_______________________________________________________________________________ Eastern
Industrial Supplies
its most innovative tools, Caleb highlights, are its culture and the way in which the company treats employees. He also discloses his vision for Eastern, which is a priority throughout 2032.“ I have outlined a vision to double the size of the company within the next six years, and we’ re taking a unique approach. We’ re using a project manager to meet with midlevel management and explore the changes we need to make to realize that. We’ re listening and we’ re learning – I’ ve found I learn the most when I travel to locations, spend time on the shop floor and discover what tools and support people need for growth. I want to collect valuable data, but I’ m also going to trust my intuition and experience in making decisions. My three main finds have been that Eastern is shifting more towards data-driven decisions, we’ re striving to be seamless in collaboration and accountability, and we’ re also standardizing transparency in processes. We found that we’ ve grown so rapidly that some of our processes don’ t
work as effectively anymore, so we’ re cleaning them up. Importantly, each team is working in partnership with each other; operations, sales, accounting and quality. We’ re gathering all the information each group has and collaborating to work towards our shared mission – to continue to grow our presence across the southeast.
“ Longer term, I hope to see more of an appreciation of the importance of distribution – from industrial pipe, valves, fittings, and commercial plumbing products down to everybody’ s household items and appliances,” he concludes.“ The distribution industry is essential to how our country operates and protects the health and wealth of the nation( USA). It’ s vital. I’ m always trying to promote our industry and protect it, so that distribution remains one of the pillars of American infrastructure for years to come.” ■
www. easternfirst. com
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