Mindful Of The Marketplace
Modern Metals (June 3, 2014) –
May 2014 – Change can be difficult. Companies that adjust to industry needs and difficulties survive and thrive through the years—like Karay Metals Inc. As it celebrates its 50th year as a service center supplying cold drawn steel tubes and other products, it is looking toward the future, maintaining its strengths while carefully planning expansion.
Established in 1946 by E.A. Karay as a trading company exporting agricultural equipment, steel products, powdered milk and rubber tires, Karay Metals has come a long way. While the service center’s offerings have changed through the years, its emphasis on the customer has remained steadfast.
Quoted from http://www.modernmetals.com/item/12078-mindful-of-the-marketplace.html
Think (and Plan) Like Your Customers
Lenox Tools (January 10, 2015) – Think (and Plan) Like Your Customers. Being agile goes beyond completing a job on time. It also means taking the extra step to anticipate customer needs and then plan accordingly. Karay Metals, a metal service centered featured here in Modern Metals (MM) magazine, has taken this approach with its mandrel tubing customers. Typically, drawn over mandrel tubing comes in certain standard lengths, usually anywhere from 17 feet to 24 feet, the MM article states. However, Karay discovered that such a wide variance creates guesswork for its customers and as a result, can hamper their productivity. In response, Karay now offers tubing in 20- to 24-in bundles so its customers know exactly what they are getting, adding a convenience that its customers have come to expect and appreciate. As the MM article reports, the service center takes the same approach with inventory, stocking items its customers may need quickly. These strategies may veer away from traditional “lean” approaches, but they also build customer trust and loyalty—benefits that may not be measurable but could prove to be valuable. This also a great example of how being “lean” isn’t necessarily the same thing as being “agile.”
Quoted from http://blog.lenoxtools.com/industrial-metal-cutting/tag/customer-satisfaction-metrics/page/2/