Just one day after announcing a new CEO, Optimas Solutions announced company expansion in the form of a new distribution center.
The Glenview, IL-based fastener products distributor, manufacturer and solutions provider said Tuesday that it has opened a 30,400-square-foot facility in St. Louis that will handle the US distribution of a new line of manufacturing consumable products focusing on PPE and MRO.
The company — No. 20 on Industrial Distribution's 2020 Big 50 List — said adding this line of products and a dedicated distribution facility for them in the middle of the geographic US will address urgent customer demands aofr indirect and consumable items quickly and easily, especially safety products amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
This dedicated effort is designed to meet the demands of customers for common safety consumables and MRO products.
- Safety Products will focus on personal protection and sanitation products to protect individuals in the workplace. Face masks, sanitizers, cleaning products, hearing protection, hand protection, and body coverings will be the basis of this offering. Optimas will stock and sell a selection of these common items that are used by nearly every business and manufacturer.
- MRO Offerings will focus on materials, equipment and supplies necessary to keep production running smoothly. MRO products such as adhesive, abrasive, tape, and packaging materials along with janitorial supplies and cutting, repair and hand tools will be sourced and readily available to deliver for customer critical needs.
"The goal of this strategy is to be laser-focused on those products that are in urgent demand by our customers," said Marc Strandquist, who was announced as Optimas' new CEO on Monday. "We've listened to and learned that our customers don't necessarily need full-line distribution right now, but instead need Optimas to meet their needs for common items in a dedicated, efficient manner. With this new line and new distribution facility, our goal is to simplify product selection and quickly deliver what our customers need most at the best value possible."
Strandquist has appointed fastener industry veteran Scott McDaniel to oversee the company's go-to-market approach, which is also designed to help Optimas Solutions expand into new markets.
"I'm excited about the potential for this strategy," McDaniel said. "Our tapered approach enables Optimas to help customers access excellent products, with fast delivery from St. Louis and optimal pricing. The initial focus will be in two major categories, safety products and MRO items, with others to come."
Optimas said that through streamlining the acquisition and fulfillment process for customers, the St. Louis service expansion relies on Optimas' tech-enabled e-commerce website, https://us.optimas.com/, to process orders directly from customers for safety equipment and other MRO products. The site will also support order entry for internal sales team members working directly with customers using other sales channels. The goal is to meet demand quickly and seamlessly while providing competitive value for customers.
"Our customers of our engineered fasteners can now take advantage of our ability to also supply them with a focused set of MRO and safety products, while reducing the number of suppliers and related administrative costs," McDaniel said.
"This new strategy will allow us to leverage our volumes to compete with larger players in the market without a large inventory investment," Strandquist added. "We will offer a range of MRO items that we will source through distribution and be able to drop ship directly to our customers. We know to do so we must be flexible with customer requirements and continue to make it easy to order on our e-commerce platform."
Besides Optimas announcing Strandquist as its CEO, the St. Louis DC news comes less than a week after the company announced a new Standard Fastener Program that offers on-demand access to common screws, washers and nuts for maintenance, repair, and production applications with minimal quality documentation requirements.
