By: Andy Odorzynski, Induron National Sales Manager
For the first time in a while, I’m optimistic! I look at the beginning of 2023 very much like a student finishing college and beginning a new career: We spent the past few years working our butts off! The results were good most of the time, but we also had to work through some failure. We had to get serious about our priorities and decide to push through the tough stuff. To paraphrase one of my favorite contemporary business gurus, Simon Sinek: we knew who could hoist a sail. Now we know who is able, and more importantly willing, to hoist a sail in a storm.
To be less abstract, Induron worked hard through the last couple of years and came through a bigger, stronger company. I’m excited to take these improvements forward. Now that we have the “education” provided by the last few years, how far can we go?
As an industry, we are taking a breath and hoping the improvement in our supply chain stays on track. At Induron, we are more prepared than ever to manage our supply chain, forecast demand, and adjust inventory practices. We’ve always prided ourselves on being nimble, but we’ve reset that bar for ourselves. I’m proud of my teammates on our procurement, manufacturing, laboratory, and distribution teams.
Over the past 3 years, they’ve met challenges beyond anything any of us planned for. I believed we were great at manufacturing industrial coatings before March of 2020. Now, I know we are industry-leading. I watched the companies we compete with fail to ship orders, fail to communicate pricing, and fail to be there to live up to their commitments. The experience has left me more committed than ever to the idea that Induron has something special to offer our industry. There is business value to putting relationships and people first.
As you can see reading this, I’m excited and proud. We are growing in every facet of our business. Induron pipe products continue to lead their industry and set our core focus. Kendall Smith and Ben Rowland are taking our power coatings around the globe. Seeing our company flourish on the international stage is the result of years of hard work, and it’s amazing to watch these guys bring it to fruition with partners like TEN and Energia. We had the best year in the history of our company in the water tank and treatment plant markets.
All of these great things have been happening in spite of the obstacles set in front of us by COVID-19, a global supply crisis, and specifically tumultuous global politics. I’m excited to see how far our improvements can take us as things stabilize in each of these arenas. I’m proud of how we weathered the storm. We are beginning 2023 with a plant expansion, multiple exciting new additions to our team, new products on the horizon, and record demand in our pipeline. As I look forward to the new year, I’m ready to get to work!