Supplier Excellence Awards S
SETTING SUCCESS STANDARDS D’Addario’s commitment to excellence is anchored in a well-organized supply chain, strengthened by a dedicated and responsive sales and service team that ensures a top-notch experience for every dealer. — By Kimberly Kapela
W hen retailers chose D’Addario as an Excellence Award winner for 2024, they praised the company for its exceptional service, highlighting D’Addario’s responsiveness and commit- ment to timely delivery. And at the heart of this ethos lies a meticulously managed sup- ply chain, supported by D’Addario’s pas- sionate, responsive sales and service team, all aimed at delivering the best possible ex- perience for every dealer and end-user. The secret to D’Addario’s service lies in a daily practice led by CEO John D’Addario III, who begins each business day with a meeting alongside the leader- ship team from key departments, includ- ing sales, customer service, operations, lo- gistics, IT and finance. This daily meeting has two main goals: to identify and act on continuous improvement opportunities and to ensure a seamless supply of prod- ucts to customers. D’Addario employs a unique approach to customer engagement, dedicating spe- cialized sales representatives who are as- signed to each customer based on their product focus and location. These reps are on hand to answer questions, provide product recommendations, and facilitate streamlined order processing, all while of- fering accessible service across varying time zones. “While dealers love our products, they also love our dedicated team,” D’Addario III said. “We aren’t pushing products just to make a number. As a family-owned company, we want family values to take precedence over this months’ budget or plan, so we focus on nurturing long term dealer partnerships and trusted relation- ships. There is a tremendous amount of autonomy given to the sales and customer service teams to do right by our dealers.”
THE ‘OTC’ INITIATIVE More than 90% of the products D’Addario sells are made at its U.S.-based manufactur- ing facilities, helping aid the manufacturer’s super-fast response times during an increase in demand. “We run three production shifts and are highly vertically integrated, reducing our de- pendence on outside suppliers,” D’Addario III said. “Furthermore, our global distribu- tion center is right here in New York. We take an aggressive inventory position, so our customers don’t have to. Having a shared inventory that serves our global business al- lows us to maximize inventory across vary- ing levels of global demand without exces- sive redundancies or long lead times.” In many ways, the diverse portfolio of products D’Addario designs and produces provides it with a competitive advantage.
“To ensure that each of our product cat- egories get the attention they deserve, we organized them into separate business units with leaders who run them as businesses within our global organization,” D’Addario III said. “They bring curiosity, entrepre- neurial expertise and accountability to the products they oversee. Their areas of focus include full P&L responsibilities, product development, sales, marketing and manu- facturing. The business units leverage the support of our shared services teams to ef- ficiently accomplish their goals, and then we cross-pollinate our experiences and learn- ings between the business units. While we invest heavily in the technological aspects of our business, our biggest asset will always be our dedicated teammates who have an insatiable appetite for curiosity, continuous improvement and customer centricity.” MI
52 I MUSIC INC. I DECEMBER 2024
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