COE Distributing

at the acquired business and that they would add to, and provide us with, a better internal operations group to better serve our customers. In addition to the human capital piece, it would have to be complementary to our distribution expansion plans in the Midwest and Southwest. So, in conjunction with that acquisition,we’re looking to add, from a Greenfield perspective, a distribution center in the Houston market in Texas.” Yet another agenda item is an upgrade of the com- pany’s business operating system.“A new platform will happen mid-year,”Ewing suggests.“Along with that, there’ll be a significant upgrade in our ware- house management component with much tighter controls on product location, as well as keeping our supply chain more consistent with the anticipated demand.” With all of these changes happening, one thing that has always been consistent at COE Distribut- ing has been the company’s focus on employee engagement and skills building. Recently, Ewing reports that he’s instituted a continuing education process for all employees. Each quarter, a book is chosen that relates to better business practices, and small groups get together,weekly, to discuss what they’ve learned.“We try and select books that have both a personal slant as well as a business slant, so it’s not one-sided and has value,”he says. In the end, Ewing maintains that what has truly allowed COE Distributing to be successful “boils down to timing and hard work. I truly believe that there is no magic wand,”he says.“You can’t just make a company great.There’s a lot of hard work involved. It takes continual effort and hard work from all the teammembers, new and old.” PREFERREDVENDORS Aim Integrated Logistics, Inc . –www.aimntls.com LightningTransportation www.lightningtrans.com