Immediately, PRIER huddled with key management and vendor partners to create a game plan to get back on track and shipping product. It was a difficult task considering the previous night’s snow had virtually shut down all business in Kansas City and the only means of contacting key people was by cell phones or home phones. PRIER knew time was of the essence. Hundreds of details had to be determined and plans had to be set in motion to get millions of pieces of finished goods and component inventory moved, counted, inspected, tested, re-packaged and re-stocked on new shelves at a new facility at a new location!
This was going to be a huge undertaking but the PRIER team stepped up to the challenge and had tremendous help from several key partners. Haren Laughlin Restoration, Travelers Insurance, SMC Packaging, Warehouse One and Collier Real Estate all took major responsibilities for the job ahead, though none shouldered the load that PRIER’s own associates carried. Every department in PRIER braced themselves to tackle the challenge and what resulted was nothing short of a miracle. Within a week PRIER had signed a new lease, erected new shelving and racking, carefully extracted their inventory from the collapse site and moved into a new warehouse. The old distribution center was leveled while PRIER began the arduous task of inspecting every component and finished good part, scrapping what was ruined and repackaging everything else. Several million items had to go through the process and as quickly as possible in order to alleviate any disruption in service to customers. “I could not have been more proud or grateful for the effort of our PRIER vendors, associates and friends,” commented Joe Poskin.
Although the company is still dealing with issues from the collapse, the operation is back to pre-collapse service levels, shipping orders within 8 working hours (70% ship same day!) and a goal of 99+% complete. PRIER lost a significant amount of inventory in the disaster as well as a week of shipments but feel blessed that there were no injuries or loss of life. Truly the collapse was a test of the determination, perseverance and fortitude of every PRIER associate, customer and friend. PRIER is extremely thankful to their customers, reps, vendors and associates who stood with them through this challenge.
