Employees recently sent in questions they would like to see addressed by the management team. Due to the volume of questions that were sent in, we have sorted them into five posts related to the following categories: general business, technology, BPLP operations, growth and human resources.
What are our goals and vision as a company?
Jon Ihler, interim CEO: MFA Oil has a strong set of principles that help to guide us in our commitment to do the right thing for our members, customers, employees and the communities we serve. I am working closely with the MFA Oil Board of Directors to ensure our company’s goals and vision align with these principles.
Are we in danger of going under or being bought out by the likes of AmeriGas? Are our pensions in danger?
Robert Condron, chief financial officer: MFA Oil is very financially sound. We have a strong balance sheet with little debt. There is no risk of MFA Oil going under or being bought by AmeriGas or anyone else. We are a cooperative that is owned by over 40,000 farmer-members and they have no desire to sell the company.
It’s quite the opposite, really, as we are constantly looking to acquire companies. We have purchased approximately 50 fuel and propane dealers over the past six years. Also, over the past several years, we have spent millions of dollars to upgrade and modernize the company, including our BPLP, Big O Tires, Break Time and Jiffy Lube operations. Management is committed to having a modern, efficient and financially sound company.
Our pension and 401K plans are also solid. The MFA Oil Board of Directors and management team are committed to keeping these plans well-funded. The company hires an outside consulting firm to review our retirement plans each year and make recommendations for any adjustments. This helps to ensure our retirement plans remain financially sound.
Why is there poor communication between the plants and some departments at the home office?
Jon Ihler: Effective communication is a shared responsibility and we should all strive to provide timely, clearly communicated information to one another so that we can all do our jobs successfully. We must all take ownership of our individual responsibility to communicate with our colleagues in such a way that it does not impede their ability to get their work done.
How can we make a better presence in our community? Too many of my customers consider MFA Oil a corporation and not a co-op with home town folks.
Jon Ihler: MFA Oil is a cooperative, and we routinely send money back to the communities where we do business in the form of the patronage dividends we pay to our members based on the products they purchase from us. Additionally, every plant in our BPLP division is given a set amount of money each year to do local sponsorships, advertising, special events, etc. Our Retail Automotive and Break Time divisions also have local events and promotions.
Furthermore, the MFA Oil Foundation provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to support non-profit organizations in communities where we do business each year. These grants help to strengthen organizations dedicated to serving education, youth, humanitarian services and civic endeavors. Since 1998, the Foundation has awarded nearly $2.3 million in grants.
Are there any plans for standardizing work processes?
Larry Ehrman, vice president of logistics: We have a project underway to standardize four key areas of emphasis: marketing, fees, customer service, and customer/tank set up. We have assigned two district managers to lead the standardization process for each of these areas of emphasis.
Can the service department have its own warehouses and CSRs to report on and process paperwork and cycle counts?
Larry Ehrman: Adding more warehouses and personnel would actually make us less efficient. We have a good system in place, we just need to continually improve it.
How can we improve our inventory accounting and reduce the need for fuel adjustments?
Larry Ehrman: Inventory is complex, and we are constantly working on reducing adjustments. A new working group has just been assigned to look at ways to make the inventory process simpler and more efficient. The amount of time it currently takes to reconcile our inventory reports is unacceptable. Ensuring our personnel are properly trained will help to prevent mistakes and reduce time spent researching and correcting errors. We are constantly looking for new ways to process our data faster with better results.
Do we have enough people to handle the data discrepancies we are seeing in the field?
Larry Ehrman: We will continue to have field support assist in data cleanup activities. Maintaining accurate data is critical to our business and we have made great progress in correcting problems we have found in the system. I think you will see that the more progress we make, the more smoothly everything will run.
I’ve run into issues where parts I’ve ordered from Moberly are incorrectly set up on purchase orders. Are there any plans to improve this process?
Larry Ehrman: Yes, we are working to standardize our SKUs to ensure everyone is calling the same item by the same name and to ensure the correct item number is entered. This process is almost complete and should make things runs much smoother.