We’ve felt it coming the last few weeks. Naturally the start of school coincides with it. The cooler mornings, earlier evenings, colors turning. The vacation requests rolling in. (Say again?)
It’s not Fall I speak of, but hunting season. Being a small manufacturer in Greater Minnesota, the hunting season is as much a part of who we are as county fairs, garage sales and farm auctions.
At PlastiCert, a number of our people from the front office to the shipping dock like to partake in the great outdoors come fall. Some early season, others later and almost winter. So yes, the first sign of the pending seasons are the vacation requests that pop into Human Resources and flows down to Production Control and Planning.
PlastiCert takes pride in the fact that we have never denied a vacation request. On top of that, we’ve been known to show some leniency regarding start and end times based on people’s activities. Management decided long ago life is short and moves pretty quickly, you need to take your pleasures when and where you can.
That being said, it does cause us some fits on the production floor. And the lights may burn a little later in the office area during the week. But they say it is worth it.
We also recognize our tag line, Molding our Future Together. We look out to make sure we handle things pretty well. Our Monthly On Time Delivery metrics last fall were 96%, 100% and 97% for September October and November, and their total part shipment numbers are some of the highest of the year. So we must handle things pretty well.
So if you need to talk to one of us or have a request, we will accommodate you. We always have! But like I said, there is a reason we live in Greater Minnesota, and that reason just revealed itself with the turning of the calendar.