Branch Spotlight: Charleston, SC

04.26.2022

There’s a lot to be proud of in the Palmetto State! South Carolina isn’t just a beautiful place to slow your pace, taste some delicious pulled pork BBQ (try the mustard-based sauce), and breathe in the thick, salt air that you’ll swear has healing properties. It’s also home to our Charleston metal supplier

The 105,000 sq. ft. facility is nestled right next to the Nucor Berkeley campus, making it close to mill-producing action. This is a prime location for swiftly serving our loyal customers across South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida.

Rob Miller, Regional General Manager, hosts quarterly all-staff meetings that keep everyone working toward a unified vision. Rob’s agenda at these meetings, aside from feeding the team a feast of grilled steaks and Lowcountry sides, remains simple and effective. As he speaks, he hits three key topics: 

  • what’s happening in the metals industry
  • what’s happening at Kloeckner Metals
  • what’s happening specifically within the Charleston location

This flow highlights “promises kept” and adds texture to the updates on performance versus budgeted expectations. Of course, it’s also a great time to reiterate that the number one priority continues to be Safety Always.

Another important use of this time is discussing the current cost of one piece of metal. This kind of open dialogue breeds deliberate action; the team stays calibrated when they understand the cost of quality and the cost of just one piece of metal potentially being scrapped due to quality issues. 

Miller says, “In today’s market, one piece of metal can be equivalent to a few days of compensation and we know how hard we work to achieve that for our families.”

Each department manager also gives brief updates about their areas of responsibility and takes the opportunity to thank the team for their focused efforts. The alignment of leaders achieves many things and contributes to team morale and camaraderie. Plus, we wouldn’t expect any less than excellent hospitality from Charleston. 

Safety

Charleston just celebrated a huge safety milestone, reaching five years without a Lost Time Accident. The date of writing this article marks 1,968 days LTA-free, and the team’s focus on safety shows no signs of wavering. This branch consistently follows protocols that keep everyone healthy and safe, they’re always ready to adopt new policies and implement proactive measures that tighten up operations at every turn. Since Kloeckner launched its Top Dog safety program in January, Charleston continues to wow us by hitting the KPIs tied to our Safety Always culture.

Performance

Account Manager, Hollie Bagalio, says, “With the numbers we crank out daily, one might expect to see superheroes walk through that door in the morning, but it’s merely a handful of fierce employees that keep this place steaming along.”

To echo Hollie’s commendation, this team’s outstanding performance has a direct correlation to the facility’s opportunity of nearly doubling its size with a recent expansion and installation of a brand new state-of-the-art, Butech-Bliss stretcher leveling cut-to-length line. It’s a win for them as an individual branch, but it also opens new doors for the entire company across the Southeast. Specifically, we anticipate more direct selling to off-highway equipment OEMs. 

Capabilities

This facility is part of our Heavy Carbon group holding the distinction of being an ISO 9001 registered quality management system. Charleston’s overhead crane has an 80,000# maximum coil weight capacity and Herr-Voss precision leveling cut-to-length line that has served them well. 

Inside Sales Manager, Casey Phelps puts it best when speaking about the people powering the equipment, “Maybe there’s something in the water, but if our team says we’re going to do something, we follow through. I’m often pretty impressed at what we’re capable of with only 26 employees; it takes what I call ‘grit’.” (Not to be confused with grits!)

We couldn’t be more pleased with the production quality and embodiment of our values in Charleston. Keep up the great work, and thank you for modeling a true example of what it means to be your “brother’s and sister’s keeper,” while taking amazing care of our customers! 

Lauren Wiggins
Lauren is the Communications & Engagement Manager at Kloeckner Metals, spearheading different programs that facilitate conversation throughout the entire organization, while enhancing company reputation across digital mediums. Lauren has a background in experience in social media management, as well as copywriting for big brands from an ad agency position. She’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina, an AmeriCorps alumna, and a published storyteller.
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