Sales Growth in 2025

By Bethany Tap

The restructuring in late 2024 brought a lot of changes for the Sales team, including new team members, leadership, and a realignment of the customer service team under the inside sales umbrella. In 2025, we are looking forward to finalizing all the changes that began in 2024 and becoming a cohesive, high-functioning team.

This transition comes with its challenges. Many of us are learning new things and shifting responsibilities, giving things up in order to take other things on. Every role and individual on the team is going through a certain amount of flux right now, be it training on a brand new job, learning a new task, relinquishing parts of job, traveling more, or embracing additional leadership. Change is hard, so we ask for grace when things don’t go as smoothly as we’d sometimes like. Similarly, we hope that other areas that are going through changes will reach out to Sales if you need us to change or adjust anything on our end. I’ve been really impressed by the number of people who have reached out to me with new business ideas. While we can’t always pursue every idea, I appreciate the opportunity to get your feedback. It helps keep us thinking outside the box.

The thing that I, and many others, are most excited about for 2025 is the transition to an ESOP. Becoming an employee-owned company is going to take Fastco from a good company to a great one. I’m already seeing so much growth as a result of the information shared in our weekly huddles. Many people at Fastco are already acting like owners of their processes and area of influence.

Sales have been down across the globe in 2024, but particularly in the automotive industry. As a whole, Fastco has done the best we can with a difficult situation of slumping sales. The Sales team is ready to chase every opportunity we get in 2025, from low-volume runs to large packages. We are starting this year strong with over $500,000 in new business awards for January. We are investigating value-adding strategies like kitting and we are constantly re-assessing our pricing to get as competitive as possible. Our account managers in Outside Sales, Andy and Milo, are getting on the road more and more. We are updating our website in Q1 and looking into expanding our advertising campaigns. We are hoping to add a third outside sales person toward the end of the year in order to continue to bring in more work. There are many improvements to be made and we are committed to making them happen.

Department Spotlight – Quality Control

By Nick DePompolo

 

1: What are you most looking forward to in the coming year for your department at Fastco?

Coming into the New Year, Fastco’s QC team is excited to focus our efforts on the production of in spec parts. Our plan of attack is relatively simple, have a larger presence on the floor. To achieve this we have increased our layer process audits to 4 per week per QC employee. Three of these audits will be parts audits and at least one has to be a process audit. Audits above and beyond the mandatory four audits a weeks will be incentivized through a mini game. The details of this mini game are still under construction. Another exciting development is the redirection of our SPC coordinator- Julie Colvin’s- efforts. In the last couple years the SPC coordinator position has taken on the four hour checks on the floor. The 4 hour checks will be put back under cold headings responsibility. This will allow Julie to free roam and complete inspection audits increasing the overall amount inspections happening on the floor.

 

2. What are the biggest challenges that your department is facing? How can other areas support you in these challenges?

One of the biggest challenges our department has faced is the recent turnover. A new quality supervisor (me) was added. In addition, we will losing a key employee- Amber Letter- to Sales after the IATF audit. The knowledge lost in the shuffle is a challenge but is something that will make us stronger as a team. Everyone has stepped up and done their part to make the transition easier. As the New Year progresses and we all settle in our new positions or newly defined roles things should settle back down. With the shuffle also comes opportunity. Our team is always looking for ways to improve. If anyone has any ideas for new quality controls, how to improve old ones, or anything you think will aid in the production of quality parts please share them.

Another big challenge is the reduction of COPQ. Recently we have had an increase in issues that should have been prevented by standard inspections. The QC team will be doing more audits in the coming year to hopefully decrease these occurrences. Matt Warner will also increase the frequency of the COPQ training based off recent quality issue. The goal would be to provide education and awareness around issues that could be prevented. Another tool at our disposal is the use of corrective actions. Accountability is important along with finding and correcting broken processes. Everyone at Fastco can help by following their procedures and checking parts per the control plan and the PLEX time schedule. The more eyes we have on parts the less quality issues we will have.

 

3. What improvements are you hoping to see in 2025?

The two biggest improvements the QC team would like to see is the reduction of COPQ and the increase in communication. COPQ is completely preventable and a drag on profit. We need to focus on catching the issue in the containment pan before the tub gets contaminated. Once a defect makes it into the tub the cost skyrockets. Our hope is with the increased inspections and the overall presence on the floor we can start impacting that number. We would like to create a culture of quality and pride in the parts we produce. As we move to an employee owned company this will become more important than ever.

Communication is something else we can improve on. From the QC perspective our goal is to decrease our response time to RRT’s. The aim here would be to close the feedback loop as quickly and accurately as possible. The faster we can determine a solution, the faster the machine can start running parts again. More machine time will result in more productivity and ultimately more profit.

Tool Room Scoreboards and More!

By Tom Fredricks

The current scoreboard measurement for the Tool Rooms is quantity of tooling produced. By focusing on tooling numbers, we are doing our best to ensure tooling is always ready and available for header repairs. This allows for the quickest return of the tooling to the header when something breaks. That creates less downtime due to tooling on the headers which means more parts produced and more money coming in to Fastco. We as a team are very excited about the changes being made within the organization of Fastco and are very excited to see how this will affect the upcoming year.

One of the biggest challenges we face as a department is working through some of the more problematic or complicated jobs on the header floor with header personnel and engineering. This often times requires tooling changes. There has been a great deal of teamwork between departments to help achieve the targeted results necessary. These are very exciting times at Fastco and we are excited to be a part of it.

 

Logistics Spotlight

By TaShawn Mack

In 2025, I’m looking forward to enhancing efficiency and operational excellence in our logistics processes. My focus is on reducing downtime, improving scheduling accuracy, and optimizing resource utilization to ensure timely and cost‐effective delivery of customer orders. For the company as a whole, I’m excited to contribute to initiatives that enhance customer satisfaction and drive profitability, such as improved inventory management and streamlined supplier relationships. These changes will position us to handle increasing demand while maintaining service quality.

While we handle many challenges effectively within our team, the biggest issue is the lack of a centralized system that connects all parts of the operation, both within our department and with other areas of the company. For example, material handlers rarely interact with the distribution team, and there is limited visibility into how logistics connects with production or sales. This disconnect makes it harder to see the full picture, which can result in misaligned priorities and inefficiencies. Other areas can help by fostering stronger collaboration between logistics and other areas, like production and sales, through better communication channels or cross‐functional meetings, which we have already started to do.

We are aiming for operational improvements, particularly in how we consolidate materials for shipping. By improving shipment consolidation, we can reduce redundant trips, optimize freight costs, and maximize truckload utilization, directly contributing to improved cost efficiency and bottom‐line savings. These changes will enhance our departmentʹs ability to support profitability goals while maintaining high service standards.

A Brief History Of Quality

By Jesse Brasseur

 

Resources were limited in Japan in the 1940s due to World War II.  During that time Japanese motor companies Mitsubishi, who built the zero planes for the Japanese army, and Toyota, who built the vehicles for the Japanese army, came together to form the original Quality Management System based on 2 very simple principles:

 

1. Don’t create waste.
2. Don’t spend money unless you absolutely have to.

 

After the war, both companies nearly shut down.  So Toyota doubled down and developed the Toyota Production System Manual.  The TPSM is an airtight system that has a requirement for literally everything.  I used the TPSM when I worked for Futaba Indiana of America as a Quality Team Leader in Stamping. Futaba was a tier 2 company that  built the majority of the frame components and instrument reinforcement panels that Toyota installs.  I learned some basic principles that I’ll be working with Nick DePompelo and the rest of the team to implement.

 

After the second world war, the International Standardization Organization was founded in London to have standards for rebuilding the country, who saw constant bombing and turmoil.  In the 1970s and 1980s, American automotive companies were losing a ton of revenue to the Japanese companies.  American automotive quality was basically the wild west, with no rules to govern it.  So they looked over at Toyota’s Manual and started copying it.  They then worked with ISO and the Society of Automotive Engineers to create the first ISO Automotive playbook, based in Toyota’s already used standards.  Years later in 1996, the International Automotive Task Force was founded, and in 1999 they created IATF 16949, which is a list of procedures an automotive company should use to govern themselves.

 

And here we are today using these standards as a result of the second world war. I look forward to working with the Quality Team and discussing some of the standards that I learned and potentially implementing them.

 

Interesting facts about Toyota-  Toyota is the largest Automotive Manufacturer in the world, and if you buy a Toyota in America, it was completely assembled in America.  No other Automotive Manufacturer in America can make that claim.

Maintenance Team Metrics

As part of the Maintenance team’s efforts to improve, they have included the following metrics on their team scoreboards:

• Completing repair requests within three days,
• Completing planned repair requests on a monthly basis, and
• tracking repair and maintenance spending monthly.

These metrics help keep production running and help profitability of the company as well.

I’m looking forward to getting more frontline workers involved in company decisions. It is great to see the success that Great Game of Business can bring to our company.

Talking with the team, they often struggle with going out on repairs and talking with some of the newer employees about repair request put in for preventable issues. As much as possible and practical, the team would like to see some of the newer employees lean on some of the senior employees when struggling with a machine issue prior to getting maintenance involved.

We appreciate everything that the teams at Fastco do to support us as we work to support production.

by Steve Kowalczyk, Facility Manager

Distribution and Customer Service Team Scoreboards

The Distribution and Customer Service teams chose three major areas to focus on for our scoreboard. These include:

• Percentage of on time shipments for orders with stock on hand,
• Number of errors made by Customer Service, and
• Time it takes to process finished goods into inventory.

On-Time Shipments

We felt the focus of on time shipment for in-stock orders was important to the company as a whole as it was the best way to ensure we as a team didn’t leave any possible revenue on the table in terms of shipments going out the door as quickly as possible.  It has brought more attention and planning to upcoming shipments each week, and will shine a spotlight on any weak areas within our control that could inadvertently delay a shipment from going out on time.

Customer Service Errors

Customer Service felt that the best way the team could impact profitability was to track order-entry errors. In tracking errors, we hope to avoid them, therefore ensuring we do not cause extra unnecessary costs due to things like an incorrect ship date or quantity in PLEX. Entry of a wrong part number for a spot buy, which could cause parts that aren’t needed to be built and then likely not sold, etc.  Almost any error in accuracy of interpretation or entry of our orders could cause costly mistakes to Fastco, directly impacting our profit.

 

Efficiency in moving Finished Goods to Inventory

Lastly, our team wanted to track our current efficiency in the process of moving finished goods into inventory, starting with unloading the skids from our truck into the appropriate inventory aisles, and then the process of verifying skids, putting them into the racks and updating that inventory into PLEX.  The team had some ideas for possible ways to improve the efficiency of this process overall. Therefore, we wanted to track our actions to have a baseline for our current methods. Hopefully, this will bring more awareness to how we do things to see if our ideas made sense.

 

Challenges Faced in Distribution and Customer Service

As a small crew at full force, absences, especially unexpected ones, can have a huge impact on our team.  Luckily we have some awesome team members. They pull together to get the job done no matter our staffing situation.  Our team just worked through three months of being down to just three people pulling, prepping and shipping our orders.  I’m extremely proud of how they worked together to get the job done!  Especially when short-handed, we need support from other teams to give us as much notice as possible for shipment needs and make sure PLEX orders are as up to date as possible. That way, we know what we need each day.

Looking Ahead

We are excited for the changes  our progress into the GGOB and the weekly huddles has brought to our team and Fastco as a whole.  You can feel the shift in the energy, the mindset and the awareness that these huddles have provided.  We love hearing everyone’s questions. Seeing the thought, effort, and collaboration of working through these questions has been so encouraging.  We can’t wait to see where we are year from now!

by Emily Bradfield, Customer Service & Distribution Team Leader