{"id":20933,"date":"2019-09-17T09:30:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T09:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ceo-na.com\/?p=20933"},"modified":"2019-09-17T14:34:47","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T14:34:47","slug":"rolling-onward-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/executive-interviews\/rolling-onward-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling onward to success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Gregory A. Risch wants to maintain world-class standards with Accuride Wheels and stay on top of a competitive market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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With 25 years at Accuride Corporation<\/a>, first in the finance department, and since 2017, as President of its North American Wheels division, Gregory A. Risch<\/a> has watched the company maintain consistently high standards in its marketspace, and he doesn\u2019t view these achievements as any accident.<\/p>\n

As truck and other specialty vehicle manufacturers look for increasingly lighter, easier-to-maintain, and more cost-effective solutions, Risch says he has found that the road to success is paved with constant attention to detail.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was the CFO during my last four years working in finance and then I ran our Gunite (an Accuride Corporation subsidiary) business for two years before taking over as President of our North American Wheels business sixteen months ago,\u201d Risch told CEO Magazine<\/a>. \u201cThe principal opportunities I saw at that point were to maintain and continue the world-class performance of our operating facilities and how we service our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accuride Wheels<\/a> is the largest North American manufacturer and supplier of wheels for heavy- and medium-duty trucks and commercial trailers, as well as for buses, commercial light trucks, and specialty military vehicles.<\/p>\n

Based in Evansville, Indiana, and with operations in North America, Europe, and Asia, Accuride Corporation last year boasted global revenue of $1.2 billion, yet Risch sees even brighter days ahead.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur industry is rolling right now in multiple geographies,\u201d he said. \u201cThe production of new trucks and trailers is really high and the last thing we want to do is to be on a list of someone who can\u2019t supply them. If we can deliver a product on time with the right quality at a competitive price, that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re going to keep on doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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An evolving product<\/h2>\n
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Accuride Wheels designs and manufactures both steel and aluminum wheels, yet upon taking over as president for North America Wheels, Risch believed that the principal opportunity was in capacity growth in aluminum wheels as per the demand of customers who are increasingly looking for new technology in the market.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur customers right now are looking for lighter wheels,\u201d Risch explained. \u201cWhether it be for fuel purposes, for reduced stopping distance purposes, or economic payback, they want lighter vehicles, and so having more capabilities on the lighter side is good. For me, it was about a $25 million project to expand our capacity in North America for aluminum wheels. That was the biggest opportunity for growth.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think we\u2019re uniquely positioned because we are the only manufacturer of both steel and aluminum wheels for the commercial vehicle market, and beyond that we also have our other product line, our braking components,\u201d he added. \u201cSo, we\u2019re the only ones you can come to if you want a steel wheel, an aluminum wheel, a brake drum, a hub, or a slack adjuster. We\u2019re the one guy that can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attention to detail<\/h2>\n
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For Risch, maintaining the high standards Accuride Wheels is recognized for means keeping constant attention on the metrics that make the company run smoothly, from its manufacturing plants to its distribution and supply chain and customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing we want to do is continue to maintain the great results we have,\u201d Risch insisted. \u201cWe watch metrics every day, every week, and we share those upwards so I know exactly how every plant is doing. For example, if I look at the plant closest to me, which is 30 miles away, their scrap rate is 0.05%, so it\u2019s going to be pretty hard to improve. It\u2019s that way for a lot of reasons including how we run our plants and how we use our systems to do so.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe beauty of it is how we integrate metrics on everything from supply chains to finance, and monitor what customers are saying on their scorecards,\u201d he highlighted. \u201cSometimes you might get someone internally who thinks you\u2019re doing great, but the customer may not agree. Maybe the truck got there late, or maybe the product didn\u2019t look good when it got there. Sometimes I think we look at too much data, but I honestly believe that if we keep our eye on the ball, we won\u2019t drop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading the market<\/h2>\n
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Risch is clear-sighted on what sets Accuride Wheels apart from its competition in North America, which includes the way the company vertically integrates its design, manufacturing, and distribution capabilities, a luxury that also shields the organization somewhat from changing international headwinds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne key is being more vertically integrated on the manufacturing side as opposed to solely buying from abroad,\u201d he said, by way of example. \u201cSo there\u2019s not an import or tax code coming from China or somewhere that\u2019s going to throw us out. Being able to control our world is what ultimately sets us apart. We can pull whatever triggers we need, whether it\u2019s in the US, Canada, or Mexico.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf I look over the past 25 years, our customers have moved south. A lot of big trucks used to be made in the north. Obviously, today, there\u2019s a lot more trucks and trailers made in Mexico. So we have the ability to push and pull depending on what our customer needs are or what regulatory impacts could come our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This vertical integration strategy also presents advantages in terms of ease of supply chain integration and even research and development aspects with Accuride working with a relatively few number of strategic partners who contribute heavily on the R&D side of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the wheel side, it\u2019s very simple. If I could show you the building materials for a wheel, there are only three things for a steel wheel: it\u2019s raw steel, paint, and weld wire,\u201d Risch said by way of highlighting this flexibility. \u201cSo there\u2019s not a tremendous amount that is done for a steel wheel supply chain-wise. An aluminum wheel is even simpler: it\u2019s just aluminum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most strategic portion of our relationships would be with raw materials. We work with different producers to figure out how to get stronger and lighter alloys, and that\u2019s an ongoing process. They have R&D going on at their place, so they may bring us something or we may take something to them and say, \u2018Hey, can you look at it from this direction or from this aspect?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Collaborating on technology<\/h2>\n
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\u201cThe other side of it would be coating,\u201d Risch highlighted. \u201cSteel does one thing when it\u2019s out in the elements: it rusts. So if you can have a really good paint coating, you\u2019re going to extend the life of that wheel for the truck driver and the fleet. Our suppliers are few in number, but it\u2019s really important to partner with the right organization that\u2019s bringing the best technology.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s an aspect of appearance, aesthetics, but the function and the way it\u2019s maintained is key because that keeps the trucks running rather than having to stop and fix or replace a part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Risch is confident that under his tenure Accuride Wheels can continue to maintain its dominant market position in North America, in large part because of the attention to detail and resulting commitment to excellence that he has put at the forefront of the company\u2019s strategy and which he hopes will continue for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about being aligned with where our customers are and where we\u2019re going, and making sure that we\u2019re developing the products that are satisfying them,\u201d he stressed.\u201cThat\u2019s how you never lose market share. If we never take our eye off the ball operationally and financially, and we\u2019re providing the products they want, we\u2019re never going to give customers a reason not to source from us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Gregory A. Risch wants to maintain world-class standards with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":20935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[1967,99,1385,1079,1968],"class_list":["post-20933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-executive-interviews","tag-accuride-wheels","tag-ceo","tag-ceo-northam","tag-executive-interview","tag-gregory-a-risch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20969,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20933\/revisions\/20969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/servidor-mxigen1.com\/ceona-antiguo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}