Meet Two People Working to Deliver Our Transformers Safely & Efficiently

Posted: December 8, 2020

ANDREA ZANGERLE, LOGISTICS MANAGER

What is your role? What are your day to day activities?
I am the logistics manager for the Waukesha, WI plant. My role stretches from initial quote to delivery of Waukesha® transformers.

The logistics team in Waukesha provides transportation pricing to our sales team during the quotation stage. Once awarded, we approve drawings from engineering and get final pricing from our freight and rigging vendors. We handle the details once our transformers ship which includes rail clearances, bringing in specialized trucking equipment to load and transport the transformers and ensuring the customer required delivery date is met. Our team collaborates with our customers, sales, project managers and our finance team to ensure all the schedules are satisfied. We monitor the project schedule through the manufacturing process to confirm shipment dates are able to be maintained.

How long have you been at SPX Transformer Solutions? How have you seen your career grow during that time?
I have been with SPX Transformer Solutions for 12 years and have experienced growth during that time. My career started in 2008 working in traffic and warranty as an administrative assistant. In 2009, I began helping with material control while we implemented SAP. I transitioned in 2013 to a senior logistics analyst position and was promoted to logistics manager in 2016. At the end of the day, I just really enjoy the challenges my job brings and the wonderful people I have met along the way.

What is your favorite part about working for SPX Transformer Solutions?
I love working with all the people, both internally and externally. I enjoy working with our customers, channel partners and vendors. The variety of people I work with leads to never having a dull moment.

I do get excited about delivering our large power transformers. Seeing the size of those units and knowing the challenges around delivering them brings pride in what we do. Knowing my team plays a part in supplying our customers with quality transformers is rewarding!

What has been the biggest challenge so far? How was it overcome?
The biggest challenge I have faced was learning all of the various shipping restrictions and finding the optimal routes. Being a part of Railway Industrial Clearance Association (RICA) has given me a great network of people to help me in this role.

What would you say to someone interested in working for SPX Transformer Solutions?
Just do it! It’s a great company with team member that are always willing to help you out along the way. Having a good attitude and trying your best each day goes a long way toward success.

Describe how you provide our customers value?
The three person traffic team of Kelly Smith, Erin Taylor and me provides customers value. With over 25 years of combined experience and customer relationships, we understand every delivery is unique and can provide the best solution for each situation. We strive to continually improve and aim to be the best logistics team in the industry!

Tell us a time when you exceeded customers’ expectations?
We recently had a customer in the Northeast region that had transformers in storage and communicated a need to deliver the transformers as soon as possible. Partnering with the railroads and working to expedite, we were able to deliver the transformer a week before the anticipated delivery date, which allowed for minimal impact on the customer’s end. The customer was happy with how SPX Transformer Solutions was able to step up and perform.

Hitting a goal under high pressure situations is especially satisfying! We never give up and work hard to use every resource and connection we have to ensure the best result for our customers. Another example happened on New Year’s Eve 2017. Travel restrictions went into place at 12PM that day. We were able to get the unit delivered with minutes to spare which was great to accomplish on a holiday and exceeded what was thought to be possible.

What advice would you give to an employee to be become better at focusing on the customer?
I would advise to prioritize and put the customer first. Understand how you would want to be treated as a customer and make sure that is the way you approach all customers.


NATE WILLIAMS, TRAFFIC & RIGGING SUPERVISOR

What is your role? What are your day to day activities?
My current title is Traffic & Rigging Supervisor for the Goldsboro location. My primary function is to support manufacturing by planning and scheduling transportation of the transformer and movement to the pad. On a daily basis, I collaborate with production, planning and quality to determine completion dates while coordinating a specialized conveyance to be at the plant to load and depart to meet a crane appointment at our customer’s site. Timing and communication are important elements to a successful logistics outcome, and my responsibility includes making sure those efforts are successful!

How long have you been at SPX Transformer Solutions? How have you seen your career grow during that time?
In 3 months, I will have exactly 21 years of service with SPX Transformer Solutions. I was first hired to supervise the Stores/Receiving area. A few months later in a production meeting, I asked how a delay on a particular unit would impact its ship date. A week after that, I was promoted to the shipping/stores/receiving supervisor which eventually developed into a full-time traffic and logistics operations position for the past 16 years.

What is your favorite part about working for SPX Transformer Solutions?
My favorite part is hearing a customer say, “You guys are the best!” I know that means “soup to nuts” and directly relates to the team work across the entire cross functional operation. It’s also really funny how keen my eye is to the big gray boxes sitting in the fields that I passed by for years and never even noticed. Now I can tell others, “Oh, that’s a 30 MVA step-down transformer with conservator tank and load tap changer. It probably feeds the KFC down the street.”

What has been the biggest challenge so far? How was it overcome?
The biggest challenge was accepting a roll that 10 years earlier at my second interview I said was the one thing I did NOT want to do. As with any challenge, you go at it with both hands and both feet, giving it your best and PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens). As Purchasing and Materials Manager, I still had my hand on the pulse of the logistics world and had no intention of letting it go. The need for more attention on one than on the other brought about another career change and hence my current role as Traffic and Rigging Supervisor.

What would you say to someone interested in working for SPX Transformer Solutions?
SPX Transformer Solutions is a large company, and, therefore, the answer can take on a different perspective depending on where you are and in which business unit. Speaking specifically about Goldsboro, I would tell them to find your lane and stay in it. You will be given opportunity to become multi-talented through multi-tasking soon enough. Take your time and enjoy the ride! There aren’t many other opportunities like this in the county, so don’t mess this one up! There are a number of good folks around you that represent a lot of years of experience. That ought to tell you something about working here.

Describe how you provide our customers value?
We all know from Manufacturing 101 and APICS classes that anything outside of direct labor is non-value added and sometimes even considered waste. Support staff have to provide something to the customer that no other competitor has or is doing. Customers remember things such as honesty, integrity, genuineness and help (HIGH). On every phone call, email or meeting, I strive to stay HIGH on the premise that they will keep coming back. Our product is engineered to order and our customers are unique and distinct —they are valuable to us.

Tell us a time when you exceeded customers’ expectations?
In the spring of last year, a customer needed an emergency fill of insulating oil for a transformer that had to be pulled out of their storage yard and installed over the weekend to avoid uninterrupted service to a small Kentucky community. I was called on to assist since the regular person in that role was unavailable. I was able to call on my purchasing skills and my knowledge of the customer’s requirements to coordinate a delivery of oil where and when they needed it. That task was later recognized in the 5-Star Excellence Award Program, Goldsboro’s employee recognition program.

What advice would you give to an employee to become better at focusing on the customer?
Learn all you can about the needs of that customer. They would not be in your house if they didn’t like the meals you served, so don’t let them down. Become familiar with their expectations and work to align them with our quality objectives to provide outstanding products and services and exceed the customer’s expectations. You can’t very well exceed anything that you know nothing about!