plan the new configuration.

"We actually went as far as to put Garmins on a bunch of our directors and have them fill tickets," said Kevin Reed, director of purchasing. "We were able to track how long it would take to fill an average order. If anything was out of place, we just moved that aisle instead of having to just live with that for as long as we kept our building open."

The step-counters helped the company determine which routes employees were taking to get what goods – and, in turn, identify which routes were efficient and which weren't. "Something as cheap as a $50 watch we bought on eBay is actually saving us years of productivity," Reed said.

And having employees involved from the get-go allowed them a sense of ownership over the project – and the success of the company. They saw that their opinions were valued because their input was sought out, Reed said.

The warehouse reconfiguration project also got the leadership team thinking about how it could replicate the team-building benefits throughout the organization. Read more about the results in the 2016 MDM Market Mover Profile: Paramont EO’s Team-Building Redesign

Share this article

About the Author
Recommended Reading
Leave a Reply

Leave a Comment

Sign Up for the MDM Update Newsletter

The MDM update newsletter is your best source for news and trends in the wholesale distribution industry.

Get the MDM Update Newsletter

Wholesale distribution news and trends delivered right to your inbox.

Sign-up for our free newsletter and get:

  • Up-to-date news in a quick-to-read format
  • Free access to webcasts, podcasts and live events
  • Exclusive whitepapers, research and reports
  • And more!

2

articles left

Want more Premium content from MDM?

Subscribe today and get:

  • New issues twice each month
  • Unlimited access to mdm.com, including 10+ years of archived data
  • Current trends analysis, market data and economic updates
  • Discounts on select store products and events

Subscribe to continue reading

MDM Premium Subscribers get:

  • Unlimited access to MDM.com
  • 1 year digital subscription, with new issues twice a month
  • Trends analysis, market data and quarterly economic updates
  • Deals on select store products and events

1

article
left

You have one free article remaining

Subscribe to MDM Premium to get unlimited access. Your subscription includes:

  • Two new issues a month
  • Access to 10+ years of archived data on mdm.com
  • Quarterly economic updates, trends analysis and market data
  • Store and event discounts

To continue reading, you must be an MDM Premium subscriber.

Join other distribution executives who use MDM Premium to optimize their business. Our insights and analysis help you enter the right new markets, turbocharge your sales and marketing efforts, identify business partners that help you scale, and stay ahead of your competitors.

Register for full access

By providing your email, you agree to receive announcements from us and our partners for our newsletter, events, surveys, and partner resources per MDM Terms & Conditions. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Learn More about Custom Reports

Request a Market Prospector Demo

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.