Lincoln Industries

Lincoln Industries ships over 50 million parts to customers each year. Making sure these go out on time to meet customers’ needs is a company-wide responsibility, but the first and last ‘touches’ in the process are the responsibility of the Shipping and Receiving Department. Despite their critical position within the process, this department is easy to overlook until something goes wrong – which is a rare occurrence. Therefore, we want to take this opportunity to introduce this extremely important group of people to customers.

Lincoln Industries customers are often the first to recognize Shipping and Receiving’s commitment to service. Annual customer satisfaction surveys have shown improved results for product handling in each of the last two years, setting an all-time high score (4.2 on a 5 point scale) in the 2009 survey.

“Knowing and understanding the demands of our business is a continuous process,” said Lincoln Industries Shipping and Receiving Area Leader Terry Dolan. “This means knowing our customers’ needs and how to respond best to meet them. This is important because our responsibilities are diverse. In addition to shipping and receiving orders, we also deliver chemicals and product to the lines, and have truck routes that deliver and pick up product from our customers.”

Lincoln Industries demonstrated its commitment to exceptional service two years ago with an investment in 89,000 square feet of new space for warehousing and improved facilities for shipping and receiving. It was the largest investment in company history. With this expansion, all finishing goods inventory is now under one roof and material moves and transactions have been simplified. The company also increased the number of docks for loading and unloading trucks. With all finished goods in one location, it has become easier to meet customers’ delivery and lead time requirements.

Improved technology will also play an important role in the future success of Shipping and Receiving.

“Much has been done to implement electronic methods of tracking our orders through the various processes in our company,” said Dolan. “This investment in a warehouse management system will continue and allow us to mistake-proof our handling of product.”

While they are not the most visible part of the process, it is clear that Shipping and Receiving plays a critical role in maintaining Lincoln Industries’ high level of customer satisfaction; and we thought you should meet them.