GCTR

 I have learned so much during my tenure at GCTR. I feel like I have become a better person, a better leader and a better friend.  I have learned so much about people and what it means to be honest.  I have learned so much about myself.  I have learned what my negative predisposition is and I have made progress toward addressing it when it reappears

I am so proud of the many obstacles we have overcome.  The financial difficulty that faced us in 2010 seemed almost insurmountable, yet here we are in 2013 seeing signs of actual trust from our vendors and hearing positive reports from our employee’s concerning vendors.  This has been a big deal.  We faced our employees when they were irritated with our inability to pay our vendors in a timely manner and we explained things to them in such a way that kept them from jumping ship from fear of financial instability.  We made tough phone calls to our vendors and explained our situation and let them down and worked to re-establish relationships with them.  We have stood our ground and made tough calls concerning many things, accepted responsibility for those calls and worked hard to repair relationships after tough calls were made. 

We have struggled and fought to establish cost analysis and business case evaluations.  When I look at the Gross Profit numbers for Pressure Technology and Repair, I am reminded of the battles and frustration we faced as we fought to make GCTR profitable.  No longer do we chase every business idea that presents; now we analyze the opportunity and make sound business decisions based on fact.  Only three or four people realize what a difficult transition that has been. 

We developed a culture for GCTR.  We developed a Vision for GCTR and we developed core values for GCTR.  In 2010, decisions were being made on a whim and our identity was very loosely defined.  After building an incredible reputation thru word of mouth based on superior customer service, it was time to define who GCTR really was.  We struggled mightily in the beginning to define ourselves but now, in the end, we are confident in whom we are and we have managed to make that confidence a part of every one of our employees. We know that employees, customers and vendors have a choice and we are committed to being that choice.

We developed an identity for GCTR.  In 2010, we were a small rental company without much presence.  Today we have an identity.  An identity that is stable and professional.  We have placed branding where it needs to be.  This was a huge job.  Create Branding and then apply that Brand to everything that is GCTR.  We are now recognizable and our presence is professional, clean and easily recognizable.  All of our documents are branded, our vehicles are branded, and our buildings are branded. 

GCTR always cared for their employees and wanted them to be taken care of.  No one could ever accuse the shareholders of being greedy but we were able to create a benefit package, a review package and a pay scale that is commensurate with the industry.  We were able to give our employees a reason to be proud to work for GCTR.  Retirement, improved Health Care coverage, employee manual, loan program, employee assistance, consolidated payroll and reporting, Christmas bonus program, employee luncheons, all employee meetings and significant training have all played a role in obtaining and retaining some of the best employees in the industry.  GCTR was always Loyal to their employees but now that loyalty is definable. 

This makes me begin to think about the employees we had in 2010 and compare them to the employees we have now:

We had drivers in 2010.  We had to determine how to create a better presence in front of our customers without the added cost of a salesman.  We got rid of the drivers that were incapable of representing and now we have Customer Service Reps who drive…big difference.

We promoted Lalo to Repair Manager.  It was a good decision.  We worked very hard to train and assist Benny and eventually we replaced him.  It was a good decision.  We worked hard to train Jason Bearce and eventually replaced him.  This was an upgrade.  I think of Blake, a young kid with very little direction.  I look at him now; shows up for work on time, has promoted twice and has developed two levels in his current position.  I think about Sarah, Cheryl, Cynthia, Mike, Heron, Will, Erick; all employees who have experienced significant growth because of the opportunities afforded and the environment created. This takes time and significant effort.  All of the foundation that must be developed to determine the “correct seats on the bus, develop a plan for those seats and then fill them with the right people has been significant”.

I think about cleaning up the mess that was Rental.  We were able to remove a guy who was not working, stealing from us and not taking care of his business.  I remember the pile of paperwork that he left and I think about what our Rental Division looks like now.  We have established Processes and Procedures that work, Workflow and forms that work, employees that are happy and we hired a manager that no one wanted and he has proven to be invaluable to us. We now make wise purchasing decisions in our Rental Division, we have opened our retail area and it looks amazing.  Our Rental Division has been upgraded at every position; we went from a Manager and a Driver to a Manager, Inside Sales Rep, Warehouseman, Rental Repair Technician and a Driver.  It took time to remove the employees that were not willing to catch our Vision but I am so proud to say, we accomplished it. It took time to evaluate who we are and develop an identity.  We now know who we are, we go out and sell our identity with confidence and we have the personnel to back that confidence.  We had a huge amount of paperwork and invoicing that was not managed correctly.  We had inventory all over the place and no idea where many of our tools were.  We were purchasing tools for inventory with no consideration of business case.  We have cleaned that up.  We have witnessed a loss in revenue and worked hard to replace the loss and exceed it. 

Purchasing was a mess and while it is not compete yet, we have made significant strides in making it better than it was in 2010.  People were buying at will and there was no collaborative effort to review pricing and/or value.  We have changed that.  We have struggled with our extremely complex supplier situation and although we are not happy with where we are, the truth is that we have made significant strides toward excellence.  We are currently researching what parts we use the most and setting up blanket orders and min/max arrangements for those parts.  In 2010, we couldn’t even define where to get the parts from.  We are in the process of creating Repair software that will automate our entire Repair division including Purchasing.  We have determined that 90% of our parts come from 8-10 sources and we are in the middle of defining the correct vendor to purchase these items from.  In addition, we have established a manual min/max program

Accounting had no direction and reporting was basically non-existent.  Invoicing was relatively accurate but Payables and Receivables were in serious need of direction.  Accounts Payable was a complete mess with no structure whatsoever, expense reporting had to be created, taxes were not being paid properly and confusion prevailed as to who was responsible and accountable for decisions and tasks. We continued to find things that were not being handled as they should be.  We spent time, effort and money to train our Controller and bring him up to speed on what GCTR needed.  In the end, we made the necessary changes there even though it involved lifelong friendships.  We developed a plan and created a mental image of what our Accounting department should look like.  Darren took charge in this area with the intention of carrying out the plan we had devised. At this point, we are very close to having our accounting department performing exactly as it should be. 

The Repair division had no direction.  So many assumptions were being made; most of them were in the 2^nd circle.  All the discussions we had around electrical tools and their significance to our Vision.  I recall so many discussions around Hoist repair and all the opinions about suppliers and the correct way to run a repair division.  Hours and hours spent discussing technicians and purchasing and tool tracking and cost and profit.  Those discussions and that work have produced a definition of the role our Repair Division plays in the overall Vision of GCTR.  We now know that electrical tools may be required to gain access to the more profitable repairs.  We know that software is necessary to track tools, parts and productivity and we have developed a plan to accomplish this.  We have determined what the pricing structure should be for Hoist repair.  We have promoted a manager in this division and while he is not finished learning, he is completely on board with our Vision and he is eager to learn every day.  We recognized a problem with parts and developed a plan to fix it.  A new secure parts room, a dedicated parts employee, work orders to track parts and tools, an acknowledgement system to make sure customers know we have their tools and follow-up system to let them know when to expect tools.  A completely revised tool workflow system that allows us to be much more efficient in turnaround time.  Most of all, a pricing structure that allows our Repair division to be profitable.

Fluid technology was losing money every time it sold a pump.  We have developed the ability to more accurately track actual cost and we have increased prices (which was very difficult).  We have worked to make this division accountable for parts and workflow.  We have struggled to develop processes and procedures that would assist in under promising and over delivering to our customers.  We have established a process for quoting to our customers.  We discussed, planned and completed the Hertz filter/regulator program.  We designed and produced literature and a website for this division.  We struggled to remove the motorcycle shop from our facility so that some employees would concentrate on GCTR business and not be distracted. 

 

We had numerous contracts that were entered into without proper due diligence and we have worked to clean those up and reduce expenses in the company.  Reviewing these contracts and exploring new opportunities takes time.  We had to replace an existing I/T Support provider that was a personal friend.  This was difficult and it took time to develop I/T support that would work properly for a company our size.  We have accomplished that while upgrading our entire network.  Upgrading the network requires time and finances.  Our I/T network is working great and the support system established is excellent.

There were many loose ends with International Tool.  We have cleaned them up.  We were paying rent on a warehouse full of stuff that we were not using.  We cleaned that up.  We had contracts that were still assigned to IT and we went thru the tedious process of cleaning that up.  This included combining accounting from the two entities.

Our facilities have been upgraded, organized and cleaned to a point of pride.  We have organized the warehouse and developed a mentality of “everything has a place and everything in its place”.  We have completed the Rental Center, built a parts room, upgraded air and electrical, reorganized the warehouse, added parking, built an additional building, organized our parking areas and storage areas, developed and executed plans to handle new business (such as Bechtel containers)

As part of the Vision created, we expanded to Beaumont by purchasing an existing company there.  The negotiations, the structure of the agreement and the transition have been monumental.  In addition, we were very surprised, after closing, to learn that everything had not been disclosed.  We have developed a plan for this, made some very difficult decisions and we are now set-up for success in this new area.  We have also targeted the Corpus Christi area for expansion.  Just recently we have made inroads into being able to open a facility there. 

Working with our current Quickbooks issues has been daunting.  Balancing the issue of arriving at the correct solution (while being concerned with cost) and trying to keep frustrated employees motivated to continue working with a system that is less than satisfactory is a difficult task.  It looks like we may have finally found the correct solution. 

When we started in 2010, corporate documents were not being filed correctly, there was no buy/sale agreement, there was no insurance coverage for partners or executives.  We set-up structure and legal documents, secured Corporate representation and started following the correct procedures for corporations.