5 minute read
GROWING FORWARD
The Harris’ exemplify the commitment and care it takes to run a successful family business. our customers happy. And yet, I think, like a lot of companies in the industry, it hasn’t slowed us down. We’ve been busier than we’ve ever been. It is starting to soften a little, but the last few years, we’ve grown considerably. We got to fi gure out what our mass capacity is. Let’s put it that way. Last year, we had to turn away some business.
BoxScore: And labor shortages. Will that continue to be an issue?
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Harris: It will. And fi nding people to work for us, since it’s my theme, is a pretty big deal to me. It has been crazy at times, trying to keep the plant fl oors fi lled. We’ve had people start work, and they’ll work for half a day and then walk off .
about 10 students as employees. Th ey’re all excellent employees, and my passion is to get more people excited about working in packaging. We all have a problem fi nding people to get excited about our industry. When I talk to students, I usually start out saying, “Who grew up wanting to make cardboard boxes for a living?” And, of course, nobody raises their hand. But that’s why I’m out there, saying, “Hey, you can make a great career out of this.”
So, I’m starting a partnership with a local high school STEM program, and we’re trying to get the knowledge out there that we have good careers in this industry. And I’m hoping that I’ll come up with something that I can hand to AICC members, a template, where you can go knock on the door of your local high school, and then you can do what we did. Th at’s what my hope is.
BoxScore: How receptive are students to that message, that there are interesting careers in the corrugated industry?
Harris: Th ey’re often very interested. You know, everything comes in a box. Everything in every room has been in a box at some point. Th is career isn’t going anywhere, and there are a lot of diff erent career options in our industry, but kids just aren’t aware of that. I fi nd that they’re also often interested when you talk about how sustainable this industry is. Th ey’re very interested in working for companies that are sustainable and good stewards of the environment.
BoxScore: We’ve had the pandemic the past few years to deal with, as well as supply chain issues—and now it’s infl ation. Th oughts?
Harris: Infl ation has been crazy. Everything has gone up considerably and so have our prices, which doesn’t make
BoxScore: Of course, that’s the case nationwide in a lot of industries.
Harris: Yeah, I’ve talked to a lot of people about that, and there are a lot of theories as to why there are labor shortages and, sometimes, a disinclination to work. But that’s why getting the next generation excited about our industry is even more imperative.
Geoff Williams is a journalist and writer based in Loveland, Ohio.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic—aff ecting everything from consumer shopping habits to the global supply chain—the past two years have been chaotic for the corrugated industry. For some, business boomed as never before. For others, particularly those focusing on in-store packaging and displays, the drop in retail traffi c was devastating.
Now, as the world slowly but hopefully moves into a post-pandemic phase, manufacturers are stepping back, assessing recent history, and looking ahead to how they can embrace the opportunities and address the challenges they expect to face in 2023.
Building for the Future
“I built my company with extremely hardworking, very talented, productionoriented people,” says John Potocsnak, owner of Corrugated Supplies Co. He plans to continue that trend into the new year. “Looking ahead at 2023 and beyond, I’m going to be adding a lot of brainpower. I’m building for the future.”
Potocsnak is working toward building what he calls “a deeper bench” among his leadership teams. “Each of my general managers will be getting a degreed engineer and a degreed manager,” he says. “I’m looking specifi cally at bringing in people who work to improve themselves. I’m trying to complement the skill sets that already exist within the company with skill sets that aren’t necessarily achieved in the street.”
While adding managers may not be surprising, adding engineers is a less common approach to business building. “I need engineers because I have a lot of factories,” Potocsnak explains. “I want engineers from a variety of disciplines—industrial engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers. Th ey’re there to complement the people who got me where I am today.”
Ultimately, these new hires will expand the company’s talent base while helping to ease the workload for current employees. “What I’ve got right now are a bunch of highly motivated individuals who work way too much,” Potocsnak says. “My goal is to become a more ‘normal’ business. Ideally, I’d like to go to 24/7 shifts in all my facilities and have people work fourday weeks. But I can’t do that yet.”
At StandFast Group, “our main goal in 2023 is to increase capacity to meet expected increases in demand from our existing customer base and new business growth,” says President and CEO Jay Carman. “We have plans in place to automate some of our production lines through investments in bundle breakers and extra-takeoff conveyors. Additionally, we may add another specialty folder-gluer. With improved throughput and additional capacity, we’re going to get back to providing service levels our customers have come to expect from us.”
Carman notes that, like many other companies in the industry, StandFast is also proactively seeking solutions to the manufacturing labor shortage. For one thing, he says, “we are looking at various ways to reduce our dependency on temporary labor. We’re consolidating the amount of temp agencies we work with and increasing hourly pay for production staff . Furthermore, we’re providing increased training throughout our organization.”
At Bay Cities, the company is already into its offi cial year 2023 and already facing some signifi cant headwinds, including ongoing supply chain issues and infl ation, according to Chairman and CEO Greg Tucker. “Obviously, Bay Cities cannot control these things,” he acknowledges.
