Our objectives are to fulfill the orders with the quality and efficiency we have guaranteed our customers. This develops recurring value in the business. We start projects with machines or products that provide a high and perpetual return over time.
Another part of operations at Namifiers is to improve the systems, functions, and processes that we use to supply our products to the customers. I ensure that we are always maintaining and growing so that we don’t slide backwards and we don’t have any new losses.
Essentially, there are more legs than that, but each leg on the stool is crucial and my part is just as crucial as marketing and sales. They can market it, they can sell it, but if the product doesn’t go out on time or if it doesn’t go out with a high level of quality, the whole thing comes crashing down.
We start with a concept for a product. We find out what is necessary to make that product in a broad strokes planning meeting. We try to anticipate potential problems or errors. We start building our system around those potential errors and problems.
As the product is launched, the volume of orders is small and we can focus our effort on these few orders. As the production volume picks up, we find more errors and more problems and we then have to go back and restructure the system.
We design our process so that products can be processed in the same day. If an order doesn’t ship on the same day, we see that as an error; a problem with the system. We find out what training and tools are necessary to correct the error and improve the process.
Over the course of a few months, we have developed a system and a process that needs very little maintenance. This process is something that we repeat dozens and dozens of times for every product that we sell.
There are a variety of manufacturing techniques. Namifiers uses a lean manufacturing technique in order to service the client in the appropriate amount of time that we have advertised. This means we keep the orders in a constant flow. We try not to have any back orders. We like to stock enough inventory in the building so that when an order comes in we have all the pieces ready to go. We don’t have to tell a client that we’re waiting for materials to arrive. We have the labor we need.
We live, breathe, eat, sleep, and drink the idea that every order can be done today. Many tasks that take a half a day or a day for our competitors to complete only take us an hour or two.
The more we look at an order and say, “Is this big or small, is this important or unimportant?” the less we fulfill our mission statement. Here at Namifiers, we set aside the notion of prioritizing. Every client that has an order in the system is as important as the next. Our objective is the same, which is to produce and ship that order today. This is something that Bryan founded the company on, which is the idea that nobody is more important. No order is too big or too small.
Over the years, we have developed high-quality accessories which add value to our products. We have machines and materials that essentially turn a normal nametag into what I like to call the BMW or Mercedes Benz nametag. Our magnets are stronger. Our adhesives are stronger, more permanent. Our inks are thicker and more durable over time. We are also distinguished from competitors because we process orders faster. So, most of our customers are impressed by the extremely high quality of our products and that we provide them in a small amount of time.
On a month to month basis, we will have orders for companies such as Coca-Cola and Intel. We processed an order for the president and vice president of the United States just a couple of weeks ago. These big-name orders excite the team and the executives. New employees are pretty floored when they see who our clients are. Some people come in and look at our client roster and don’t believe us. They think we’re hamming it up but quite literally, we do business with some of the biggest names out there. And that’s exciting.
More than that, I think people get really excited and have a lot of fun with their individual areas. Chris has spent quite a bit of time developing the idea that each person owns their particular part of the system. They have a high level of ownership, feelings, and behavior. They feel an extremely high sense of responsibility and pride in the products they create, almost as if their name is on it. And they get to tell the other processing departments, “We just made Coca-cola’s lanyards, so take that!” and then engraving can come back and say, “Well, we just engraved the president’s nametag, so take that!” So it’s kind of a fun atmosphere and that creates a great sense of pride and ownership.
The day that I got the Presidents order, after I got off work I called my dad. He works for the V.A. health system and has received a couple of a wards from the president for his performance in the field of his work. He was really impressed with our company. He did not realize that our company was so well established that we were getting orders from high profile individuals. Read the rest of this entry »
Interview with Bryan L. Welton Jr., CEO Namifiers, LLC August 15, 2007
