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Distributor Hands Over Handwork
IMR, Jan. 25, 1999
Ask most distributors about the favorite part of their jobs and they might say it's helping customers solve workflow problems or designing creative marketing pieces. Very few, if any, would place stuffing mailers or inserting dividers into binders at the top of their "fun jobs" lists. But mundane tasks such as these are a common-and important-part of many distributors' businesses.
Douglas Tucker, president of Kelty Best Inc., a distributorship in Madison, Wis., found a way to get assembly work completed and help a charitable cause simultaneously. For the past 10 years, Kelty Best has relied on Madison Packaging and Assembly, a non-profit rehabilitation center, for assembly, packaging, polybagging, stuffing and other handwork jobs.
Tucker sends about eight projects a year to Madison Packaging and Assembly, which trains and employs people with disabilities. Recently, the center gathered indexes and manuals and inserted them into a ring binder. "I didn't have the manpower to do it here," says Tucker. "We got the binders from one manufacturer, the indexes from another and the manuals from a third place. So we had them all shipped [to Madison Packaging and Assembly], and they assembled the three items." Kelty Best paid the center 25 cents per binder.
While Tucker likes being able to help a good cause, he wouldn't rely on the center if it didn't produce quality workmanship. "I give [the center] very high marks," he says. "They're very responsive and do a good job." It's a win-win situation, says Tucker. "It's a convenient way to get a lot of handwork done at a reasonable cost, and it provides employment for people who have some sort of disability," he says. "We're glad to do it and will continue to do so in the future."