MEMBER PROFILE Vale Industries:
A Business Engineered for Longevity By Dave Bannister Vale Industries is a diversified steel manufacturing company located east of Regina at Indian Head, Saskatchewan. The company has a strong history of providing portable and stationary materials handling. Its roots date back over 30 years of agricultural manufacturing, with the current establishment of its product mix and business model in 2014.
Vale Industries operates in two primary areas: Agriculture Hopper Cones and Grain Giant Field Bins Aggregate and mining Portable Conveyors, Feeders and Hoppers, Portable Plants, and Stationary Equipment. Kendra Cruson is Business Support Manager at Vale, as well as an owner. She leads production planning, purchasing, marketing, and human resources. As owner, she manages finances and works with CEO Pieter Cruson on strategic planning, forecasting and Kendra Cruson Business Support Manager budgeting. Vale Industries
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Implement Success | Winter 2021
Cruson grew up on a Saskatchewan farm and feels a strong connection to the land. “My career has largely been connected to agriculture. I earned my MBA at The University of Regina, started my career in ag manufacturing and spent some time on the grain buying side. My business partner and husband, Pieter, and I have worked hard to own a steel manufacturing business for the better part of our careers, and now own Vale Industries. I love the ag industry!” Cruson considers her management role a collaborative one. “We are continuously collaborating in all aspects of the business with our senior leadership team, from the highly technical side to procurement, staffing, and sales,” she explains. “We also work closely with our foremen and shop staff to improve their departments and increase efficiency. As Mark Twain said, ‘Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection,’ and I pretty much live by this. I often encourage my team by reminding them that every little improvement counts and can have exponential impact on the person and the business. We have a small but mighty team of experts helping us to run a safe and successful business.” Vale Industries’ vision is to be a worldclass manufacturer of quality steel products. “This is the language of the LEAN manufacturing philosophy," according to Cruson. “Here is a definition I like to use: World class
manufacturing is the philosophy of being the best, the fastest, and the lowest cost producer of a product or service. It implies the constant improvement of products, process and service to remain an industry leader and provide the best choice for customers, regardless of where they are in the process.” Cruson describes their operations: “Our mix of business has varied slightly from year to year, typically around 60% agriculture and 40% mining and aggregates. This year our ag hoppers will contribute less due to poor farm conditions and increased steel prices.” She expects future demand for the hoppers to remain strong though. “Our hoppers are engineered for strength and durability,” she explains. “We paint the interior of the cone for better product flow, and we have our own trucking/pilot fleets delivering our product directly to the farm.” The other primary ag product is their field bins. “We expect our Grain Giant to expand considerably with the launch at the Agri-Trade Equipment Expo in November,” Cruson explains. “We are the only manufacturer of field bins in Canada, and we offer the largest capacity in North America. Our bin holds a whopping 6500 bushels!” In the Aggregate and Mining sector, Cruson emphasizes Vale’s key strengths: “We offer Design-EngineerBuild options for our clients that allow
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