Manufacturing Today Issue - 214 July 2023 | Page 131

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Stellar Industrial Supply heartedly reflected toward members of the company ’ s workforce as well .
“ The company ’ s culture is our sustainable competitive advantage ,” he states . “ But culture , of course , is great people plus something . I knew early on that I wanted to work with people , and I ’ m proud to say that we have a great team of long-term capable employees . This is something that we ’ re constantly looking to grow , as when we acquire other companies , we always ensure that they will be a good fit for the Stellar fundamentals .
“ A few years ago , I heard a fellow consultant say , ‘ I aimed to build a company that I wanted to go into and work at every day .’ This resonated deeply with me , because we all have to work , right ? So , why force yourself into a life of drudgery somewhere that you hate to be . It ’ s not all fun and games , but we spend a lot of time ensuring that our workplace is somewhere that our employees enjoy being a part of . A crucial factor in this is the sense of purpose that they take from knowing they are genuinely helping a good productive industry grow . It goes way beyond just selling stuff .”
As the conversation draws to a close ,
talk turns to the future : “ We ’ ve doubled our revenue since 2019 ,” John concludes , “ so there ’ s no doubt in my mind that we can double it again in the next five years . In terms of changes , I would like to see us implementing a far greater level of automation to reduce the laboriousness of the business . In supporting our customers , we have to process a huge number of transactions , which can get tricky to manage appropriately .
“ It ’ s a bit of a buzzword now , but we ’ ve actually been playing around with AI since the pandemic , when we had an opportunity to reevaluate some of our practices . I want to use it to remove any drudgery from our employees ’ working lives , to give them a chance to self-actualize in their positions by doing more life-giving and joyful tasks . It ’ s a win-win , as whilst we are becoming more financially efficient and serving our customers ever better , our people are going to feel that they ’ re in a better place too .” ■
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