Monday morning showed the excitement that the crew had for going to work. Everyone was smiling and talking about a new day and everything that was going to be happening.
Tiny said that some big shots from Onan were coming in, so I might want to come into the shop to meet with them. He said they were leasing the Gulfstream to get here, so we needed to be appreciative of the charter business anyway. He was laughing.
Before everyone took off for their workplaces, Debbie said she wanted to talk to me for a few minutes this morning before she went in. She told Deanne that she would be in shortly and to get started without her.
Debbie began, "I want to thank you for your confidence in me to take over the supervision of the welding and sheet metal shops. I still work with the utility body guys and have to make sure the orders are staged for the motor department. You've entrusted a lot of responsibility with me. Thank you."
"You've done a great job, Debbie. You're deserving of the praise."
"I may have trouble doing everything for a while," she said and wouldn't look me in the eye. "I'm pregnant."
"That's great, Debbie. I'm happy to hear it," I said smiling remembering the conversation from last night.
Debbie's head snapped up and she looked at me with her mouth open, "You're not mad? It's okay to be pregnant?"
"Why would I be mad, Debbie? Being pregnant is great. You'll have two little ones running around. How does Hank feel about it?"
"He loves the idea of being a dad again, but I thought you would be mad because it's going to cause me to miss some work."
"Let's see, Deb. When you had Tia, you missed some work and everyone made it. Deanne had her little boy and we lived through it. Babies aren't an inconvenience, they are a blessing. Be happy about it, I am. I can't wait to hold your new one in my arms to tell it how wonderful its mother is."
Debbie got up, came around the table and hugged me. "Thank you for being yourself, Steve. You've made me so very happy. Now I can look forward to being a mommy again."
Mercy had heard the exclamation and came up to Deb and whispered in her ear. Debbie brought her head up exclaiming, "No, not three, you?"
Mercy smirked and nodded patting her tummy. Debbie said, "Thank God I think this is only one. That's enough for me. One at a time."
Debbie left for work and I went in to change into some presentable clothes. Sue told me to wear jeans and a company T-shirt. That was what my people liked to see me in, so that's what I put on, along with some boots.
Before going to the shop, I toured the truck and RV store then walked over to the cart store and plant. There were four of the new police carts in the show room probably waiting to get a commitment from the city to test them. I wondered if Abe had the engines that he was talking about in progress.
To answer that, I went to the new R&D building to see what was going on in there. The one area was working on three different types of small motors. They had them bolted into a bare frame with no front, sides, or set. They would start them, then run them around outside using a kids remote control car hand held unit. They had one of the units, with the engine enclosed, idling outside the doors to the shop, testing to see how it did at idle for long periods of time.
In another shop, I found Jeff working with some people who were mixing fiberglass with other materials. Jeff was trying to come up with a superior blend of synthetic molding for the truck bodies and carts. He said he had four more blends he wanted to try before he would do some tests.
I drove to the shop and went through the various work areas to see everyone, and to see what was going on. I did the picking up of a piece for one person, holding something in place for another, and handing a screwdriver to Roberta in the motor shop. The superlift shop was really backed up. There looked to be forty big lifts waiting to be rebuilt. When I checked their progress board, it was evident that they were putting out product as fast as could be expected. It was amazing that we had that much business.
Back upstairs, I got a cup of coffee and visited with the customer service people. Judy introduced me to dozens of new people that were working the phones.
Phil had a bunch of papers on his desk, with a far away look on his face. "What's going on, Phil?" I asked.
"I'm trying to get straight how to propose to Onan that they expand their superlift manufacturing. Right now we've sold out their production through June of next year, and we have several orders pending that would equal what we've sold to date. We would be almost two years away from delivery. Onan and Caterpillar are partners in the superlift business, so we really need to be talking to both companies at once. Caterpillar wants to take over the whole thing, but Onan feels it deserves some of the business, as they were the ones that began the manufacturing in the first place. As you can see, it is a problem."
"How about getting the Cat people on the phone while the Onan folks are here so we can have a conference call? We'll do it in my office with that spider looking phone in there."
Tiny came in and said, "Our guests have arrived. Do you want to come with us as we tour the building?"
"Sure," I said to Tiny, then turned to Phil, "get your stuff together so we can present it to them properly. If this doesn't work out with Cat, I have an idea."
Tiny and I greeted the contingent of folks from Onan and toured the facility. I asked them if they wished to see the utility body plant, or the T-shirt plant, but they declined. They did say they would like to see the business park they had heard so much about.
"Before we go up to the park, let's get down to some business that has the sales manager in a bind. Come into my office and we'll get you some coffee, Coke, or water."
As soon as we had them all seated around the table, Ruth, Debbie, Deanne, and Judy hustled some drinks for everyone. They placed a huge tray of cookies on the table and left.
"Phil, can you tell me again the story you told me earlier about the superlifts?"
When Phil finished his tale, the president of Onan said, "I knew we had a production problem, but I didn't know it was that big. What are you going to do with the orders you have?"
I answered quickly, before Phil could say anything, "It depends on what answers we get today."
"What do you have to have Caterpillar for to make the lifts?"
"We use some of their hydraulics and some of their steel manufacturing. They want to use their motors, but we have a good engine for the line of lifts we sell. They want to take over the product line completely, but I feel it's our product, we developed it, introduced it, and marketed it, so it should remain an Onan product."
While looking at the man, "Why don't you develop your own hydraulics and expand your own steel manufacturing?"
"We've expanded so much in the last two years that I'm afraid to keep building a bigger and bigger plant. It's your orders that have done this, and I don't know whether the company can handle that type of growth in the near future."
"Is there something I'm missing? If you have orders that exceed your capacity to manufacture, you add to your manufacturing and increase your marketing in order to keep the new space productive. What can't you do? Is your margin so slim that you aren't making any money?"
The man was squirming now. "Our profits are great. This last quarter our profits are larger than ever before. Our orders are greater than they have ever been."
"Then you have to tell me why you won't expand to handle more orders. My sales manager has enough orders for your entire production for next year and you're saying you not only can't handle it, you don't want to handle it, and that you don't want anyone else to handle it. Are you having trouble borrowing for expansion? You have to tell me."
The man finally said, "We are a very conservative company, at least since I've taken over. I feel we shouldn't expand our production facilities to meet the orders we have in hand. We can fulfill them by next June. The other orders you have will probably have to be given up. We won't be able to fulfill them until after next year."
I sat heavily in a chair, leaning back, trying to come up with a way to get across to the guy.
"Can I buy the right to manufacture your product? I want to buy the superlift part of your company. I'll subcontract part of my production to you so you can keep that part of your production facility at full production. If you want, I'll even buy that entire facility from you. I want to produce these lifts in sufficient quantity to fulfill the orders we have, and the anticipated orders we will have."
His face was white. All the blood had drained from it. "I, ah, ah, ah, I, ah, the board would be the only people who could make a decision like that."
"Look, anyone can design a comparable lift and build it to compete with what you are selling right now. We wouldn't infringe on anyone's patents, and we could license any hydraulics necessary that we couldn't design ourselves. We've gone into manufacturing before, and we can do it again. You tell me, can you expand to meet our needs, do you sell me your production facilities, or do I go into competition with you. You decide. Tiny, Phil, and I are going to leave you for a few minutes. You all talk among yourselves and see if there is any way we can do this."
Out in the hallway, Phil said, "Christ, are you nuts. That's the new president of Onan you're talking to in there. We make a lot of money selling their products. We need them."
I held my hand up, "Phil, they need us even more than we need them. If we decided not to have anything to do with them, they would lose sixty to seventy-five percent of their sales. We're not irreplaceable, but we are very important to them. They are super-profitable because we do all of their marketing for them. If you remember, they wanted to buy us. Now it's the other way around. They now have a super-conservative head guy that doesn't want to make any changes. If he doesn't do anything, then he can't make a mistake."
I turned to Tiny, "How much Onan stock do we own, the total between the company, the 401K plan, and me. I've seen some of the statements, so I know it's a bunch."
"Let me have someone research that quickly. It's probably a pretty good amount though." Tiny walked up the hall to his office.
After taking a deep breath, I said "Let's go see what's up. We may want to take them to lunch soon so they can let off some steam."
When we went back into my big office, the president was standing at the windows, looking out at the production floor. He was red —aced, but returned to the table. "So where are we? How do I handle these orders for lifts?"
"You have me at a disadvantage. My predecessor gave away all of the marketing to you and to other distributors that sold out to you, so now all I have is the manufacturing. Granted, we don't have to spend money on marketing but if we lose your business, we would be out of business. Is it possible we can work together on this production problem?"
"I told you that I would do that. I will build a production facility to handle seventy-five percent of my orders. I will still submit orders in sufficient quantity to keep your production at maximum capacity. If we come up with a better idea, I expect you to incorporate it within your manufacturing, and I want you to separate yourself from Caterpillar. They are not good for your company."
The man was red-faced again, "But that would mean we would have to build a steel manufacturing facility to take up their slack."
I smiled, "Not to worry. I'll build a production facility that will be large enough to handle my increased orders and to sub to you guys. I want quality product coming out of your plant and my plant. I know I can do it from my plant, make sure yours is that way too.
The man stood, paced back and forth for a second, "Let's do it that way. I'll present it to the board next week."
Tiny came in with a piece of paper and handed it to me. I read it, then re-read it.
"Excuse me," I asked of the entire delegation. "How much stock would it take before a person could sit on the board?"
One of the other men answered, "My name is John Peters from accounting. You would need to own at least twenty-five percent of the common, or perhaps ten percent of the preferred, in order to demand a seat on the board."
I handed the paper back to Tiny pointing at the numbers on the bottom and said, "Get both. We'll go to lunch. You should have it by one right?"
Tiny rolled his eyes and left.
"How about a special place for lunch? There is a little Greek restaurant right around the corner that serves a great lunch. Come on, my treat."
We traversed to the Greek restaurant. When I walked in, leading a large contingent of people, the owner was instantly on us, directing us where to sit and getting tables together for us. I think we just turned a slow day into a good one.
He took everyone's orders and had a waitress hustling our drinks to us. While we were waiting, Tiny came in the door. I moved people around and got Tiny a seat. He handed me the paper as he sat down.
The paper said, "You, the company and the 401K plan now own twenty-six percent of the common and sixteen percent of the preferred. I applied for a seat on the board through the broker as well. I put both your name and mine on it."
I folded the note up and put it into my pocket, nodding and smiling at Tiny. Phil was acting nervous and I told him that his orders would be taken care of.
After lunch we took a tour of the business park. Before we left the park, I drove back to the rear and stopped. When we got out, I pointed to the bare land with the sporadic trees back there, "There is four hundred acres back here to build our new plant on. We won't need all of it, but we could build one hell of a big facility back here. We didn't need it all when we built the front. We still haven't used it all the way it could be. But back here, we can do anything we want."
We went back to the office, but this time I took them to the cafeteria to sit. We took up the back tables of the seating area. Standing in front of them I said, "I represent the stock owned by the company's 401K plan, the company's stock, and my personal stock. Combined, we own and control twenty-six percent of the total common stock of Onan. Combined, we own and control eleven percent of the preferred stock. By the way, nice dividends this last quarter."
"I've applied for a position on your board because I feel you need someone to push you to make more money, and to become aggressive in both marketing, as well as production. So, can we get this show on the road or what?"
The accountant type guy said, "Do you really own that much stock? Both types?"
Tiny spoke up, "We didn't own all of it until I bought what else we needed before lunch. Now we own what's necessary."
The guy was shaking his head, "You are the largest stockholder of the company then. Are you going to take us over?"
"Why, you guys make a good product and make a profit. I just want you to make more products and to make more money."
The president said, "Do you want my resignation?"
"Not hardly, but I do want to teach you about quality manufacturing. You do a good job now, I want it to be even better. Can you stay through tomorrow?"
"We were going to stay through till Thursday morning. Tiny has a fishing trip scheduled for us Wednesday."
I smiled, "That's great. Tomorrow wear jeans. If you don't have any, go buy them at Wal-Mart. I'll give you T-shirts to wear, because I want you all to do some things in my shops. I'll spread you out between here and in the business park to give you an idea of what we do, and how we do it. I want you to take what you learn back to the company and implement it. If you need more people to learn, send them. Let's make some good stuff for our customers."
Phil asked, "What about the orders I have?"
In front of all of them I said, "If the board approves expansion, we'll have more production space and deliver all of your pending orders and the new ones by next June."
Phil smiled, "If Steve says it'll happen, it'll happen."
I had the president come with me back to see Abe. He was working on a schematic and manufacturing design for a big lift. "Abe, how long before you could design a superlift to compete with the Onan product, and the others on the market?"
"I've been working on that for a couple of months now. I don't like the way they cantilever the hydraulics here, and I don't think the stress on the front of the forks is reduced enough to keep them working for long. That's half of our rebuild work. I think I've got a better design. The Caterpillar designed steel superstructure is not put together as strong as it could be with the materials they use. I have a better design for that too. Do you want me to build you a prototype?"
"What would you need to build a couple hundred of them?"
Abe sat back and stared up at the ceiling, "Depends on how fast you need them. We've got a lot of the men needed to do the work, but we really would need is a manufacturing facility with robotics to make them fast. I think if you could build me the facility and hire me the men, I could turn out about fifty a month."
The president said, "We only build twenty a month now. How big a facility would you have to have to build fifty?"
Abe laughed, "Oh the size of your superlift plant is fine. You just need to use it better. You need to get rid of those stupid Cat people and put in more robotics. You could probably retool your plant in thirty days and triple your production with a better quality product."
The guy turned to me and said, "Can I borrow this man? Can I have him a couple of days to look at the plant?"
Abe laughed again, "I know that plant like the back of my hand. I worked there for years. I know exactly how it operates. You need more than me, though. You would need Jed in the superlift rebuild, me, Drew in design for the trucks, and that crazy Jeff in fiberglass, as he knows more about robotics than most engineers."
I interrupted the conversation, "How about the board hires S&S to help you retool then we'll work on expansion where it's necessary."
Abe was anxious, "Let me at 'em. I'll fix that group to build some good stuff."
Tiny and Phil wanted to take all of the men back to the trailer park for supper. I asked both if they didn't think these men were a little highbrow for our crew. Tiny said, "It'll be good for them. They need to see how you can stay grounded in a business that produces hundreds of millions in sales. They need to see how a guy like you lives, to know that you don't make idle threats or boasts. Let 'em see how we live. If they don't like it, they can leave."
I called Sue and told her a little of what had happened and that we were going to have company for supper. She said she would get the girls busy and send someone out for some wine. I told her to have what we always have, just a little more.
When I found Tiny again, I asked where Ryan was. He said he didn't know, but that Judy probably knew. Judy said that he was hanging out here while the big shots from Onan were here. That was perfect, as I wanted his and Michelle's presence there this evening.
I called Ryan's cell phone and explained what had happened so far today. He said that if I needed a plant ready made for manufacturing, he knew of one in Montgomery, Alabama that was available. I told him to hold that thought, but to be there in casual clothes tonight. He asked, "Business casual?" I told him no, just what you normally wear on the patio. He laughed and said, "Too bad they're not staying through Sunday." I laughed with him.
We sent the visitors out to find their rooms at the Holiday Inn next to the park and if they didn't have any, to go buy jeans for tomorrow. They had all been sent home with some S&S T-shirts.
When I went home, the girls reminded me that I had missed going to the gym with them, and that I should go up to the pool to swim for a while. Sue said that Stevie and she would come with me to keep me company, so we went up for me to swim as hard as I could for almost twenty minutes. While we were sitting, waiting for me to catch my breath, Sue said that Hanna had told her she was pregnant. She said it looked like we were going to have a fresh batch of little ones soon. I told Sue that I was concerned with Mercy's health and that it was going to be tough on her to have three at once. Sue said that she would be fine, we would watch her, make sure she ate right, and got her exercise.
I was back on the patio, dressed again in my usual Jeans and T-shirt. Mercy came to me for a little attention, asking, "Are you alright with me having a bunch of kids at once?"
"You betcha, Babe. Three more all at once is going to be a chore for you. I can't wait to hear what Merlin's going to say. What does Missy think?"
Mercy giggled, "I only told Mom that I was having twins. I didn't tell her about the fraternal critter in there. Mom thinks I'm nuts, and that it's not natural to have more than oneat at a time. I talked to her on the phone and asked her what she thought I could do about it. She didn't have an answer. I'm glad you want more kids, because Sue's going to want to have one with me. It'd bet on it. She was thinking about it anyway, but now she's really thinking about it. Can you handle seven?"
"I guess it's a good thing we have three of you women. I'll have to look for a plane to carry all of us at once. There will be ten of us, plus anyone we want to take with us. We might have to take two planes at once."
Tiny had heard part of the conversation and said, "That's what the Gulfstream is for."
"That's not like a personal airplane, Tiny. It's not something I can just get into and fly like the 200. This is nuts isn't it, but there is such a thing as a Super King Air that will hold at least twelve passengers. It's nearly the same as the 200, but a little bigger. It should fly about the same too. We should look around for a military version that may be for sale to the civilian market. It won't be cheap, but it would be what we will need one of these days soon."
Tiny and I decided that beer was the answer to the current dilemma, before the guests arrived.
The Onan guys arrived in two cars, dressed reasonably casual. Tiny and I set them up with beer or drinks and let them relax as folks from the crew began arriving. A couple of the guys were shooting pool, the president and financial guy were deep in conversation about what was probably the proposed business, and the rest were watching the evening news on the big TV.
The out-of-towners had to be impressed with how the folks began arriving, having a drink, coffee, or Coke, and getting into various groups discussing things that had happened at work.
When Ryan and Michelle walked onto the patio, nearly everyone of the Onan people stopped and stared at them. Ryan went up to the president and shook his hand saying it was good to see him again. As their discussion progressed, it became apparent that Onan had tried to recruit Ryan for nearly a year before Phil offered him a job with us.
The president, Frank Watkins came over to me and said, "You have a great guy in Ryan. I don't know what made him come to work for you, but whatever it was, it must have been special. The guy could probably have become CEO of Onan within five years or so. He's that good."
Michelle went into the house to play with kids and be with the women that were preparing food, so Ryan migrated to Tiny, Phil, Frank Watkins, and me. He looked around and then directed his comment to Frank, "Do you see how warm and friendly it is here. This happens every morning and every evening. When I'm in town, I start and end my day with friends. Michelle is my assistant now, so we get to travel together and the company even has a plane for me with my own pilot. Is that being spoiled or what?"
Phil couldn't help but get into the conversation, "Do you know that every time Steve takes a trip, people he runs into begin calling in orders. He just got back from a trip through the Panama Canal and up the California coast, and we've received enough orders to pay for his trip, plus all of the recent modifications on the boat. The Panamanian government initiated a big order for their emergency generators, the docks in Colon ordered three superlifts, the canal authority ordered six field compressors, Catalina Island ordered a complete back up generator system for the government buildings, and because of that, two hotels ordered new emergency generators. San Francisco, or rather the city of San Francisco, ordered two of our big utility trucks; one for welding and the other for emergency traffic light repair. They also added about a mil in generators and compressors, along with a couple of rebuilt forklifts. Oh yeah, and the same island up near Seattle ordered a complete backup generator system. I think Steve's trip brought in about sixteen to seventeen million. Not bad for a vacation."
Frank looked at me, then Phil, "Is that true? Just passing these people brought in these orders?"
Tiny answered for me, "Wherever Steve goes, he passes out cards, brochures, and often helps wherever he is, with some small project. Steve's presence, especially with the beautiful women he travels with, gets attention so they remember S&S and order from us. Usually we've already been working on the orders, so as Steve passes by they take note and remember the name and make a decision to buy from us."
Phil added, "Like I said, every time Steve wanders around the country, he stirs up orders."
Tiny said, "I think we'll send him on a European cruise soon, to stir up some business over there. He would probably cause us to have to expand our customer service department again."
People began to migrate to the tables as large bowls of salad began appearing. The tables were full this evening, with the Onan guests, and a couple of kids invited by Dennis and Tina. They had set up on one of the small tables in the lounge area, instead of the big dinner table. The four older kids were in high chairs next to an adult, usually a parent. The kids snacked on carrots dipped in ranch dressing, while parents had salads.
As the salad bowls were picked up, several of the guys began bringing out plates of meatloaf for each table. They also brought out green beans, mashed and boiled potatoes, and lots of gravy. Meat loaf is always a favorite of everyone, so we went through about thirty pounds of meatloaf before everyone was content.
Glenda said she had a surprise for dessert. The women began bringing out pies. Glenda had made ten Dutch apple pies and they were still a little warm. We had some cheddar cheese slices to go with the pie, and lots of fresh coffee to wash everything down. The little ones loved the pie. They devoured what was put on their plates by stuffing handfuls of the baked goods into their mouths. It takes too long to use a utensil.
When supper was complete, everyone helped clear and clean the tables. Several people worked in the kitchen, getting dishes into the giant dishwashers, and washing the pots and pans.
One of the Onan men said, "This is amazing. We just had a great meal and dessert, after some fellowship before dinner. Now the place is put back in shape to do all over again. This is like a large church camp and cookout, but you all do this everyday, don't you?"
Sue, having come out to sit with me, answered, "When Steve first came here, Glenda, that lady over there, and he began having coffee in the morning, and usually beer in the evenings. Steve's then landlord and his wife joined them for a drink most evenings, and the first thing you know, they had begun a tradition. Then Charlie, Shawna, and Steve began having supper together in the evenings to save on effort and money. When Steve began putting a business together, a lot of the people out here became friends first, then became part of the business. Now, when folks see how much fun we have together, they want to become a part of it. That's how Ryan and Michelle came to live out here with us."
Frank said, "But this is a trailer park. Wouldn't you all be more comfortable in houses?"
It was my turn, "Could we get together like this if we lived in houses? Every one of us enjoys socializing with each other. If they want privacy, they can hide out at home. Most of us want to enjoy doing things with each other."
As it became late, most of the women stopped by to give Sue and me hugs, while the guys got hugs from Sue and a hand from me. The line up of carts on the edge of lawn began to dwindle down, until Glenda came over and said that she and Martin were going home.
The Onan guys got the hint and got ready to leave. Sue said for them to be here any time after six thirty for coffee and breakfast, unless they would rather eat the continental breakfast at the hotel.
When they were gone, Tiny stood and said, "I think they get the idea that our company is more like a family operation than a stiff business. How about that, by having them stay at the hotel, we're getting their money anyway. Pretty slick."
Once they were all gone, Juanita had me make her a rum and Coke, while Sue and Mercy just had a Diet Coke. I looked at Sue when I handed her the Diet Coke and asked, "Is there a meaning behind this Diet Coke?"
"Maybe, I should have started my period Monday and I still don't feel like it's coming. How would you feel about a seventh kid?"
I pulled Sue into my lap and asked, "I thought you were taking something for that?"
"I was, but I kept thinking that maybe one more would be good. I know, I know, all these babies are going to ruin my figure, but I just love them so much. This one will probably be enough for me. But then, I should have four to be even with Mercy."
Mercy came over and hugged Sue and me, "I hope you're pregnant. It'd be so neat for us to have our babies together again. Just think, we would have six little ones around here all at the same time. Can you imagine, going flying or sailing with seven kids. I don't know whether the three of us are enough to take care of seven kids."
Juanita was sipping her drink listening in, "If you need more help, you better be careful how you choose. All the women want privileges with Steve. I wonder how many he can take care of."
Mercy said, "Oh no, three of us is enough. We don't need anyone else around to take care of our husband. Besides, the bed won't hold anyone else." Then Mercy said with a laugh, "I'm getting' possessive, ain't I?"
We straightened up, shut down the patio, and went to bed. No one felt particularly erotically romantic this night, so we snuggled and drifted off to sleep, thinking of lots of babies around the house.