Hi-Q Builds a Strong Business on a Sound Foundation

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Hi-Q Fasteners, LLC is a Fastener Distributor that was formed in June of 1997 with all the right stuff for success.

Ken Rosenblatt, President, tells their secret. He stated, “We are an importer of high quality products and we provide our customers with unprecedented levels of service. We don’t sacrifice quality for service. We stock product in depth. We are financially secure. When our customers have special needs for blanket orders and hold for call items, we can afford to be flexible for them. We don’t have an interest payment due at the bank that we have to fund.”

At the outset, Hi-Q planned for success and now, five years later, they are doing in excess of $4,000,000 in sales. They have over $1,000,000 in inventory on hand and the entire operation is run with 6 people. They are a stocking distributor and importer of specialty fastener items.

FOUR KEY ELEMENTS

Ken said that the secrets to Hi-Q’s rapid and profitable growth have fallen into four categories:

A Sound Financial Footing

While the company is privately held and financial information is not released, Ken indicated that they do not depend on outside borrowing to finance their operations. The fine relationship that they enjoy with leading overseas manufacturers is reinforced by the fact that their suppliers know that they can count on Hi-Q.

Reliable Importers with Quality Products

Ken said, “We only buy from a few very reliable and high quality factories. These are factories that we can trust for both quality of product and reliability of delivery”. Hi-Q stocks sems, thread forming screws, jack screws, 100 degree machine screws and other standard items. The company has also started selling spacers, standoffs and self-clinching fasteners.

They operate out of a 10,000 square foot building at 1206 West Jon Street, Torrance, CA 90502, Phone: 310-538-5000.

Ken described their additional capabilities, “We also sell special or mill items. These items can be shipped all at once or held and released from Hi-Q’s warehouse according to the customers’ requirements. We take on-time delivery of to-order items very seriously. We are consistently on time with these products.

Our computer system, The Business Edge, has expediting reports that we run on a weekly basis. In the rare case that there might be some delay, we are able to tell the customer 3 to 4 weeks ahead of time. That way there is time to do something about the delay. In this business, no one can afford surprises.”

Top Notch People to Service Customers

Ken went on to say, “Our people are the best. Our accuracy rate is above 99%. Our people know our products and they know our customer’s needs. A large percentage of our orders come in over the telephone and we have all the information at our fingertips. We often know more about our customer’s buying habits and quote activity than they do. They have really come to depend on us. ”

“We enter the orders while the customer is on the phone. As soon as the order is entered, the Order Confirmation is faxed to the customer, often before he hangs up. This really impresses them.”

Effective Technology to Assure Efficient Results

To get to this point, the company invested in a computer system up-front, before they even started operations, when procedures were easy to set up. This eliminated the need for expensive and time-consuming future software conversions. The company used technology to increase customer service and to maximize sales and inventory information to its sales people.

When the company was started, Ken felt strongly that everything should be set-up for an established company. He said, “The day the company opened we were able to instill confidence with our customers as a professional organization by, for example, instantly faxing acknowledgements and by having information for them on an immediate basis. We don’t keep duplicate Invoices or Purchase Orders and we have eliminated most paper filing. We also decided that we would maintain Lot Control on all items and The Business Edge does all that for us automatically.”

Ken stated, “Using The Business Edge program, we were able to quickly and easily see customer and product sales information. We were able to record over-the-phone customer quotes by product with only a few keystrokes. This has enabled the company to offer its customers instant quoting information and reliable sales and purchasing history.”

The Business Edge is provided to Hi-Q by Computer Insights, Inc., 108 South Third Street, Bloomingdale, IL 60108, Phone: 800-539-1233, www.ci-inc.com. Dennis R. Cowhey, President of Computer Insights, Inc. said, “When Ken first approached me to discuss our computer system, I knew that his business would be successful. He was clearly a man with a plan. He has executed that plan perfectly. We are honored to be a part of that plan.”

This article appeared in Distributor’s Link Magazine

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