In Sink: So, where do we go from here?

Sink

By Dean Sink, Mickey President
As a company and as teammates, we were absolutely committed to making 2014 the best year ever in the 110-year history of Mickey Truck Bodies. Mission accomplished. Any way you measure it, we had a banner year: units built, units sold, safety, quality, productivity, new business, existing business.

That begs the question: ?Where do we go from here?? If you know anything about Mickey, then you already know the answer. We are going to get better! Because for 110 years ? going on 111 ? that?s exactly what we?ve always done: gotten better.

I can?t tell you exactly what the numbers will be when the book closes on 2015 ? although I?m sure they?ll be strong ? but I can tell you that we will be a better company than we are now. That?s saying something considering where we stand today.

We will be better teammates because we know that the benefits of working together for a common cause far outweigh any gains made by individual efforts. Between January and March of 2014 we were forced to close our main plant in High Point for 3.5 days due to weather-related electrical outages. We got back to work, identified our priorities and pitched in where we needed it most, regardless of our individual jobs, skill sets or responsibilities. We were back on schedule before any customer even knew we were behind.

We will be better innovators. In 2014 we built the most amazing products the oil & gas industry has seen in modern times by drawing on our experience in manufacturing and our ability to understand what the customer needs. We did not enter that market with a bunch of ?me-too? products. We innovated, and that?s the way we will approach all industries we serve ? new and existing. We are not afraid to fail.

We will be better communicators. Our new ERP computer system will be up and running full throttle, which will allow us to integrate all of our data for greater efficiencies across sales, engineering, manufacturing, accounting, purchasing, etc. We will all know exactly where we stand and where we need to be at any given time.

In 2015 we will get better in every single aspect of our business all for the common cause of helping our customers become more profitable and productive within their own businesses. If we do that, the numbers will be there at the end of the year.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.