Chuck Serafni
Charles “Chuck” Serafini was recruited to Mountz from behind the bar. A professional bartender, Chuck served up tasty drinks and became a favorite of our founder Don Mountz who set out to recruit him into sales. With a background in fastener sales, Chuck was an experienced sales person and had taken to bar-tending for extra money. He has often connected his penchant for serving customers to his days caring for customers in the bar. Chuck has loyally served the Mountz family, its employees and customers for many years. He began his employment in the early 1970’s and still works for Mountz as a contract employee today, handling National Account customers. In addition to today’s post, which discusses Mountz from an employee’s standpoint, a short employee spotlight offers up additional testimony from one of Mountz’s MOST VALUABLE team members. In the 50 year history of Mountz, few stand out like Chuck Serafini. (By Brad Mountz President and CEO)
My Experience Working at Mountz, Inc. – Chuck Serafini
When I began my first day as a Mountz Inc. employee on Jan. 2, 1971 many things were very different from today, yet many things remain the same. At that time the company was a Mountz family business with only one other employee besides me.
We had no computers and no cell phones. Correspondence and quotes were done on a typewriter and mailed. Long distance calls were expensive so were avoided whenever possible. In an emergency a telex was used. Inventory was kept manually on card stock in file drawers. We worked as a team. No one was above helping in any area of the company that needed something done, from receiving, to packing for shipping, to sweeping the floors, to making the coffee. Everyone just pitched in and did what needed to be done, even the President and CEO.
Profit was always in the forefront. A company can only be successful and grow if it is profitable. That meant that we couldn’t and didn’t compete on price, but rather on providing the best customer service and technical support possible. That also meant embracing new technologies to help accomplish it. First were pagers. They provided a way for our customers to contact us quickly allowing us to respond faster than our competition. Then cell phones. Big and clunky with very limited service (and expensive) but even faster response. And of course computers.
The first was a Lockheed System 3. It was a card system computer. Each customer and each inventory item required a card. The operator placed the cards in one at a time and manually adjusted inventory and created invoices and packing slips. At the end of the day, week, month, it would print out large reports that sometimes took hours or even days to reconcile. The main problem was that it didn’t provide instant access to inventory. Running to the warehouse to check inventory was not effective either because you had no way of knowing if there was an order already placed for the inventory on hand. To maintain the best possible customer service the company researched and purchased an IBM System 38. It required a large air conditioned, humidity controlled room. It was the first big step towards what Mountz Inc. has today, an interactive system that allows instant access to inventory, pricing, availability, delivery, lead times, and more.
These things along with the technical knowledge gained over the years in torque control and how to best achieve it for a wide variety of customers helped the company to provide excellent customer service and support at a profitable price.
Many things have changed. Mountz Inc. has grown in both sales and employees. But one thing has never changed. That it is a family business and every employee is considered a part of the family and an important part of the team. I have been blessed to have been a part of the family and the team for 45 years and truly appreciate each and every one that is and has been part of the Mountz family and team. Stay tuned for more of the stories behind Mountz…. click here to go to all the Mountz 50 Year Anniversary blog posts.
Chuck Serafini
National Accounts
Mountz Inc.
