When Hurricane Ike hit Beaumont, Texas, in 2008, it made rubble out of what had been a chemical plant for a major oil company. The wind had hardly died down before the question came, “How fast can you help us get up and running again?”

Over 250 workers, mostly engineers and scientists, had occupied the building. They are the lifeblood of the chemical plant. Without their work, the company stood to lose a lot of production and millions in revenue every day.

The company responded in two ways: 1) Save everything possible from the rubble and 2) launch a fast-track building project. The former took some innovative approaches, such as freeze-drying soaked documents so they could be thawed later under controlled conditions. The latter looked to prefab structures, but the question became how to handle the furnishings.

That’s where our team—from salespeople to dealer designers in Texas to Customer Care and Operations folks in Michigan—pitched in. From design to order to manufacture to delivery to installation—they did it in 2-1/2 weeks from start to finish.

Our customers have come to expect this kind of responsiveness from us. But, as you can tell from this customer’s comments, it’s something they never take for granted: “From the design to the final clean, your team performed flawlessly. You all have a lot to be proud of. You made a difference to many people, brought value to a large corporation, and, most important, took care of our families by working safely.”

By Randall Braaksma