Issue 113 August 31, 2017

Joe taking it hard!

By Jerry Kosloski

It seems like yesterday that the excitement and anticipation of beginning the shipping operations from the New Jersey warehouse were peaking. This time last year we were beginning to stock the warehouse with the entire Tyler Soil line, AB&I product, Tyler Couplings and gaskets and XH pipe and fittings. Operations began with shipping to a hand-ful of customers to full operations servicing the entire northeast within a month. One cannot help but realize the teamwork involved in making this happen. From internal teamwork here in NJ, to the Tyler team supplying the material, to the Customer Service department entering the orders at a rapid pace; all contributed to the overall success of the NJ facility and ultimately Tyler Pipe overall. As with any new startup operation there have been a few speedbumps in the road and a learning curve that has been worked out. We are now able to serve our northeast customers with the timeliness they expect. Here in New Jersey we are focused and driven by exceeding customer expectations, by filling orders accurately and delivering quickly. With this type of determination, it can be said that approximately 80% of customer orders are shipping next day as well as one particular customer shipping the same day on a frequent basis. This is in addition to an average of 3 customer pickups per day with an average lead time of 2 hrs. YTD approximately 14,000 tons have shipped from NJ, all this is a far cry from where we were this time last year.

As with any operation, resting on our laurels of what has been accomplished does not guarantee success next year. So each of our team members have been challenged with seeking ways to increase efficiency and accuracy of outgoing orders. They are challenged to reduce turnaround times to give our customers something the competition can not and ultimately increase sales in our region.

At this time I would personally like to thank my team as well as all the Texas team involved in the start up operations of the NJ facility that has made the entire startup what I would call a success.

Stocked up and ready to ship!

Michael & Josh enjoying Watermelon Day!

Harold loading up the hardware!

New Jersey Welcomes New Team Member

On July 31st NJ added a new team member, Terrence O’Neill. Terrance comes

to Tyler Pipe with over 10 years’ experience in a retail distribution center

environment. He is a certified life guard and practices Muay Thai. One of his

hobbies is to visit every baseball stadium in the country, to date he has visited

8 parks with his favorite so far being Wrigley Field. Please join me in

welcoming Terrence to the Tyler Pipe team. New Man

Terrence O’Neill

At times you hit an event that is so popular that it has to resurface year after year.

On Tuesday, July 25th Tyler Pipe celebrated summer with the fourth annual

WATERMELON DAY. Tyler Pipe is always on the lookout for local farmers that pride

themselves on producing the most succulent watermelon and brother this year

we hit a home run. Imagine having all you can eat, delicious, sweet,

juicy watermelon slices cut into cubes three to four inch wide. It was

not only enjoyed at the Texas site, but our sister plant in New Jersey

took advantage of watermelon day, however put a different spin on it.

Thanks to Adriana for making watermelon smoothies, watermelon

pops, fruit skewers and bringing a watermelon.

Issue 113 August 31, 2017

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Whether you believe it or not, Tyler Pipe is blessed to have so many great Team Members that have so much seniority. Whether it is Mr. Madison that is working on his 58th year or newbies like myself that are just clicking off five years, Tyler Pipe seems to have that family atmosphere that holds on to Team Members year after year. Just this last month our facility had the honor of hosting the retirement party for four Team Members that all combined had a 170 years of service between them.

Our friend Donald Williams over in Shipping decided that 45 years was long enough and he decided to retire. When I asked Don what his plans were he said that he would be “up to no good”. When I asked for him to clarify he said that he had a little side hustle and would cer-tainly stay busy in his retirement years. Don came breezing into the party late and he left early but then that is retirement. Don had a chance to sit down and have a little cake and catch up with friends that he has been communing with for twenty plus years.

After 45 years Harvey Pinkney turned in the keys to his fork and said goodbye. For the last eight years Harvey has been the Millroom Utility Coordinator which means that he moved everything in and out of the Millroom and kept count of every piece of iron. Brent , his supervisor , cried for two weeks when he learned that Harvey had set a retirement date. Harvey is a “take charge” individual that ran Tyler Pipe’s business like his own. When I asked Harvey what his plans were he smiled and said that he would continue to be a DJ and that he had even secured some property that he was clearing off so he could build a little venue for parties and gatherings. I believe that Harvey will have enough to keep him busy for years to come.

Rodrigo Ramirez selected July as his retirement month as well. Rodrigo worked in the Cupola department under the

direction of Brandon Hall. I had a chance to sit down with Rodrigo and Brandon and listen to the old stories. Brandon swore me to secrecy but I can tell you that they had some good times back then. When I asked Rodrigo if he was going to work a little he laughed and said that he was going to sit down for a while. He said that he had some projects and he would get to them when the mood hit him. Rodrigo said that his children would always tell him that he needed to visit and he was always working. Rodrigo said with a smile, “Now that I am retired they may not be asking when I am going to visit, they may be asking when I am going to go home!”

My ole friend O.B. Willoughby was the fourth and final Tyler Pipe Team Member to throw in the towel and call July his retirement month after 40 years of service to Tyler Pipe. I missed talking to O.B. at the party because he was unable to attend. The Misses and he decided to take a little trip that just happened to coincide with the scheduled date of the party so we missed him all together.

The party was a roaring success as Tyler Pipe did pull off a “traditional” retirement party. Meaning that Traditions Restaurant of Tyler was the cater for the event. Team Members had the selection

of chicken fried steak or baked chicken complete with mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy.

A wonderful time was had by all and was fitting that these fine fellows receive such a fond farewell after 170 years of combined service.

So good luck to Don, Harvey, O.B. & Rodrigo, I hope that your retirement years agree with you!

Tyler Pipe stepped up to the fitness plate again and offered the second annual Zumba Class. Once again Abby Wroten came out to

teach the class and it was well received indeed!

By Rod Burrus

Issue 113 August 31, 2017

For the third year in a row, Gwen Jackson & Heath Huffstetter have partnered up to

participate in the 26th Annual Literacy Council of Tyler Corporate Spelling Bee. The Literacy

Council is a non-profit organization that provides a multitude of services here in Tyler and

Smith County. Their primary focus is to eliminate illiteracy in our area. The LCOT offers a

multitude of classes geared to teach folks how to read but they also assist community

members that need their GED or provide English as a second language to

those in need. All of this is an expensive endeavor, so the LCOT holds an

annual corporate spelling bee to generate funds to support our communities needs.

Gwen & Heath battled their way through six rounds of challenging words

and made it to the semi-finals. Only three companies left. The mighty Tyler

Pipe Spellers finally went out on the word Spanspek ~ noun - a small

round melon with a ridged scaly rind and aromatic orange flesh. Whatev-

er! I have never heard of the word. Gwen & Heath did an amazing job and

were cheered on by our fine Tyler Pipe Dream Team Cheerleaders made

up of Gloria Tuck, Greg Buckner, Jennie Shephard, Penny Carman, Melody

Hawkins, Kim Hale & Sandra “Sheriff” Smith! Congratulations to Gwen &

Heath and here is hoping that next year you can topple TJC!

Heath ~ reaching

for the right spelling

Gwen ~ reaching

for the microphone

Tyler Pipe Dream

Team Cheerleaders

Before: 12 Corporate Team Assemble After: Only 3 Teams Left!

The Tyler Pipe Annual Family Picnic is returning to Caldwell Zoo

Saturday September 16, 2017 ~ 10 am to 4:00 pm

Registration starts Monday, August 28 thru Friday, September 8th.

We will need number of attendees, ages & shirt sizes when registering!

T-Shirts will be handed out when registering (Up to 5 shirts-first come first serve!)

Five (5) tickets per family, additional tickets available for purchase at the Zoo

Food will be served from 11:30am -- 1pm ( Catered BBQ lunch)

Tickets will be given out at the Zoo till 11:30am on Sat. Sept. 16th

Kona Ice will be available from 12:30pm to 1:30pm

REMEMBER: DEADLINE to sign up ~ Friday, September 8th.

Issue 113 August 31, 2017

Lance Lyle ~ 1

John Godwin ~ 3

Adriana Bayone ~ 3

Rayford Jackson ~ 8

Cuauhtemoc Molina ~ 9

Clifton Miles ~ 9

Larry Smith ~ 9

Terrence O’Neill ~ 11

Juan Sandoval ~ 12

Ira Wilson ~ 12

Armando Zarco ~ 13

Roberto Delgado ~ 14

Ricky McDonald ~ 15

Ted Sweetman ~ 15

Ray Hunt ~ 16

Samantha Patton ~ 17

Darren Wood ~ 17

Terry Gilley ~ 19

Margaret Cooks ~ 19

Dwan Ford ~ 22

Robert Davis ~ 24

Todd Hill ~ 25

Conrado Gaona ~ 29

Jonathan Seaton ~ 29

Thurman Duncan ~ 30

Historically the Tyler weather in July and

August tops out around 104 degrees and

stays there for twenty to thirty days, but

we have been blessed this year and our

averages have been low and our rain fall

has been high. With that said, a 98 degree

day with high humidity can still take the

wind out of your sails. So this August we

beat the heat by providing all you can eat

sno-kones. They taste great and they serve

a dual purpose to bring down the body’s

temperature. All you can eat sno-kones

were provided from 10:00am in the morn-

ing until 2:30pm in the afternoon and

again from 8:00pm till 9:00pm on the

evening shift. Faye enlisted the help of

Pete & Repeat to help serve on the evening

shift. Team Members lined up and selected

their favorite flavor and then returned

again to get another lip smacking flavor.

A

C

E

G

B

D

F

H

Team Members as follows: L to R

A: Ronnie Butler

B: Mike McGee, Anthony Bright & Ronnie Butler

C: Anthony Blount & Lester Kimble

D: Donald Kennedy

E: Rodney Williams, Roy Lacy & Donald Kennedy

F: Duane Scritchfield & Steve Stone

G: Rod Reisner, Jeff Frazier, Gwen Jackson, Gloria Tuck, Heath Huffstetter & Crystal Blalock

H: Mitchell Tuck, Sandra Smith & Gloria Tuck

A special THANKS to our good friend Ross

Caldwell for allowing Tyler Pipe to use his

Sno~Kone machine. Ross provided the

machine and picked up the flavored syrup

on his time! Thanks Ross!

On Saturday, July 22nd, Tyler Pipe had over thirty Team Members and family volunteers to

assist the East Texas Food Bank in their ongoing endeavor of feeding those in need. These

volunteers were asked to process and package food that will be distributed to deserving

individuals in the Smith County area. If you are keeping up with the numbers, last year Tyler

Pipe created and packaged 17 pallets which constituted approximately 13,933 meals. Well

this year the Tyler Pipe Volunteer Team stepped it into high gear and put together 14 pallets

of food which constitutes 16,800 meals for our community. The

ETFB receives pallets of food that arrives in bulk and cannot be

distributed until they are repackaged to meet the consumers needs.

Tyler Pipe had a huge assembly line where they unpackaged then

repackaged into smaller size boxes for

distribution to families. The ETFB

provides food for over 200 partner agencies

in an effort to feed children, seniors and

the working poor throughout 26 counties in

East Texas.