David Peacock: Hytrol’s 2020 Outlook

2019 was a record sales year; we expect 2020 to be even stronger. As the material handling industry grows, it is both an opportunity and a responsibility to grow alongside it. To do this, we are focused on three elements in 2020: alignment, optimization, and acceleration.

Alignment

First, Hytrol has undergone a realignment within our company. We have embedded resources necessary for all pre-sale activity in our business development team, to be led by Mitch Smith. Mitch will guide our business development, integrator services, intelligent solutions group, marketing, and project management teams to focus on increasing presale initiatives.  While Mitch leads these groups, Chuck Waddle’s new title of Vice President of National Accounts places him in a role that allows Hytrol to focus on these accounts without losing focus on traditional businesses that we were founded on. Chuck’s expertise and experience will also put him in the perfect position to be in a mentoring role and to help address our quoting processes for our business development group.

Boyce Bonham will lead our post-sale activities, including quality, customer training and Randy Manis’ customer care team. Hytrol will optimize post-sale activities and provide assistance that supports our customers with the highest quality of communication and assistance.

While our sales activities are important, we also wanted to put a structure in place to make sure we were taking a proactive approach to workplace development. Our academic outreach initiative, led by Manager of Academic Outreach Natalie Shew, will put Hytrol in a position to compete for the best talent in the area and region, while also providing value to the schools and universities we partner with.

Optimization

With better alignment comes better optimization of processes and opportunities. We are finding ways to promote our daily tasks to operate more efficiently. Our engineering department has created time saving digital files that allow them to easily access and edit renderings. On the production floor, both enhancements and in-place procedures will better optimize the flow of manufacturing. On top of this, we will renew our Lean focus on waste elimination by addressing our processes and implements solutions; those results must be felt throughout the business.  These are but a few of the efforts to improve our efficiencies.

These enhancements allow us to move orders through efficiently with greater velocity, delivering products to customers with a lower costs, higher quality, and better lead time.

Acceleration

When we align and optimize, Hytrol moves forward at a greater velocity.  Every company needs someone who wakes up every day looking at what their company will look like not only at the end of 2020, but in 2023 and beyond to 2030. We have resources committed to doing just that—providing the structure and planning that allows Hytrol to excel forward in our vision to connect people, products, and solutions that push the limits of what is possible in material handling.

We will continue to research and develop new products that advance the material handling industry and meet the needs of our customers while also nurturing the relationships that help us excel into the future. The bottom line is that we are prepared to seek the resources that allow us to accelerate— whether in technology, facilities, or relationships.

Integration Partner Network

Of course, none of this would be possible without the continuous support of our integration partners. This network provides our customers with added support and direction, allowing Hytrol to create the material handling equipment that moves the world.  It is vital that our growth enhances our relationship with the network so we move forward together. We are expecting a promising 2020. With our themes of Alignment, Optimization, and Acceleration, we can better serve our customers, broaden our relationships with our IP’s and continue to lead the industry into the next decade and beyond.