An effective supply chain strategy ensures ongoing success for leading asphalt and paving solutions provider, LeeBoy
Since 1964, paving and asphalt supplier, LeeBoy, has been paving its way across the world. A subsidiary of ST Engineering in Singapore for 18 years, the business is still managed and run locally, and overall, it has redefined the industry over the last six decades. Supply Chain Director, Brandon Sexton, gives more details: “LeeBoy designs and manufactures commercial asphalt paving equipment, and we are now celebrating our 60th, and most successful, year in business. Founder B.R. Lee started the business in his garage in 1964. Since then, the business has grown into a global market leader in the paving industry, while maintaining its manufacturing presence in North Carolina.
“Our manufacturing portfolio includes commercial pavers, motor graders, brooms, distributor trucks, force feed loaders, road wideners, chip spreaders, patchers, and tack tanks. We’ve recently added a hot box trailer, and a small compactor to our lineup, and are continuing to add new products all the time. In addition to the design and manufacture of these machines, we support sales and aftermarket parts out of the same facility.”
New facility
As LeeBoy approaches its 60th anniversary, Brandon ruminates on the reasons behind the company’s long legacy of success: “LeeBoy really thrives on its ability to take customer feedback and continuously improve the product. I’ve always been amazed at how agile this company is when it comes to making changes that support our customers’ needs. At our core, the team here is hyper-focused on making quality equipment we are proud of. That ownership mentality can be felt any time you walk the factory floor and talk to the folks on the assembly lines. Everyone is engaged and owns their piece of the puzzle for success. From a market standpoint, we’ve really tried to branch out and diversify into rental and government markets. These new customers have become the primary focus of our growth outside of the current dealer network.”
The last six decades have certainly set sturdy foundations for LeeBoy, as the company continues to enjoy ongoing success and rapid expansion. “It recently became clear to us that we are literally bursting at the seams! As a result, we’ve invested in a new facility that will considerably increase our capacity. This is just the beginning of our journey to accommodate the growth of our business. We are using the space next door to house three of our high-growth product lines, which allows us to free up space in the main factory for new products and increased demands on existing lines at capacity. There is also a longer-term plan in place to extend our main plant in the coming months,” Brandon discusses.
Over the years, LeeBoy has forged long-lasting relationships with many of its suppliers. Effective management throughout the supply chain has protected the
business against shortages, as Brandon asserts: “We have great relationships with our suppliers, but even the very best vendors can run into circumstances beyond their control, and those supply disruptions can seriously impact our ability to ship products if we’re not prepared. One of my biggest initiatives was identifying critical vendors who were the sole source of supply for high-risk materials. We started with the highest risk components and came up with mitigation plans consisting of qualifying alternate sources, inventory banks, buffer stocks, and specific supply agreements with key vendors. The team worked together to lay it all out and I went to work getting support from the engineering and ops departments. This has helped keep the supply chain robust and prevent supply shortages that could disrupt our business.
Team performance
“Our supply management has improved considerably because of the pandemic. Certainly, there is more focus on supply risk than ever before. Everyone saw increased demand and limited or allocated supply situations with insanely long lead times across the board. One of the primary reasons LeeBoy was able to pick up market share post-pandemic was because of our quick efforts to contain and mitigate supply risk. In terms of evolution, we’ve now gone from beefing up inventory and placing purchase orders well in advance, to a more value-driven approach. As things begin to normalize, we must start delivering value back to the business in the form of productivity, bleeding inventory, and leveraging strategic sourcing agreements with high-quality suppliers.”
On the dawn of its 60th anniversary, LeeBoy is in a stronger position than ever before. As Brandon concludes: “The goal this year is to top last year’s performance, which was the best in our history. We’re already on pace to exceed, so we want to focus on securing that success for the remainder of the year. We’re now in a strong position to focus on the long-term mission of the business. We’ve essentially doubled in revenue from the previous five years, and I think it would be amazing to see that happen again. I would also like to see my team play a major role in that kind of growth. I’m very proud of their accomplishments over the past few years, and I can’t wait to see what they will achieve in the future.”