CEO LETTER IN THIS ISSUE - Sunland Logistics Solutions · in this issue ceo letter icare winners...

I can’t tell you how glad I am that football season is finally here. I’m amazed at the energy (mine included) that goes into attend-ing, watching, and playing football games. Here in the southeast, it’s serious business. If you want to engage your teammates, then wear a Clemson or South Carolina jersey to work one day and you’ll find out who your real friends are! Elijah and I were recently talking over lunch about the importance of teamwork and the difference between the winning programs and the ones that can’t seem to make it to the next level. I have heard it said that if

all you have in your toolbox is a hammer, then all of your problems will look like nails. With that, I’m truly excited about SUNLAND UNIVERSITY coming in January 2014.

Sunland University is about filling up your toolbox so we can do a better job of de-veloping winning solutions for our customers. This will include the following training sessions led by members of Sunland’s senior management:

1) Embracing our Vision, Mission, and Values – Arch Thomason2) Safety At Sunland – Rob Calhoun & David Madden3) Operations Excellence – Bill Gates & David Madden3) Leading People Rather Than Managing Them – Van Batson & Stephanie Gillespie4) Sales and Customer Care – Elijah Ray & Janis McLees5) Quality Tools For You – Elijah Ray

Winning teams are special, exciting to be on, and they expect success! How do they consistently come out on top? They understand teamwork. They understand their role on the team. They work harder and train harder than the competition. They also have just a little more love and commitment for their team, than competitors have for their own. I look forward to seeing you engaged in SUNLAND UNIVERSITY, where we will fill up our toolbox! Go Team!

Arch Thomason, CEO

IN THIS ISSUE

CEO LETTER

ICARE WINNERS

WELLNESS BULLITEN

QUALITY INITIATIVE

TRANSPORTATION ANALYSIS

OPERATIONS HIGHLIGHT

SUNLAND STAFFING MOVE

EDI CONNECTION

SAM COLE UPDATE

CELEBRATION

CROSSWORD

ISSUE 2 • SUNLAND LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2013

NEW CUSTOMERS• Sinomax. Pierburg, Orian Rugs, Bioriginal, Taminco, & Cooper Standard• SE Products, SC Fluid Technology

NEW TEAM MEMBERS • DAVID MADDEN, Project Manager• KEVIN AUSTIN, Forklift Operator • JERMAINE WHITE, Forklift Operator

CEO LETTER

WELCOME TO SUNLAND

SUNLANDLOGISTICSSOLUTIONS.COM


PEOPLE

WELLNESS

Sunland believes that the quality of our processes and the strength of our company are dependent on our ability to develop the talent and leadership skills of our employee base and to provide all the members of our team with a positive work environment. Beginning in 2011, Sunland implemented the ICARE Program, an associate incentive based program rewarding performance excellence. Key initiatives of the ICARE Program are the following: training & safety, rewarding & recognizing excellent performance, and developing leadership skills.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the winner of the ICARE award for the month of July, 2013 is Roy Wootton, from our Trinity location. Roy is a valuable team member and has continuously made positive contributions to Sunland’s operations over the entire length of his four years with us. On multiple occasions he has volunteered to relocate to other facilities on short notice, as customer needs dictated. Along with being a flexible team player, Roy consistently provides a high level of efficiency and accuracy in his performance, no matter which operation he is located. Roy was among the top 3 associates in efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness scores at the Trinity facil-ity throughout each month of its peak season. Please join us in congratulating Roy on winning this award and thanking him for his outstanding service to Sunland.

Sunland’s Nurse Practitioner, Angela Cummins, will be at Trinity on Sept. 12th from 1-5pm & Oct. 10th from 1-5pm. Employees can call 864-688-3040 ext. 501 to make an appointment or sign up on the sign in sheet at Trinity.

Employees are encouraged to take advantage of this benefit. The NP provides many of the services provided by a physician’s office free of charge, or at reduced cost to the employee.

ICARE WINNER ROY WOOTTON



ADDING TOOLS TO THE TOOLBOX

QUALITY INITIATIVE - Problem Solving Training

As a part of the company’s Quality & Innovations Program, the management team received Problem Solving Training from Elijah Ray, EVP of Customer Solutions, and Rick Graham, VP of Sunland’s Automotive Group. A combination of lecture and hands on activities led to an informative and engaging training session.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the training session on how to properly define a problem:

• Use check sheets to define when, who, and where the problem occurs.

• Use Pareto diagrams to select actual items (i.e. separate the significant

few from the trivial many).

• A good problem definition has been reached when it states:

– How the problem relates to organizational performance.

– The problem in terms which are specific and measurable.

– The problem in a size and complexity which can be managed.

– The problem without inferring cause or affixing blame.

As a Landstar Agent, Sunland has access to TMS, an advanced technology system that optimizes a company’s transportation plan. At no additional charge to our customers, we can analyze the company’s transportation spend using a specialized transportation analysis process.

transportation analysisprocess

SUNLANDLOGISTICSSOLUTIONS.COMSUNLANDLOGISTICSSOLUTIONS.COM


OPERATIONS

Instilling a Corporate Safety Culture

We work in an industry where numbers, percentages, and statistics are used to “keep score” and identify our performance levels: on-time shipping, customer satisfaction, total pounds or deliveries shipped, inventory accuracy, etc. These are all important to our customers and to us. However, we should all be aware of other numbers and statistics that serve as reminders of the primary responsibility that each and every one of has. The most important thing that we do is to provide a safe work environment for ourselves, coworkers, customers, and visitors to our facilities. Over 95,000 forklift accidents occur in the United States each year. On average, a person is killed in a forklift related accident one out of every three days. These numbers represent the existing risk in our daily operations and why safety is not just a word, but a commitment and a part of the culture of Sunland. All levels of our organization – from our CEO to the operators in the facilities – contribute to this culture. Safety committee mem-bers are performing tasks each day to ensure that established standards and guidelines are followed. Risk assessments are performed and preventative measures are initiated to keep our workplace safe. Maintaining a safe and clean work environment is the responsibility of every member of our organization.

Safety moment

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

Sunland Visits with Scotts at the Ballpark

A few lucky Sunland team members were invited by our gracious customers of the Scotts Miracle-Gro group to join them in their suite for an Atlanta Braves game this past summer. We’d like to thank Don Koon, Jim Iovino, and Bill Couchman for the op-portunity to join them and members of the Lowes Business Development Team for a great time at the ballpark. Accompanying CEO Arch Thomason and Director of Op-erations, Van Batson, were two of our well deserving supervisors - Robert Howe and Mike Crianza - along with three operators who had the highest efficiency and effec-tiveness ratings for our 2013 Scotts peak season: Roy Wootton, David Pearson, Tyrone Young.



MOVING ONSunland Staffing Office Moves to Simpsonville


Sunland Staffing recently moved its office from our Anderson Road location in Greenville to our new cor-porate headquarters in Simpsonville, SC. The transi-tion not only puts our staffing group into a newer facility and allows for closer interaction with the Sunland Management Team, but it also provides a more conve-nient location to the majority of our clientele. With one of Sunland’s largest warehousing facilities under the same roof, we are able to leverage our resources and provide additional valuable training and certification services, such as onsite forklift testing.

Our associates are our greatest assets, and the move was made to benefit them as well because we are now able to offer more services that will further develop their skills, productivity, and professional development. We see this change as a win-win for the associates and our clients looking for employees who can hit the floor running.

GAINING DIRECT EDI

CONNECTION

Sunland is excited about our new relation-ship with Chinese automotive supplier, Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel, for many reasons. Not only have we gained a valued customer, the new partnership has also enabled us to gain direct EDI Connection with BMW. Electronic Delivery Interface is an ordering system widely used in the au-tomotive industry that enhances communi-cation capabilities to support Just In Time operations. It’s rare for a 3PL to be granted a direct EDI Connection with an OEM, and it’s valuable because Sunland now has an enhanced ability to support current and future customers in a Lean supply chain.

In true Sam Cole fashion, when asked “What have you been up to lately?” Sunland founder and former CEO quickly replied, “Been up to no good.” While Cole may have retired in 2008, he has remained involved in the company behind the scenes as he maintains a minority ownership (and his reserved parking spot at the Anderson Road facility). When Sam isn’t busy managing his portfolio or offer-ing consultative advice to his young protégé, he enjoys playing golf, supporting the Clemson athletics program, and spending time with his wife, Jondi, and step-daughter, Audra. So what does he think of the changes taking place at Sunland? Sam says he admires how Arch is leading the company into a new direction: “Arch is building a team that will take Sunland to a different level – a bigger and better Sunland. The future looks challenging, but very positive.”

WHAT’S SAM UP TO?



A special heartfelt thank you for all the hard work and dedication given to us by our employees celebrating their

anniversaries serving Sunland.

Sunland Employee Years of Service

Janis McLees 28Leon Choice 19Ashley Lowder 10Darrin Jones 7Michael Crianza 6John Rochester 5Frank Batson 5Ronald Kerns 5Richard Smart 5Kenneth Watts 5Roy Wooten 4Guissell Salas 3Terry School 3Kenneth White 3James Lyles 2Savannah Sizemore 1Frederick Kelly 1Vince Kisselbrack 1John Smothers 1

CERTIFIABLE ACHIEVEMENT

Congratulations to Stephanie Gillespie, Sunland’s HR Director, for earning her Professional in Human Resources Certification. Once Gillespie gained the professional experience along with her bachelor’s degree, she became eligible for the PHR and dedicated herself to the 4 month long certification process. Stephanie passed her exam this summer and, in doing so, has proven she has mastered HR knowledge by staying current on changes to HR laws and core practices. When asked why she decided to pursue this highly regarded credential she replied, “The world of Human Resources is complex and constantly changing. I decided to get my PHR because I want to stay current in my profession and demonstrate to myself and to Sunland that I am committed to a higher standard.”

CorporateArch Thomason – August 2Elijah Ray – August 9Stephanie Gillespie – August 10

Black HawkFrederick Kelly – August 15John Rochester – September 8

CharlestonJames Frazier – August 16Terry School – August 7David Madden – August 3

TrinityCarla Graham – August 7Robert Howe – August 17Kevin Austin – August 17Michael Crianza – September 30

BIRTHDAYS!

EMPLOYEE ANNIVERSARIES



Congratulations to the winner of last issue’s puzzle:Melissa Cartee,

CSR, Sunland Logistics Solutions

Submit a completed crossword puzzle by August 15th and have the chance to earn a prize.

All correct crosswords will be entered into a pool and one lucky winner will be randomly selected.

*Hint: The answers can be found within the content of the Sunlander.Print > fill in the puzzle & submission form > scan > e-mail Liza Twery McAngus, [email protected]

SUNLANDER CROSSWORD

SUBMISSION FORMName:Position:Company:E-mail Address:Work Phone #:What You Love Most About Sunland:

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