Drake’s Supply Chain
Drake works hard to get the parts your loader needs
Recently, we sat down with Karen Moore, Drake’s Supply Chain Manager, to discuss the global supply chain challenges we are all experiencing.
Karen is an expert on obtaining the parts that Drake’s loaders need, as she has worked in Drake’s purchasing department for twenty-five years.
Drake: “Thanks for making time to talk to us today, Karen, as we know you’re super busy. Congratulations on managing Drake’s purchasing for 25 years.”
Karen: “It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. When I started at Drake in 1995, Drake had less than half the employees that we do now. After two years working in the stock room receiving and shipping components, I went out on maternity leave. When I came back the purchasing manager was retiring, so I was promoted into his position. All these years later, I’m still here.”
Drake: “We’re glad you are. You’re known for your passion for obtaining the parts our customers need at the lowest cost feasible. With your many years of working in purchasing, have you ever experienced a situation like our current global supply chain?”
Karen: “Never. I don’t think anyone has encountered the long lead times that we’re seeing today.
Fortunately for our customers, we are part of the Middleby Corporation. We have a lot more leverage for obtaining essential components as a Middleby company than we would if Drake was still a stand-alone company. Each week, Middleby has a video conference with all the purchasing managers. This allows us to understand the challenges that each other are experiencing so that we can find ways to help each other.”
Drake: “That’s great to hear. You mentioned leveraging our parent company, Middleby, to obtain needed supplies from vendors. Would you expound upon that further?”
Karen: “As a part of Middleby, we can leverage the buying power of over a hundred companies to obtain priority for products from our vendors. Since the Middleby brands cumulatively purchase so many items, each week I am able to speak directly with high-level employees at our vendors to check on the status of the critical components our customers need, and to have them expedited as much as possible. We have a lot more influence than we would if Drake was still an independent company.
One thing I would like our customers to know is that we do all we can to get the parts they need, when they need them, but lead times for certain electrical components, HMI’s, stainless steel motors, and gearboxes can still be quite long. Eventually, these items will come, but often not as soon as our customers want.
With the upcoming peak in hot dog production that typically occurs in a few months, I strongly recommend our customers order their parts as soon as they can. This allows them to have the components they need when they need them, without having to pay expediting fees to our vendors.
We work hard to get our customers the components they need. With enough advance notice, we can ensure they have the parts they need to keep their hot dog loader running smoothly.”
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