At Estes Design and Manufacturing, we understand that the foundation of a business is what propels it forward or leads it astray. Our leaders have spent years thoughtfully making decisions that uphold our core philosophy. The Estes philosophy defines who we are, and through our latest blog series, we are sharing how each pillar directly influences our relationships with our partners, vendors, subcontractors, customers, and community on a daily basis.
Our philosophy is to profitably produce fabricated metal products with a level of service and quality preferred by the customer. The philosophy has four main areas of focus:
1. Creative, Innovative Thinking
2. People of High Character
3. State-of-the-Art Technology
4. Continuous Improvement
As we expressed in our last blog on innovative thinking, we will be highlighting each component of this philosophy to emphasize the importance of it in all that we do at Estes. People of high character serve as the foundation of our philosophy. As a faith-based business, we take pride in our employees’:
• Professionalism
• Integrity
• Error Recovery
Our owner, Larry Estes, alongside family and trusted leadership, started Estes with the understanding that the business would only be successful if built on the foundation of character. Thanks to his intentional decision to hire for good character, Estes now staffs over 120 employees that embody these beliefs and deliver great service for our customers.
Estes’ People: Professionalism, integrity, and error recovery
Estes’ employees strive to treat colleagues and customers with respect and professionalism. The manufacturing industry is driven by deadlines, and tensions can often run high. These high-stress situations can result in contention between employees or with customers. But even if the topic of a conversation is unpleasant, Estes customers can rest assured that the conversation itself will be handled professionally.
When conducting business with customers, vendors, and subcontractors, we maintain the utmost integrity so that business is done right, even if maintaining our integrity might result in lost opportunity or revenue. If anyone is unhappy with the outcome of a project, our people do everything possible to make the situation right. We’ve gained respect in the industries we serve because we’ve conducted ourselves honestly. This honesty has resulted in us gaining the trust of our partners and customers, resulting in their loyalty.
In every industry, you can strive to give your best work on every project, but mistakes can and will happen. At Estes, we are not impervious to errors during the manufacturing process, but what separates our people from others is how we handle the mistake. Instead of making excuses, our employees take full responsibility. Rather than dwell on the problem, they take steps to find the best solution and implement corrective actions to prevent the mistake in the future.
Words from a customer on Estes’ people of high character
It’s easy for us to talk from our perspective on the importance of maintaining high character in business, but it takes the words of a customer to truly reflect its impact. We spoke with one of our customers, T.J. Eads, owner of Rack Hub, about what it means to work with Estes. He had the following to say when asked why he chose to work with Estes.
“We are a brand new company, and we strive to deliver a quality product to our customers. It’s daunting as a start-up company to go out and find a manufacturer that will take the time to work with someone that isn’t quite established yet.
“Word of mouth,” is important to me, and I’m sure it’s important to others as well. I was referred to Estes by someone whom I trust, and that’s why I made the call. We had 8 to 10 companies quote our parts, and there was another company that had a cheaper price. Being a start-up of limited funds, we had to go for the most affordable approach. When I broke the news to Estes that we were going to work with another company, they handled it as professionally as one could.
“Months later, we found out that the company we had first chosen was not going to deliver what they had promised. Without hesitation, we called Estes because we knew we could count on them. I hadn’t forgotten the way they handled the letdown.”
Estes Design and Manufacturing: Work with people of high character for your next project
At Estes, we treat each customer’s product like it is our own. Our people take pride in everything we do at work, no matter the size of the project, and will follow through on our commitments. We want the Estes name to be equally synonymous with honor and integrity as it is with premier metal fabrication. Most importantly, we want customers, business partners, and suppliers to be totally confident in us.
With over 40 years of history in the metal fabrication industry, Estes has the resources, the experience, and the character to take your project to the next level. If you are looking for a partner that will treat your product like its own, contact us today.
