"Working Together is No Chore!"

Miller Manufacturing is currently celebrating its 65th year as a provider of quality animal care products for the farm, ranch and pet industries. The company’s Director of Marketing, Jim Bartel, has worked with GLS Account Executive Nick Herschi for over 10 years. Their effective partnership is proof that achieving quality and consistency doesn’t have to be a chore — even in high-volume programs.

Over the years, GLS has provided this Minnesota-grown company with a range of services including printing, finishing, fulfillment, and CAD design in the packaging arena. GLS also supports other sister companies of Miller Manufacturing, such as Plastech Corporation.

For example, GLS produces marketing collateral, such as full-color catalogs and sell sheets, for Miller Manufacturing’s sales team. In addition, GLS provides a range of packaging support services for the company. This includes printing on folding cartons and boxes with crash-lock bottoms, and producing inserts for clamshell-style packaging (plastic-molded products) used for Miller’s Hot-Shot® brand of electric livestock prods.

Started as a family-owned business in 1941, Miller Manufacturing was purchased by Frandsen Corporation in 1996. Under the leadership of local entrepreneur Dennis Frandsen, Miller Manufacturing has continued to grow. Miller’s products are sold throughout the US, Mexico, Canada, and in over 30 countries around the world.

Nick Herschi admires his client for their forward-thinking approach to doing business. “Miller Manufacturing is growing quite well,” he observed, “even as they are continually challenged by competitors in all the markets they serve.”

“Our experience in the industry has served us well,” agreed Jim Bartel. Today, Miller Manufacturing employs 150 people, makes over 700 products, and is the proud owner of several popular brands including Little Giant™ (buckets, tubs, feeders, waterers, and cages), Hot-Shot® (electric livestock prods), and Pet Lodge™ (wire crates, beds, and feeding and watering equipment).

"Nick is very knowledgeable and brings value to the table for us. He looks at our projects and makes recommendations that reduce costs or increase efficiency." — Jim Bartel, Director of Marketing, — Miller Manufacturing

Reflecting on his business relationship with Jim Bartel, Nick Herschi stated, “Jim has always been receptive to ideas. He is very organized, and easy to work with.”

The feeling is mutual. Jim described Nick as “incredibly responsive.” He continued, “Nick is also very knowledgeable and brings value to the table for us. He looks at our projects and makes recommendations that reduce costs or increase efficiency.”

For example, until recently, Jim had only viewed GLS as a printer and not as a packaging supplier. But after Nick told him about GLS’ capabilities in this area, he decided to bid out a project. To Jim’s surprise, GLS’ quality and printing standards were higher than his previous packaging vendor could provide — and yet the pricing was still competitive.

Another example of a solution that has worked well for Miller Manufacturing is the Bill-As-Used fulfillment program at GLS. Each year, Miller produces anywhere from 250,000 to 400,000 cartons for its Little Giant and Hot-Shot products. GLS prints all of the pieces at once and then stores them in its warehouse. Whenever Miller needs something shipped, they simply send a purchase order and GLS takes care of the rest. GLS bills the client monthly for whatever inventory was used.

Nick explained that this program is a convenient way for many of GLS’ higher-volume customers to spread out their costs over the entire year instead of paying a one-time lump sum.

One of the qualities that Jim Bartel enjoys most about working with GLS is its consistency. “We continue to work with GLS because we feel we are getting value. The pricing, service and responsiveness that the whole GLS team provides is consistent. Nick is good at managing expectations. He knows how to under-promise and over-deliver.”

Bartel also praised the entire GLS staff, including the graphics team and CSR Paul Eidem, for contributing to the overall quality at GLS. “Paul is a terrific back-up and he keeps us in the loop with all of our projects,” he said.

Even in the spirit of continuous improvement, Bartel admitted he is hard-pressed to find things that GLS could do better. “GLS has been very proactive — adding capacity, new processes and machines. They have even more services available than we are currently using.” He summarized, “GLS is meeting our needs.”

For more information on Miller Manufacturing, visit www.miller-mfg.com.