PFFC - July 2008 - (Page 56)

EXPERIENCE SPEAKS uWhat do you enjoy least about your job? Gary | Getting called at 2:30 in the morning. uWhat is the best advice you ever got? Gary | My father said, “I don’t care if you’re an hour early, just don’t be a minute late.” uWhat advice would you give to someone starting out in this business? Mark | Be prepared to put in a lot of hours and to have well-rounded knowledge of various aspects of business. uWhat are you most proud of in your business? Mark | We’ve overcome a lot of obstacles, including the death of a partner who was our key sales person. uACC Owners uPeter Bekx | Managing Member–Finance uGary Forehand | Managing Member–Engineering uMark Kyles | Managing Member–Operations uHow did you get into the converting business? Mark | After many years in industry, we saw an opportunity for a special contract converting business with improved services, being flexible to market demands, and customer needs. uHow would you describe which allows us and them to get to know each other. uWhat is your key to retaining good employees? Mark | Being fair, being open and honest, and expecting feedback from them. uWhat is the biggest threat to the converting industry right now? Mark | Some of the offshore competition is a challenge. However, we also see some opportunities coming back here. The dollar versus the euro helps us in exporting. We currently see a lot more of our customers exporting our work. We don’t really see any particular threats to the converting industry; we see more positives. uHow do you handle a difficult customer? Mark | We always try to fulfill customer needs. There are customers that require more information and can be more demanding of special needs, but we really don’t see that as difficult. uWhat keeps you up at night with regard to your business? Gary | My biggest concern is that all our equipment is operating efficiently 24-7. uWhat do you enjoy most about your job? Gary | Day-to-day challenges where every day is something different. uWhat sustainability efforts has your company made? Mark | One of the biggest things we’ve done is a dramatic reduction of waste going to landfill. Now it goes to a recycling facility. Other materials that are non-recyclable, such as some nonwovens and films, are now being converted into pellets for fuel. uAny hobbies or your mangement style? Gary | Open atmosphere. We all get out on the floor on a daily basis. uAre there specific challenges in your region to finding good employees? Peter | Yes, it is sometimes a challenge to find skilled people. Word of mouth helps, and we use temporary people, outside interests? Mark | We are super Green Bay Packer fans and attend all the home games. Our conference room is evidence of it, with signed prints all the way from Fuzzy Thurston to Brett Favre. About American Custom Converting u2441 Larsen Rd., Green Bay, WI 54303 uwww.ACConverting.com uFounded 1997; 1 plant; 33 employees uSpecialty | Lightweight rewinding and slitting plus custom folding What are you most proud of in your business? Share your perspective. Write to yolanda.simonsis@penton.com. 56 | JULY 2008 WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM http://www.ACConverting.com http://WWW.PFFC-ONLINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PFFC - July 2008

PFFC - July 2008 Contents First Glance Calendar of Events From the Editor Web Lines Process Management News Clips Narrow Web & Label Reporter Narrow Web & Label What’s New Products Cover: Special Report Start with Security 2008 TAPPI PLACE Conference Printing Partnerships Paper’s Pledge Edible Markers Flexography Exclusive Research: Critical Trends What’s New Products Services Directory Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index Experience Speaks

PFFC - July 2008

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