164 | Business World Magazine |
June 2013
from a global composite of clients, President
Jim Spalding says the company adheres to a
“keep-it-simple” kind of philosophy. Sim-
plicity would seem elusive given Spalding’s
affirmation of an operational mandate for
“perfect service and perfect quality.” He says
all of Stahl’s staff strives to have what is rec-
ognized as the “perfect” day. As Spalding ex-
plains, “That means you show-up at work on
time, you make a quality part, treat custom-
ers like their number one, make a positive
contribution wherever you are, maintain a
clean working space and maintain our safe-
ty standards. It means zero defects and one
hundred percent on-time delivery – that’s a
perfect day.”
When asked whether it is possible for
an operation of such dynamics to actually
achieve such perfection, Spalding does not
hesitate in saying, “Absolutely.”
“We have a lot of perfect days, but it all
starts with the expectation. We have high ex-
pectations, and believe as a business we have
to be perfect, but that doesn’t only relate to
the way we’re treating customers and the way
employees do their job, it also means that as
a company we have to fulfill the expectations
of our workers. Our leadership also has to
be perfect, which means making sure we’re
providing benefits, paying people accurately
and on time, providing a good facility with
good equipment and opportunities for em-
ployees to advance. We’re constantly oper-
ating on standards that have to be accurate.
