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Article Excerpt
In steel circles, Don McNeeley is considered something of a superman. While working his way up through the ranks to become president and part owner of Chicago Tube & Iron Company, he managed to earn a Ph.D., launch a second career as a university professor, get elected chairman of the industry's top trade association and, incidentally, run 80 marathons.
OF THE MANY HATS HE WEARS both within and outside of Chicago Tube & Iron Company, Don McNeeley says his main responsibility is to stay on the lookout for "points of inflection."
Inflection, according to the dictionary definition, is "a turn from a direct line or course" or "the act or result of curving or bending." In other words, when the economy threw the market a curve during the last recession, McNeeley saw it coming. When the service center business shifted from just breaking bundles to value-added processing, CT&I was already heavy into fabrication.
For his ability to stay ahead of the curve, and in recognition of his many accomplishments, Metal Center News has selected Donald R. McNeeley, president and chief operating officer of Chicago Tube & Iron Company, as the 2006 Service Center Executive of the Year.
Each year, MCN bestows this honor on an individual whose career and business strategies represent a model for the rest of the industry. McNeeley has distinguished himself through his company's strong record of sales growth, a value-added processing strategy that goes far beyond the competency of the typical distributor, and an unfailing devotion to customer service.
On a personal level, he has contributed generously through his volunteer leadership roles with the Metals Service Center institute and other organizations, and has helped many employees better themselves through his financial and inspirational support of ongoing education.
CT&I is a self-described distributor/processor/fabricator with annual revenues projected to top $200 million this year. Specializing in pipe and tube products, it operates 10 locations employing a total workforce of 425. Its primary customers include the construction and fabrication markets, original equipment manufacturers, utilities and the defense industry. The company stocks more than 30,000 line items, annually processing about 192,000 orders and shipping more than 260 million pounds of material.
CT&I supplies pipe and tube for a dizzying array of applications: from serpentine bike racks to parts for the Patriot missile and muzzles of Army tank cannons, pedestal tables at McDonald's restaurants, architectural elements in Chicago's Harold Washington Library, antennae atop the Sears Tower, parts for the Space Shuttle's landing gear, NASCAR rollbars, Weber grills and the foul poles at U.S. Cellular Field, to name a few. The company is also involved in design and engineering for major utility projects throughout the world.
CT&I was founded by the Haigh family on Chicago's South Side in 1914, near 48th and Western in the Back of the Yards neighbor hood. As the company grew over time, it purchased adjacent lots and erected new buildings, creating a campus that eventually encompassed several city blocks.
McNeeley bought into the company in 1981. Today, he shares ownership control with his partner of 30 years, Robert B. Haigh, grandson of the founder and the fourth generation of the Haigh family to be involved at CT&I. Haigh chairs the board of directors and the executive committee.
Wherefore art thou, Romeoville?
Last year, the company traded its long, rich history as a South Side employer for a new beginning in Chicago's suburbs. Though the move was a difficult decision, the city of Chicago did little to encourage CT&I to stay, McNeeley says. "I have nothing bad to say about the city of Chicago--I was born, raised and schooled there--but their future agenda does not place a priority on manufacturing."
Spotting another point of inflection, he realized that CT&I's future could only be assured by a more logistically sound physical plant. "When you have 12 buildings spread out over eight city blocks serving nine subsidiaries, you start to recognize the inefficiencies," McNeeley says.
Clearly, CT&I needed to move to a site where its Chicago operations could be consolidated into a single location. But where?
Leveraging his second career as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University--McNeeley holds a doctorate in business economics--he recruited the assistance of his students. "Teaching provides me with brilliant students who keep me on my game, and allows me to spot ambitious students for work-related research projects, internships and employment," he notes.
The students were charged with determining whether CT&I should move from the city, and if so, to where. Their first task was a demographic study of the company's top 200 customers over the past decade. Their research revealed a tremendous migration of CT&I's customers westward down the Interstate 55 corridor. Analyzing current customer orders, they found that 82 percent are shipped outside of Chicago to the suburbs.
"The migration of manufacturing leaving the city had begun well before our move. We hung in there trying to be loyal to the city, but because of its anti-manufacturing sentiment, and the logistical inefficiencies, we realized we had to go where our customers are," McNeeley says.
Recognizing that CT&I needed to move west, the question became: How tar west? Management's chief concern was the impact of such a move on its workforce. The Northwestern students, along with internal management, conducted another study,...
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