What To Expect When You Partner with Kent Elastomer Products

“Our prospective customers become interested in what we do only after they understand how much we care. Our sales and service team’s mission is to show genuine care and concern for each of our customers’ businesses, no matter the size or scale.”
– Joe Williamson, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Kent Elastomer Products

What’s it like working with Kent Elastomer Products? 

It’s a good question – and while you’re at it, you can also ask, what’s it like working FOR Kent Elastomer Products?

The two questions are directly related. 

A Company Build Around People, For People

To understand how KEP cares about our customers, you should first know how KEP cares about our own employees. 

We have built our company around people – taking care and aligning the people with the right positions. 

How We Choose & Nurture Our Talent

KEP uses the Predictive Index talent optimization platform to nurture employees and build teams that work together and service customers well. This proven method of team building and goal setting recognizes personality types and fits them into the roles and teams where they are best suited.

“This helps us understand behavior,” states Joe Williamson, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “The first step to understanding how to make our customers succeed is helping our own employees thrive.”

Customers can expect your KEP sales and customer service team to be fast-paced, goal-oriented and competitive. According to Predictive Index, this is a Pathfinding team type – seeking win-win solutions that help you gain an advantage over the competition.

Expect the KEP sales team to be bold and honest about asking questions and proposing solutions. Ideas are challenged based on their merit and if there is a way to improve cost, efficiency and productivity – our team is not only encouraged, but required, to pursue these solutions for you.

What Is It Like to Work With Our Sales Team?

Our team’s best practices come from many reputable methodologies. One is Sandler Training, from which we have adopted the Up-Front Contract (UFC). This is a tool that KEP salespeople use to agree with our customers in advance what will take place during meetings.

Customers and prospects receive agendas before (upfront) every meeting that clearly states:

• How much time will be spent
• Your agenda and ours
• Outcome (next steps, if applicable)

The minutes to these meetings are then produced for our customers, but also shared with ALL directors at KEP so that executive leadership is all on the same page.

Customers benefit from this diversity of oversight. This makes the discussion transparent. More importantly, it clearly designates who is responsible for related action items and when they are due. It also gives KEP more opportunities for proactive planning, scheduling and increased efficiencies from all departments.

Your KEP Sales and Service Rep Is Authorized to Get Things Done

KEP employees are trained and trusted. How refreshing it is to deal with professionals who are authorized to make knowledgeable decisions quickly – keeping your processes quick and cost-efficient. 

Expect All the Benefits of KEP “Being the Right Size”

We are nimble enough to respond quickly to customer needs. Unlike organizations with a vast organization chart that entangles and stalls the process to the point of inefficiency, KEP is just the right size to process work, orders and consulting with efficiency. 

We are also fully staffed by experts in their field to offer technical, regulatory and operational consulting. We have also earned quality certifications and registrations for all of the industries we service. 

Count On It – What You Can Expect from KEP

Adaptability

We adapt ALL the time to our clients’ ever-changing needs. In a recent example, a medical manufacturer needed to replace a single component within their device. KEP understands that making a new component is much more than just adapting to new tooling and machine redesign. We also adapted the following processes:

• Operations (workflow)
• Financial (billing)
• Quality (industry compliance)

Smart Sourcing

Customers include us in their regular supply chain meetings. Why? Because the KEP sales and service team will also include our operations and manufacturing leadership, who will leverage information to improve stock, anticipate hikes or decrease in sourcing and other efficiencies. 

Inventory/Distribution

You can expect smart, proactive inventory management when you partner with KEP. We also offer our own in-house inventory management (Kanban) to more than 20 clients – an entire warehouse dedicated to their products which saves time and increases efficiency in stock replenishment. 

Sound Financials

KEP service to customers benefits from our own strong financial foundation. This is due in part to the principled cost accounting approach to our processes. 

“When I look at operation costs,” states Don Leeper, Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration, “I examine how the product is made at every step. By assigning a cost to every detail we are better able to understand what we do and how to improve each step.” 

Customers can expect KEP to share this information with customers. This enables us to confidently point to the cost in every step, material and process detail to support our promise for fair pricing.

KEP’s strong financial acumen also allows us to offer quarterly index pricing, if and when it makes good business sense. In partnership with customer and supplier, we agree on a program to stabilize pricing, thereby stabilizing relationships. We create a quarterly review of our prices. Regardless of materials prices, all three companies then agree to maintain pricing integrity and stability by adjusting our price – increase OR decrease – only on a quarterly basis. 

Efficiency

By committing 100% to Lean practices, KEP operates from three facilities that are pristine showcases of organization and efficiency. Best of all, we have the means to keep prices competitive and consistent. The best illustration is this: KEP used to run all six extrusion lines 24/7. We established Lean – and through increased efficiencies – went on to double our extrusion business while running only two-and-a-half extrusion lines. That’s efficiency – and that’s what customers expect from KEP. 

Proactivity

You can expect KEP to be good observers because we always proactively offer ways to improve processes and increase profits. In one example, a customer followed the lure of lower pricing to manufacture in Mexico. KEP studied their products and processes – conducted an ROI study that convinced the customer to return production to the U.S. – to Kent Elastomer Products.

It’s About Who We Are as Much as What We Do

That’s trust. Our customers have shared with us this story: That when they meet, observe and build relationships with KEP employees, they are reassured that their investment is worth it.