Blog posts tagged with 'Excellence in Customer Service'

It is our pledge to our customers that you are never surprised at the end of a project. We will confirm our anticipated delivery schedule at time of order acceptance. If something occurs to change that anticipated delivery schedule, your project manager will contact you to make sure you are aware of any scheduling changes. Many of our return customers come back to us due to our unparalleled customer service and communication. One customer recently told Albina management that they have used other benders in the past and will only use Albina moving forward. Never had they been so well informed throughout the production process. Albina provided answers to questions before the questions were even asked. Another example of customer service is our automated shipping notifications. The morning after an order ships, Albina sends an email informing the customer of the method of shipment and tracking number if available. This will allow our customers the ability to track their shipment as soon as it hits the road. Also included with this email are any MTR’s, if required, so the customer doesn’t have to wait for these critical reports to arrive with the shipment. Our customers have the reports (electronically) even before receiving their shipment. We know that customers rely on the information we provide and make plans based on the information we provide. We strive to meet or exceed every customers wants and needs.

We recently supplied rolled tubes for the Jimi Hendrix Park project in Seattle, Washington. The customer was so pleased with the rolled tubes that they received that they reached out to us to let us know. "We are currently in fabrication, we are looking at an install at the end of March. I will first say that the rolled tubes are exactly correct in terms of radius. You are experts at your craft and it shows." Remember that there is a price and a cost associated with every purchasing decision. Do not chose the lowest initial price or you may deal with excessive and unanticipated costs throughout the project. [caption id="attachment_1104" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rolled Tubes for Jimi Hendrix Park Seattle, WA.[/caption]

It seems that during this time of uncertainty in the US Economy, we are returning the 2008 trend where consumers make purchasing decisions based solely on price. If you chose the lowest price, you are opening yourself up to many more "costs" that are not necessarily represented in the quoted price. It might seem like a risk to purchase from a supplier that isn't the "lowest price." The rewards are greater than the risk. What is important to you? Do you want to receive the correct parts the first time? On-time delivery? Communication throughout your project? Proper documentation? Billing Procedures? The price of a competitor might be below ours, but when you add up all of the actual costs to receive and install the material, is there really a cost savings? If you chose the lowest price, you may deal with late delivery, poor quality or incorrect parts and a lack of or delayed communication. If you choose the lowest price, you will get what you pay for.

As 2016 comes to a close, we take a look back on some of the improvements we have made as a company to help better service the steel industry and our customer base. Equipment and tooling upgrades to increase capacities and product offerings. We added two new rotary draw benders, a 6" Coast Wallace with a carriage assist and overhead clamp.and a Pines #6 with a customized back boost, to our current inventory of equipment. We plan to fully tool these pieces of equipment allowing us to offer countless new radii options for our customers growing needs and demanding lead times. Shop floor redesign to maximize workflow efficiency and utilization of space. Before our new machines arrived, we completely restructured our shop allowing us to group similar machines in common areas. The result is improved material flow, increased production, and more efficient production. Welcomed Stu Hasman as an additional Regional Director of Sales. We are confident Stuart's commitment to quality, customer service and his integrity will make him a valuable resource as our company and your business continue to grow. Energy Efficient Lighting in Shop & Office. Solar Panel project coming in 2017. As Albina Co., Inc. continues to try to reduce our carbon footprint and be environmentally conscience, we completely retrofitted our entire production shop and office facility with energy efficient lighting this year. We are examining the potential to add solar panels on the South side of our building roof to reduce power consumption in early 2017.

We follow-up with our customers after every job to make sure they were happy with their buying experience and the quality of the bent steel, as well as to simply say "Thank You for the work." We love feedback as we strive to make improvements every day in our in-office and shop procedures and processes. After following up on a recent job at Worthy Brewing in Bend, OR., we received the following response "It is us that is thanking you! The channels worked out great, and everyone is thrilled with the look. This is definitely one of the coolest structural projects I have had. You guys pride yourself in your workmanship, and that makes it so much easier on our end when we start with a quality product. Thanks again for the top shelf service."

I wanted to share a story from a customer whom we recently completed a job for. The customer found us through the internet and was impressed with our web page layout because it showed that we do architectural work. He said working with the team at Albina was a "great experience." "This project was textbook from beginning to end. Once it arrived in Seattle it was installed within an hour. Albina's timing was unbelievable. We have another job coming up where the bent pipes need to be perfect and clean and strong as it has coils going through and it can't be crushed. Once the project is ready for release, Albina will be my first phone call." Most of the customers' work is done in the DC area so he thought shipping might be a problem on the upcoming job. We have a lot of customers on the East Coast and we have the ability to combine shipments which helps to keep the costs down. Don't let shipping be a deterrent.

The newly renovated Broadway Bridge opened a few weeks ago in Boise, Idaho. The General Contractor determined, at the end of the project, that the detailer had left off a couple of pieces. We rolled and galvanized the steel and sent the finished product over night to meet the bridge opening requirements. You can read more about the details of the bridge renovation here.

The following comments from our happy customers demonstrate the very reason that people should not make purchasing decisions based solely on price, especially when buying a product that requires precision and quality like curved steel. "We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Albina employees for their professionalism and expedited efforts that it took to perform their part in the bending and fabrication of the required tube assemblies. With the efforts of the Albina team, the fabricator was able to accomplish the expedited schedule that end customer required. We would like to mention that the customer was very happy with the work that Albina performed and commented that they have more projects they plan on sending our way. We look forward to working with you in the future." "The entire staff at Albina has been excellent to work with and up front and honest in the work that that was performed. I thank you and the Albina crew for setting the standard. I look forward to the next project that we get to send your way." Remember that there is a price and a cost associated with every job. The price of a competitor might be below ours, but when you add up all of the actual costs to receive and install the material, is there really a cost savings? If you chose the lowest price, you may deal with late delivery, poor quality or incorrect parts and a lack of or delayed communication. If you choose the lowest price, you will get what you pay for.

Our office team is simply the best in the steel bending business! Each member of our Sales and Estimating team has longevity, experience and knowledge of the steel bending industry. We take great pride in our ability to quote jobs and manage them from beginning to end. We focus on communication, communication, communication! Our Quality Control and Equipment Maintenance teams ensure quality bent steel products and well-kept, high performing machines. Our shipping department focuses on combining long haul loads to keep costs down and we use dependable shippers with safe driving records. Our Accounting team makes doing business with Albina Co., Inc. a positive and seamless experience due to our extreme attention to detail and streamlined accounting processes. Our Executive Staff keeps our office running smoothly and focuses on customer support and getting people the answers they need in a timely manner. Our team is committed to working hard, working together and working efficiently to get the job done and to meet our customers’ needs on EVERY job, big or small! [caption id="attachment_955" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Albina Co., Inc. Office Team[/caption]

Most of our steel bending production crew members have been at Albina for a majority of their careers. Our crew has a great working relationship. Having employees who have been here for a number of years and look out for each other, makes a lot of safe combined experience which definitely feeds into the quality work we do on all our projects. Our production crew takes pride in their work as they are continuously repairing and improving equipment, keeping the shop clean and uncluttered to further improve job set up, tear down and production time. [caption id="attachment_943" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Production Crew at Albina Co., Inc.[/caption]