This week we are covering the advantages of the transportation industry. Thanks to our company’s strategic and centralized location in the Heartland of the USA, we have access to a network of railroads, highways, and airports that facilitate the distribution of products in the United States and internationally, making it ideal for the transportation of plastics products.
“Rivers, railroad, and highway networks represent the veins and arteries through which the economic lifeblood flows. The Heartland is assumed to be rhythmically constant despite periodic changes around it” (Sisson, Cayton, & Zacher, 2007).
In the Midwest, we count with over 160,000 miles of roadways, 160 passenger rail hubs, 273 freight stations, 33 international airports, and about 60 mid-to large-size airports. Thanks to the vast transportation possibilities, there are approximately 3.472 billion tons of goods transported through the Midwest. These transportation advantages allow HTI to ship customers’ products with little to no disruption in our logistics department, even during natural disasters, or any other challenging situation that might arise, like the COVID-19 pandemic we are living in today.
Logistics
We have an excellent logistics team, with many years of experience working with customers in the USA and internationally. Our goal is to build strong relationships and transparent communication between our customers and delivery companies, making sure our customers’ transportation of plastics products are delivered on time.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our logistics department welcomed their newest team member Tony Seymour, Warehouse Supervisor. Thanks to Tony’s previous work experiences and HTI’s training programs, he was able to start his job without any disruptions, while still receiving the proper training he needed to perform his tasks. “Adding Tony to the team allowed us to keep up with all the workload in the logistics department when we faced the challenges of scheduling people to adhere to the DHM guidelines,” said Tee Welton, Director of Operations. “Tony will help us grow and improve our Logistics processes and will allow the department to continue operating without disruption.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made some changes in the logistics department, to make sure our employees and everyone else in the process, can safely perform their job. Therefore, we are no longer allowing over the road drivers into the building past the shipping entrance, this way we can limit the presence of outside people into the building and reduce the possibility of spreading the virus.
Our logistics team will make sure the documentation is correct to allow efficient transfer of the products to our customers. We understand the importance of accurate reporting of product delivery, and we are committed to offering our customers a transparent process.
Warehouse
HTI Plastics has a large on-site warehouse where we store all the different components necessary for production. All of our tools, resins, packaging materials, and so on, can be quickly accessed from the inventory we keep on hand.
Packaging
As an FDA registered, ISO 9001:2015 registered company, we have always been committed to offering top quality products. With the COVID-19 pandemic development, we have stayed committed to following guidelines for clean environments to keep contaminants out of our products. We have also increased the cleaning of work areas and any other high-touched areas. Although no significant changes have taken place in the process of packing our products, we are in constant communication with the FDA, Health Department, and any Direct Health Measurements.
Inventory
HTI has numerous domestic suppliers, who we work with on a daily basis. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HTI has developed a strategic approach to ordering raw materials, and packaging during the pandemic to prevent shortages in the event one or more of our suppliers has an interruption in production. During these challenging times, our suppliers have not experienced any major disruptions. Still, we keep frequent communication with our suppliers to stay up to date on any condition that might affect them, to allow us to plan accordingly.
At HTI Plastics, we understand the importance of delivering our customers’ products on time. We also know how important it is for our company to stay open and running during this pandemic. That is why we are committed to the safety of our employees and the integrity of our operation. We will continue to update the necessary work safety measures, so we can be there when you need us the most.
If you have any questions about our services and capabilities, please visit us at www.htiplastic.com or call us at 1- 800-824-0607, and one of our customer service representatives will be happy to help.
References
MidWest US-China Association (2015). The Midwest The Premier Place to do Business. Retrieved from: https://www.springfieldregion.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/midwests-business-advantages-english-1.pdf
Sisson, R., Cayton, A. R. L., & Zacher, C. (2007). The American Midwest: an interpretive encyclopedia. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press.