A ‘firmly flexible’ organization

BY MARY JO MARTIN
Editorial director

Kendrick Reaves has a way with words. No slicing, dicing or mincing -- he tells it like it is. Reaves just may be our industry’s version of “The Straight Talk Express.” It is that openness and honesty that has propelled both him and Cash Acme into leadership position within the phcp supply chain. Reaves’ tenure at Cash Acme has paralleled its significant resurrection of sorts in the market. And little wonder he is so well-liked by Cash Acme’s customers and reps. In fact, Reaves, Cash Acme’s national sales and marketing manager, was honored in October with the prestigious Golden Eagle award by AIM/R -- but more about that a little later.

To give you an idea of the straight talk that Reaves is known for, consider this. When I talked with him recently about the tremendous growth that Cash Acme has experienced in recent years, I asked Reaves what he believes sets the company apart. In typical fashion, he gave me this rather unique response:

“There is always a way to do business with Cash Acme. I often joke that ‘We are firmly flexible.’ Because if a customer comes to us and says ‘Here are my issues logistical, training, merchandising and here is what I need,’ why wouldn’t we take care of it?

“When we set off on a course of action, I always say you’ve got to figure out where you want to be and work back to where you are. Our leadership with Division president Michael Williams, Cash Acme president Johnny Lindahl, and Division cfo Terry Scott are really good at seeing where we want to be and then defining how to get there. It’s kind of like having eggs and bacon. There are a lot of manufacturers like chickens -- they’re involved. On the other hand, there are some who are pigs -- they’re committed.”

Just to give you a flavor of Cash Acme’s growth under Reaves’ leadership, the company has experienced more than a six-fold growth in the last five years with generally a 50% growth rate every year -- on multiples of tens of millions of dollars.

Before joining Cash Acme, Reaves spent the previous 10 years with, first, Westinghouse Electric and, later, Kohler Co. He had previously served in the U.S. Army as a Captain. “When I was with Kohler, it was really an exciting time to be part of that company,” he said. “David [Kohler] had come back into the business and there was a big focus on expanding the sales force. There were about 90 of us at the time and we built that with a team effort to over 300 or so salespeople. That led to tremendous growth for Kohler, and I learned a lot from them. They really did things right.”

Rebuilding Cash Acme
In 2002 opportunity knocked, and Reaves was approached about a position with Cash Acme, which had recently been acquired by Reliance Worldwide. Because he was aware of the baggage that was associated with Cash Acme, he hesitated in even responding.

“In the years prior to the Reliance acquisition, Cash Acme had not been treated with a lot of love by its owners,” Reaves explained. “There had been no capital reinvestment or product development. I was well aware of the trials and tribulations at Cash Acme at that time. In fact I didn’t really want to even talk with them because my sense was that it was a very unstable environment. But Heath Sharp, who was general manager at the time, stayed after me and when we did finally sit down to talk, I was blown away by the new product development that they had in the works, thanks to the recent infusion of cash by Reliance. That sort of echoed back to my Kohler experience; I knew what that kind of development can do for your growth.

“I came on board and we set out to start fixing everything -- which included manufacturing, accounting, supply chain management, marketing, engineering, you name it. From start to finish, it was a three-year process from the product development standpoint. We probably introduced more products during that time that the company had in the previous 25 years. We went out and took initiatives and did things to grow and expand more than our historical footprint -- like thermostatic mixing valves and the SharkBite® Connection System. Every day, we were going out talking to plumbers and wholesalers.”

Although he had some trepidation at first, Reaves is confident that he made the right decision to take on the challenge of joining Cash Acme to help lead its rebuilding efforts. But, a modest man, he’s also very quick to credit the entire organization for the success they’ve realized.

“Joining the Cash Acme team has proven to be the right decision,” he said. “It’s everything I thought it could be in terms of development of the company. And we couldn’t be happier with the response and results we’ve had with SharkBite. It has really taken off. Our success has truly been a team effort -- we’ve done a great job with engineering, manufacturing, accounting, marketing, reps, BakerWoodward (Cash Acme’s branding and marketing partner) -- just the entire team.

“I have to say that our reps have really tilted the scale in our favor. You know, when I came on board so many of them were really demoralized. I made it a priority to travel around the country and spend time with each of them and make sure they understood the new direction that Cash Acme was taking, and were excited about the potential. Our reps play a huge role in our success; the core of our wholesaler business is because of our reps. Cash Acme reps are committed to their customers and to the development of the channel of distribution.”

Partnership with, reliance on their reps
At this year’s ASA Convention in Atlanta, Reaves was presented the AIM/R Golden Eagle Award. It is quite an honor to receive the Golden Eagle, which is presented to an individual -- and, by extension, their company -- who represents the achievements possible when plumbing manufacturers apply the proven strategy of using independent professional sales reps. The winner is selected by a polling of AIM/R members.

“You look at the guys out there who have won it in previous years and I’m just honored to be mentioned in their company,” Reaves said. “The fabulous thing is that the award is really a tribute to everyone at Cash Acme and what they have done to rebuild this company. It’s about the whole team, from the reps to sales and marketing, engineering, manufacturing. Our logistics people have done a great job dealing with our speed of growth. They’ve had to react fast and make it work, and have driven out all the inefficiency in the process to make our growth profitable. Our entire team is world class.”

Reaves also spoke very highly of AIM/R, and what an important role that organization has played in promoting professionalism, education and integrity among manufacturers’ representatives.

“Of all the organizations we’ve gotten involved with the last three years or so, AIM/R has been the one that has most exceeded our expectations,” he said. “It is one of the most progressive organizations and their members touch the entire channel of distribution. The reps are the core of this industry. They have to be concerned with their relationships with both the manufacturers and wholesalers and are the intermediary between them. It was so beneficial to attend the AIM/R Conference this year to listen to what these guys had to say. We really listen to them, value their opinions and, whenever possible, implement their suggestions to improve our processes.

“AIM/R is so critical to the health of the channel. The manufacturers who aren’t getting involved with AIM/R are really missing the boat. And that doesn’t mean just sending in your dues. You’ve got to send your top-level management to these AIM/R Conferences and participate in their breakout sessions. All manufacturers should be taking advantage of this opportunity to learn how reps are maintaining the health of the channel and driving innovation and development. In the long run, I can see the day coming within the next 10 years that manufacturers won’t hire a rep unless they are an AIM/R member -- it’s that valuable.”

One of Reaves’ favorite aspects of his position is the opportunity to engage with wholesalers around the country through his travels with Cash Acme’s reps. He believes strongly in wholesale distribution and the role that wholesalers play in Cash Acme’s success.

“Our wholesale partner relationships are our lifeblood,” Reaves noted. “We’ve really tried to have good, honest communication and an open door policy, along with supplying good products. We’ve worked hard at providing solid pull-through marketing, education and training because that’s what wholesalers need from their manufacturers and reps. We want to be sure our wholesalers’ needs are being taken care of. We want to listen to their needs for logistics, training, merchandising, technical support. Everybody’s business model is not the same. You’ve got to be adept enough to adapt to what your customer needs for all these areas. You’ve got to have a way to work within your customers’ individual business.

“We are very aware of how important training is to our wholesaler customers. They and their customers need to understand the differences in our products. For example, in our pressure regulator series, we came out with the SoloSet® series that really redefined that category. You’ve got to be able to explain that and get customers on board. You can have the best product, but if you can’t explain it, customers won’t buy it. Training can be a difficult challenge but it is a key part of selling.”

Driving efficiency, product development
The SharkBite Connection System is arguably one of Cash Acme’s best-known products. And it has really revolutionized plumbing installations because of its unique design.

As Reaves described the SharkBite line, “It’s the only system in the marketplace that gets you all the way from the water heater to the fixture in a coherent fashion. Bill Burns, the global product manager for SharkBite, knows the total connection system backwards and forwards. He personally has been the key component in the global organization that has helped this grow to support Cash Acme. It is a complete pvf system for residential or multi-family dwellings. There are those that sell fittings, and others that sell valves, but not as a package. This system starts with SharkBite push-fit fittings, it goes to valves, and then to pex pipe. We believe there is no faster or easier system on the market that doesn’t use tools.

“We’ve got a great manufacturing teams in our Melbourne, Australia and Alabama facilities and a marketing team in Alabama that I can’t say enough about, along with logistics team that rolls with the punches. We’ve jumped in and capitalized on our opportunities. I can tell you that our team worked a lot of Saturdays last year to make everything flow. It is a positive, upbeat, can-do attitude. They are world class and I have been so pleased to be associated with all of them.”

Over the past couple of years, Cash Acme has taken on several projects to improve efficiency and drive out costs -- something very important in today’s shaky economic climate.

“We went through a big initiative the last 18 months to get as many of our top 75 customers as possible on edi,” Reaves explained. “That’s been very important because, obviously, if human hands aren’t touching anything, it helps drive costs out of the process and improves accuracy. This past spring, I initiated a re-evaluation of all our consigned inventories. We’ve been able to eliminate a lot of the costs when it comes to how it is being ordered, shipped, the carrier involved, and the overall ordering process. The tough economic times make managing your business even more important and basic system controls and cost reductions are the major focuses that we try to drive through the business.

“Our product categories continue to grow. You can dwell in the negativity -- especially in light of today’s housing market and the challenges we all face daily -- and you have to be serious and tenacious about it, but you also have to put it into perspective. You still have to just get it done. Our ability internally to be upbeat and take opportunities as they present themselves has really helped us.”
Reaves has a very tenacious but approachable and involved management/leadership style, and strongly believes in communication and empowerment throughout the company. He also believes in having a plan.

“If you don’t plan, and you don’t work your plan, you don’t have a coherent idea of what you’re doing,” Reaves said. “You have a hope. Planning how a year is going to go is absolutely critical. Then you’ve got to make course adjustments. Maybe you’ve got to rethink things. But the big thing, I think, with our regional managers and reps is that we’re all in this together. We’ve got to have that feedback and know what is going on at the regional and branch level with customers, and I want the reps and regional managers to feel empowered to do that. If you’ll just listen to the people out there banging heads every day, they’ll give you the answers that you need to make adjustments. You don’t want to be reactive if it’s just a slight turbulence, but if there is evidence of a bigger storm, you’ve got to deal with it. I’m fundamentally proud of everyone who reports to me because they take ownership of what they do and are extremely professional.

“It’s very easy to get caught up in being at the top of the wave. But you are a sum of your parts. There are so many people who have given me opportunities over the years and I wouldn’t be here without them. I’ll never forget what they did for me, taking time with a young guy to just share their knowledge. I know I’ve gotten a lot better at what I do, but I could have never gotten to this point without that help along the way.”

For more information, visit www.cashacme.com.