The average business out there is stuck in a world of sameness. So what do you do when your a business, a supply house, a distributor that has the same products, the same widgets, the same pipe, valves, and fittings as the guy down the street? Defining that compelling value proposition that gives the customer [...]

The culture of APR Supply can be summed up by president and CEO Scott Weaver s response to the company receptionist when she asked Scott, how is day was going. Scott s reply: One north of fantastic. This mindset has embedded itself deep into the culture of APR Supply, and more than a platitude or play on [...]

At APR Supply, their visioning process begins with a goal to double the size of the business every five years. As I talk with APR president and CEO, Scott Weaver he explains both the why and the how of achieving the goal. They use a five-year time horizon around which he and the other six [...]

Rod Fallow, president of Swagelok Northern California believes his primary responsibility as a leader is to create a relevant and compelling future that every employee can rally around. In our first episode with Rod, we spoke about that future he envisions. In this episode we explore the effective leadership processes and tools that have been [...]

Swagelok, a $1.8 billion company with 20 manufacturing facilities around the world operates under the One Swagelok business model which includes an exclusive relationship with it s distributors – authorized sales and service centers. In this episode I talk with Rod Fallow, President of Swagelok Northern California about this unique model. The exclusivity at first sounds [...]

When many distributors struggle in defining their real value, Rod Fallow, president of Swagelok Northern California believes that it is a real, intense, and deep focus on the customer where significant value and innovation begins. While their product catalog is full of high quality and reliable fluid system products like filters, fittings, hoses, quick connects [...]

While there are many unique and innovative aspects of Swagelok Northern California s, culture, one jumps out at you very soon after arriving at this Fremont California based industrial distributor. You go into most organizations, and if there are portraits of individuals on the walls, more often than not, these pictures are of the founder of [...]

What would it take to become your customer s favorite story? At Swagelok Northern California, Becoming Our Customer s Favorite Story is not only their stated vision, it has become embedded into the day to day actions of every employee. As Rod Fallow, President of Swagelok Northern California will tell us, the world, our businesses, and our [...]

Let s start with the end. In the end, what makes the difference between a good company and a great company is leadership. The ultimate success of a department, a region, an operations the success of your company comes down to you. It s leader. Leadership makes the difference. In this episode, Todd Talbot, president of [...]

So what do you think about value engineering? It s just one topic that Todd Talbot, president of Fluidmaster and I explore as we dig into this innovative company s business model. You see, we both agree that too many use the term value engineering as code for I m going to cross reference a product number and [...]