Contractor Packages 5 Keys to Growth
Accel shares the principles it used to grow from a tiny studio to a company with a worldwide reach.
Growing a business and staying successful require a full palette of skills and strengths. As many business owners know, the self-starting, risk-taking entrepreneur who launches a new business idea must also be able to perpetuate that growth as her business scales up and requires more comprehensive processes and procedures.
I believe that long-term success requires staying true to your vision and competitive strengths, understanding your clients' changing needs, and nurturing a creative yet disciplined environment for your people.
At Accel, we value the art and science of contract packaging--combining consistently compelling presentation and engineering efficiencies to assemble and deliver packaged goods that enhance our clients' sales and boost their bottom lines. To make that happen, we must constantly challenge ourselves externally to know our clients' marketplace, and internally to nurture the talented engineers, designers, quality managers and various other operational roles to ensure we exceed our clients' expectations on every project.
In honor of our 15th anniversary, I would like to share five key success strategies that have enabled Accel Inc. to grow from a tiny studio to a 580,000-square-foot company serving the Fortune 500:
- Stay grounded to your core competencies. Don't cut yourself off from your roots. Whether a company is enjoying expansion or tightening its belt, staying true to core business strengths is essential to ongoing success.
I have seen many entrepreneurs who have been tempted to diversify too far from their strengths--and who lost credibility with the client when they couldn't deliver. It is much more strategic to diversify in areas that complement your brand and that one thing you do better than anyone else.
For Accel, our key strength is hand assembly. We find the most efficient, economical way to put items together in a gift set, thermoformed package, health-care kit or other package presentation is by hand. (Thermoforming is a manufacturing process where a plastic sheet is heated to a pliable forming temperature, formed to a specific shape in a mold, and trimmed to create a usable product.)
Hand assembly is what we do best. So when we grow our business, it's by expanding our capabilities to support that function. For example, we may purchase a new piece of equipment or add value by helping clients source their containers or packaging materials. This strategy allows us to offer end-to-end services but stay true to our contract packaging and assembly heritage.
- Build on your strengths with innovation and flexibility. As a retail-oriented contract packaging company, Accel Inc. had to be innovative in addressing clients' needs as a result of the retail buying freeze in late 2008. In an effort to diversify and grow--but stay true to core strengths--Accel developed a system to receive and inventory one client's "marked out-of-stock" apparel and accessories and hand-sort them to be sold to discount sell-off merchandisers.
Because Accel's engineers designed the process to be automated with the use of computer inventories and conveyors to move the apparel to the different sorting stations, the first sort performed by Accel was 25 percent faster than the client's previous projects. The bulk of Accel's business is seasonal, with an emphasis on preparation for the winter holidays. This new capability leads to additional business throughout the year within the industry because the sell-off projects occur after traditional retail seasons.
We've become adept at building flexibility into our processes on the front end. That isn't easy to achieve because once you develop an internal process to accommodate a client's need, by nature you try to apply that process to improve efficiency across the board. Inevitably, however, Mr. New Client walks in with a completely different need, and we have to decide whether to alter the current process or create an entirely new one.
Our staffing model is a perfect example of a flexible process we have created that helps us remain cost-competitive for our clients. By partnering with local temporary agencies, we have the ability to tailor our work force to our project load. - Put yourself in the shoes of your client. I started out as a merchant for Bath & Body Works. When I couldn't obtain flawless production and quality for our promotional gift sets from contract packagers, I decided to launch a business that would deliver just that, and Accel Inc. was born.
Since then, I have worked to maintain that client perspective, and I believe it has been extremely beneficial in designing new services for our clients.
While many companies say they serve their clients, it takes ongoing discipline to think from your clients' point of view. What do they need vs. what you are selling? For example, we are proud of the artistry we use in designing packages that display our clients' products to great advantage. Yet our real "win" with clients was figuring out how to package products so that associates in retail locations could take them from the shipping box to the shelves without wasting time unwrapping miles of bubble wrap. Accel's engineers figured out a way to maintain quality, reduce packing waste and eliminate unpacking time for salespeople by using a hot-air shrink-wrap. By doing that, we free sales associates to get back on the floor to accomplish what our clients really want: to sell their products.
- Treat your employees as well as you treat your customers. From the beginning, Accel Inc. has developed best practices to cultivate and retain talented employees. In the mid-1990s, we were an early mover in creating a diverse workplace--with associates from every continent (except Antarctica), 11 different languages spoken in-house and policies established to respect each culture. Muslim employees have a place for prayer, and Accel celebrates the Chinese New Year annually.
We also leverage technology to create a welcoming workplace. We developed an employee information system for a handheld device. The handheld device puts the employee's information at Accel's fingertips, so the labor manager can welcome the employee warmly and direct him or her based on the worker's previous experience. The manager will take additional time with first-time employees, ensuring that they know where to go and with whom they will be working. Sometimes we have more than 500 employees working in the production area. The device allows us to recognize people by name and work history and gives us an opportunity to make a personal connection first thing in the morning, leading to a more engaged--and productive--team.
Another benefit of flexibility is how it can create a "win-win" employee connection. Many of our part-time or contract employees are grateful for the flexibility--they may have family or other obligations that preclude full-time work but appreciate being part of an environment where their skills are known and where they can come back time and again.
- Connect with your community. I am a passionate participant in several philanthropic organizations, including the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus and Ohio Health's HomeReach Hospice Board. I host fundraising events at my home, and Accel Inc. employees participate in community events such as the American Heart Association's Heart Walk. Accel believes that giving back to the community is part of our responsibility as an employer and corporate community member.
Philanthropy shows your clients and employees that you care about a greater good that enhances all of our lives. And at the end of the day, that is what truly defines long-term success.
Tara Abraham is chairman and co-CEO of Accel Inc., which prides itself on providing innovative packaging solutions for the past 15 years.
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