DCS Newsletter | 2020 Has Been A Year of Change and Adaptation
DECEMBER 2020 | By Jimmy Crawford
It’s only been a few months since I was in front of DCS’s brand new trade show booth, talking to customers at the PCI show. But now it seems like worlds away.
DCS was exhibiting for the first time in many years at the show in our own booth. We had recently learned that our color was used in 10 out of 14 of the award winners in the PCI Design Awards.
The year was off to a great start. Our company was engaged in new product development, significant equipment installations, and undertaking a variety of other projects.
Then COVID-19 hit.
The Value of Customer/Supplier Partnerships
Throughout it all, our top priorities have been protecting the safety of our employees, serving the needs of our customers and continuing to deliver on the promise we make to all our customers -- to be the best pigment supplier in the construction market.
We’ve all had to alter the way we do business. Tough times sure shine a light on the value of strong customer/vendor partnerships. We’ve worked harder than ever to try to get customers what they need when they need it. Despite an increase in lead time of as much as 300% from vendors and freight carriers, DCS has continued to deliver on time and on budget. A big part of making that happen is the great communication we have with our customer partners.
A New Website and More
One thing DCS has done in response to the changed business environment is to significantly expand and upgrade our website. We want you to be able to find the information you need quickly and easily.
Beyond that, we want the website to be a place to find creative solutions and to view examples of our color in a variety of great projects. You can find more details about how our website came together later in this newsletter.
We’ve also started the e-newsletter you’re reading now and begun a series of case studies, “The Case for DCS.” In both of these, we will highlight our customers, shine a spotlight on our amazing employees, show off new developments here at DCS and share various innovative color solutions. In addition to all of the above, we’ve updated our printed resource material.
Tell Us About Your Projects
By this point, I hope you’ve gathered that, now more than ever, we’re shining a light on you -- our customers -- and the many interesting and creative ways you put our color solutions to work.
So, if you have a project you’re proud of, send it our way so we can feature it on the website or in a case study.
We’ll continue to do whatever we can to meet your needs during these challenging times. Please stay safe. Our hearts go out to our customers, families and friends directly impacted by COVID.
We Will Miss You, Tom Kelley
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t include a brief tribute to a titan of the precast industry who we lost recently. Tom Kelley was a legend in the industry and I was lucky to be able to call him my friend.
Cathy Higgins, our vice president of sales & marketing, has known and been friends with Tom for over 30 years. I was fortunate to meet Tom in Chicago at PCI Committee Days back in October 2013. Cathy and I gave Tom a ride from our meetings in downtown Chicago out to the suburbs for a charity event for the PCI Foundation. I had only been in the industry for about six months, so I had no idea what an honor I had been blessed with. It was like I was riding with the Michael Jordan of the precast industry and I didn’t even know it! In the Chicago traffic, we talked for over an hour and I was struck by how magnetic his personality was.
Since that first meeting, Tom, Cathy and I got together numerous times at various PCI events and at Gage’s plant in Sioux Falls. I will cherish those memories for the rest of my life.
Everyone at DCS sends their thoughts and prayers to Tom’s family and Gage Brothers.
Tom’s funeral was held at Gage Brother’s new plant outside Sioux Falls, SD. A tribute to Tom has been posted on Gage’s website, link attached.