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SERVICE CENTER EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR 2000 Alro Steel Corp.'s Al Glick An ardent University of Michigan Wolverines fan, Al Glick uses the school's football philosophies to inspire his business. Based on Alro Steel Corp.'s robust record of growth, its embrace of new technologies, its unfailing devotion to customer service and its founder's strong reputation for leadership and integrity, Metal Center News has selected Alro Chairman Al Glick as its Service Center Executive of the Year 2000. Each year, MCN bestows this honor on an individual whose career and business strategies represent a model for the rest of the industry. Glick's accomplishments are reflected in Alro's 97 percent on-time performance for deliveries, numerous quality awards from major customers, its expansion of product lines and value-added services, and its strong growth through acquisitions and greenfield startups.
"We had great people when I first started, and we have a lot of great people now. Without them, we wouldn't have a chance," Glick says, adding, "This hasn't been a one-man show." But in a sense, it has. As a leader, one couldn't ask for better than Glick. He's a born salesman with tremendous energy and drive, more than enough for a man half his age (he's 74), and his zeal for the business is evident by the twinkle in his eyes. The Business Eighty-seven percent of Alro's revenues come from metal sales, 5 percent from toll processing, 6 percent from industrial products and 2 percent from plastics. Purchasing magazine reported Alro's 1999 revenues at $375 million, but recent acquisitions and increased sales should push that into the $400 million range this year. "Our sales growth has been steady since 1981," Glick says. Alro's fiscal year ended May 31 saw revenues increase slightly over the prior year, and Glick estimates sales this fiscal year will improve 2 to 3 percent. Alro Group serves about 20,000 customers from 44 facilities in 12 states, four of which are Alro Industrial Supply branches and three of which are Alro Plastics locations. The rest are metal centers. The company employs about 1,400 people. "On average, we do 9,000 line items a day," Glick says, or about 180,000 line items per month. The average line item costs $208. Alro sells into many market segments. "There's no way we know how much goes into each industry," says Glick. Customers include screw machine shops, machining and fabrication shops, tool and die shops and machine tool builders, plus OEMs such as those that make lawn furniture, industrial sweepers, car wash equipment, medical equipment, conveyor systems, etc. "Obviously, being in Michigan, automotive is a very strong part of our business. Between the Big Three, however, the total is only 7 percent." For the Big Three, Alro's primary role is to deliver maintenance, repair and operations supplies to assembly plants around the country, as well as to Tier I and II automotive suppliers. "We keep the plants running," Glick says. "We're very strong in MRO, but we're getting stronger in production all the time." As the U.S. economy slows, Alro is boosting its value-added capabilities. "With that, we anticipate selling more products and services to our existing customers and gaining new customers. If our strategy is right, our sales should continue to rise." page 2 As
youngsters,
Bob and Al Glick enjoyed baseball, bowling and golf. In spite of
nine years' difference in their ages, the brothers were always close.
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IT'S
GOOD!
The
son of a scrap dealer, Glick founded his Jackson, Mich.-based company
in 1948 in response to the post-war steel shortage. "The Alro name
comes from the first two letters of my name and of my brother Robert's.
Robert was never active in the company, but when I started I was
very young and naïve and didn't know what I was doing, so he counseled
me.