We hope this letter finds you are safe and healthy. As most of you are aware, there has been a lot going on at Water Street the past few months. Like many of you, we have been adjusting to the “new normal” with extra health and safety precautions and a socially distanced work force. In addition, we have upgraded our ERP system to integrate with the Top Knobs system and have begun planning a move to a new, larger facility. With all of this going on, we felt it important to communicate three main messages:
- We recognize that these issues have caused pain in both lead times and even the occasional order error. If you have experienced those pains, we offer our apologies.
- We are putting the bulk of these issues behind us and you will notice changes.
- We are building capacity – in people, space and machinery – to meet the strong, growing demand that you indicate to us.
Covid-19
We are back to a full work force and normal working hours, but we continue to take safety precautions with sanitizing, air purification, and distancing workstations. The number of cases in our part of Western New York remains low. As you can imagine, the virus has presented challenges with some of our suppliers as well. For instance, our PVD coater was closed for a period. Some lead times were affected by these issues.
ERP Upgrade
We are finishing up the implementation of a new ERP system that will provide increased visibility, shorter lead times and more accurate shipping information. For those of you who have worked through an ERP transition, you know that the struggle is real! We’re just about there and expect to be back at normal lead times shortly. We appreciate your continued patience.
New Facility
We are excited to announce that we have finalized arrangements on a new 45,000 square foot facility. That’s more than twice the space we have now! You’ve been hearing us talk about capacity constraints for far too long. We will now be able to add the additional equipment and personnel to work more quickly. The move will be done in phases with very little disruption to production. Completion is planned for Q4.
New Equipment
With the new facility we are going to install two new CNC machining centers – the first will be delivered on July 31st and the second in a few months. These machines will greatly increase our capacity and efficiency, particularly on door levers and cabinet pulls.
New Staff
We recently welcomed Shawn Desnerck to our staff as Project Manager. Shawn is responsible for quoting custom work, managing larger projects and overseeing our door department.
We have added another Engineer to our staff to support the growth of our door hardware program. Projects will move more quickly through engineering to the production floor. We’ll also devote more time to new products.
We continue to add additional personnel in finishing, packing and assembly.
New Door Displays
We have shipped the first of our new magnetic door displays. They look fantastic and we’re very excited to get more installed. The panels are completely customizable to your available space and the removable blocks are perfect for client meetings and presentations.
New Collections
We remain committed to product additions and expect to launch two new collections in the first quarter of 2021.
We’re not alone in saying that 2020 has certainly had its share of bumps in the road. But we are optimistic about business going forward and excited about all the new things to come. We value our relationships with each and every one of you and appreciate your continued support.
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