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Paul Meeks: Confronting Supply Chain Challenges at Worthington Products
One of Worthington Products’ responses to supply chain issues has been to stockpile more materials at its headquarters.
H
ow are supply chain issues affecting manufacturers who serve the hydro industry? What are companies doing to confront supply chain shortages, transportation delays, and price increases? To get a manufacturer’s perspective, Hydro Leader spoke with Paul Meeks, the president and founder of Worthington Products. Hydro Leader: Please introduce yourself and your company.
28 | HYDRO LEADER | July/August 2022
Hydro Leader: Where do you source your materials, and where do you manufacture your products? Paul Meeks: Our production and manufacturing partnerships are spread globally. The United States and Canada account for the bulk of production. Over the past 10 years, however, we have formed production partnerships in Brazil, France, India, Poland, Portugal, and Turkey. Hydro Leader: When did you start to see supply chain disruptions, and what form did they initially take? Paul Meeks: Red flags occurred early in the first quarter of 2021. We knew there were port problems, but their effects were not felt on our business until late January 2021. That hydroleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF WORTHINGTON PRODUCTS.
Paul Meeks: I founded Worthington Products in 2000 to provide waterway barriers to hydroelectric power producers and dam owners. Our products help dam owners lower their risk and potential liability from public safety incidents by providing highly visible upstream and downstream barriers to prevent entry into dangerous zones. For hydropower producers, our barriers systems help increase power generation output by preventing the head losses associated with the blockage of intakes by debris and ice. I started doing this around 1996 as a manufacturer’s representative. When one of the companies I represented went out of
business, I decided that it was time to form a company solely focused on waterway barriers. I never imagined then that we would grow to become the world’s best-known barrier manufacturer, with products in 64 countries.
