Atlas Amplifier PDF - Atlas Van Lines

News and Informationquality reflected his commitment to do whatever itAlexander’s Mobilitytakes to please his customers.”Services is a 54-year-old, secondgenerationwoman-Quality Control Manager Zeke Oaks. “We expect every“There are some ‘givens’ at work in our culture,” saysowned familyAlexander’s operation to earn the Milt Hill Award everybusiness comprising8 moving andyear. We expect every office to surpass the auditstorage companiesrequirements for ISO recertification.”and a worldwide“The more demanding ISO 9001:2000 certificationinternationalnot only requires us to document and execute bestforwarder.Thecompany’s culturepractices,” Dick adds. “It demands that Alexander’s mustof quality tookcontinually work to improve on those best practices.root under theThat means that our people–top to bottom–areleadership of thealways looking for new ways to make our services better.”late Milton M. Hill.Marketing Communications Manager Pam Deem-Hergen says a forward-looking perspective is essential.“Quality defines our culture.”When the quality movement inundated corporateAmerica during the 1990s, most companies foundthemselves swept along in an inevitable wave of change.However, a few companies were at the crest, showingthe way to their associates, their customers, even theirindustries. Within the Atlas network, Alexander’s MobilityServices was among those who first saw the potential andtook it to heart. It was a decision born of the belief thatcustomers deserve the best.“Quality defines our culture,” says Dick May, CorporateVice President Sales & Marketing. “We believe that if wedo what’s right for the customer, we improve ourselvesand everything we do. The revenue and growth side willdefinitely follow.”That may be an understatement. The connectionbetween quality and business performance is clearly seen inthe company’s extraordinary sales success. Alexander’s wasamong the first in the industry to attain ISO certificationin the mid 1990s.“It’s no accident,” Dick relates with a smile, “that our11-year run as Atlas’ top hauling and revenue-producingmulti-agent began the same year we earned our ISOcertification. Quality has earned us a reputation forexcellence in the marketplace and helped us achievecustomer retention of about 97 percent. Stated another34 Atlas Amplifier • Summer 2007 Atlas Worldway, quality fuels our growth and results in greaterprofessional opportunities for people in our companies.”“Alexander’s was out in front on quality, and they had agreat advocate in their president, Milton M. Hill,” says AtlasChairman Mike Shaffer. “He brought his zeal for quality toAtlas when his agency group joined us. Milt was on ourfirst quality committee. I used to tell him my goal, as a ‘vanline guy,’ was to make Alexander’s an average agent. Theprogram that Milt helped design, the Atlas World ClassCommitment, raised the level of quality at Atlas. Andwe’re still raising the bar.”Mike recalls that when Mr. Hill died unexpectedly in1996, the Atlas family grieved the loss of a friend andcolleague whose devotion to quality would be sorelymissed. “We decided the best way to honor Milt wouldbe to use his example to inspire others,” says Mike. “So themanagement team and board members established theAtlas Milton M. Hill Quality Award to recognize excellenceamong Atlas agents.”“My father was outgoing, charismatic, a true salesprofessional,” says Alexander’s President and COO Don Hill.“He would have applauded Atlas for instituting an awardsuch as this. But at the same time, I think he would havebeen humbled to know it was named after him. He wasn’tsomeone who sought the spotlight...his passion for“We are always looking for ways that can make it easierfor customers to get the information they want,” says Pam.“This includes making greater use of new tools such as barcoding systems and hand-held scanners. We are takingsteps now to integrate this technology into our operations.”“We welcome advances in technology to help us elevateservice levels for our customers,” says Dick. “Quality is neverfully achieved...we can never say ‘we’ve done it and nowwe’re finished.’ We have to earn the Milt Hill Awardevery single day.”Alexander's managers receive the 2006 Milton M. Hill QualityAward. Left to Right: Atlas Vice Chairman and CEO Jim Stamm;Alexander’s General Manager Bruce Slater; Karl James, Sales;Corporate Vice President of Operations Dave Cook; GeneralManager Dick Honza; General Manager Mike Mattingly;Corporate Vice President of Human Resources Judy Yee; GeneralManager Tom Volle; General Manager Mike Shaughnessy; andAtlas Chairman Mike Shaffer.THEMilton M.HillQUALITY AWARDOne Atlas agency has earnedit every year.The Milton M. Hill Quality Award honors the legacyof Milton Maxwell Hill (1938–1996), President ofAlexander’s Mobility Services and Atlas Board Member.The annual award is the ultimate designation of serviceexcellence among Atlas agents. To earn it, an agentmust achieve a superior warehouse rating and attainboth the Atlas World Class Commitment and theHauling Excellence Award during the same award year(July through June).Atlas first presented the Milton M. Hill QualityAward in 1996 to four agents. In the ten years since, 76Atlas agents have earned the award at least once; morethan three-fourths of these have received it multipletimes. The eight locations of Alexander’s MobilityServices have earned the award a total of 60 times; thefirm’s Tustin office is the only Atlas agency to haveearned the award every year.Atlas Amplifier • Summer 2007 35