Red-D-Arc 70th Anniversary Spotlight: Mark Jacklin

Mark Jacklin (MJ): October of this year marked my 40th year in the welding industry. I got my start with Miller Electric® in 1985 and spent the next 14 years at Miller in a variety of roles, including Technician, Robotic Service & Training Instructor, and service management positions. In 1999, I left Miller for an opportunity to manage a rental & repair business for a local independent welding distributor, Interstate Welding Sales. In April of 2004, Interstate WS was acquired by Airgas.

Not long after the acquisition, the rental portion of the Interstate business was transitioned over to Red-D-Arc. This marked my introduction to the company. I continued working on the Airgas side of the business as Regional Service Manager, and sometime in late 2007, I was approached about an exciting new opportunity. The role was in Operations, and is what is known today as the ROM (Regional Operations Manager) position. Red-D-Arc was in high growth mode, and the need to have an additional focus in the area of operations across the company was becoming necessary.

I think what drew me most to the opportunity was that it was largely undefined and would be a role that I could help shape as it evolved. Both the challenge and excitement of coming in on the ground floor and “making it what it needed to be” was attractive to me, as well as the chance to make a difference and impact the future direction of the operations side of the business. The rest, as they say, is history, and in April of 2008, I started my journey with the Red-D-Arc family.

RDA: How has your role evolved over the last 26 years, and what insights have you gained about leading teams and driving operational success?

MJ: Hitting that 40-year milestone has caused me to do a lot of reflecting this past year. Over the course of my career, I have shifted my focus from trying to be a great manager to becoming a better leader. It took time, a few hard knocks, and a lot of experience managing people to come to the realization that I needed to focus on my leadership abilities if I was going to truly influence and drive a successful team.

Most everyone has a basic desire to be heard, to know what’s going on, and, maybe most importantly, people need to feel like they are contributing. I’ve learned that to develop a successful team, you must first involve each individual. Involve them in the decision-making process, be transparent with information, and use their input to develop goals, plans, and execute actions. Involvement builds trust, trust builds commitment, and commitment builds ownership. The secret sauce is the ability to develop individuals who are highly committed, who take ownership of their job and responsibilities, and who then become strong contributors. A team like that will overcome any challenge and accomplish any project that is put in front of them. The winning combination of any team becomes the combined strengths and contributions of each individual that make up that team.

RDA: From your perspective, how has Red-D-Arc’s operations adapted over the years to meet the changing needs of customers and the industry?

MJ: I think Red-D-Arc has always been highly customer-focused, but what I have seen over the years is a transition from a very sales-centric organization to a more balanced organization where Operations plays an equally critical role in serving the customer. The operational tools (e.g., BPI dashboard), KPIs, and operational goals that have been established serve to focus our local branch teams on what is important to delivering a quality customer experience. We now have the ability to closely monitor our operational effectiveness on multiple fronts, from fleet availability, credit ratio, exchanges, and inventory variance, to name a few. Having the ability to see when something is trending in the wrong direction allows us to take whatever corrective action may be needed to quickly reverse that trend.

RDA: During your time at Red-D-Arc, what operational initiatives or innovations do you feel most proud of contributing to?

MJ: For me, without a doubt, that would have to be our 6S initiative and our focus on improving inventory management. With 6S, we established a consistent operating platform for our branches, which significantly impacts our ability to achieve a highly efficient day-to-day operation. That platform also led us to better management of our fleet, parts, and accessories. I’ve always viewed Red-D-Arc as an asset management company, so the need to keep track of all our “assets” that we purchase or spend our money on—whether it is for rent, sale, or internal consumption to maintain our fleet—is critical. Having that standard 6S operating platform as the foundation for organizing all those various assets used in our business is a key factor in the ability to properly transact on a day-to-day basis.

RDA: Collaboration between teams is essential for smooth operations. How does the Operations team work with other departments to deliver the best customer experience?

MJ: Strong collaboration with our Sales team is essential to our success. Without Sales there is no Operations, and without Operations there is no Sales. Serving customers is truly a team effort, and both sides of our business must perform to deliver that effortless experience to the customer. It doesn’t stop with Sales either… Operations must be well connected with our Fleet and A/R teams, who rely on the Branch Operations folks to move equipment and help in our collection efforts when need be.

6. Operational efficiency and reliability are key to Red-D-Arc’s success. How does your team maintain consistent quality and performance across multiple locations?

MJ: We have a strong, multi-talented corporate Operations team. I believe what makes our team so impactful is that we all work in the business—meaning we all spend a good portion of our time working in our branches to understand the needs and challenges that confront our operational teams on a daily basis at the branch level. Unless you truly understand what a branch goes through to deliver and get an order out the door to our customers, it’s impossible to help them improve the process. That said, our team is constantly working to improve efficiency at the branch level, which is where it matters most. I look at it from the perspective that if we can take something off the plate of our branches that allows them more time to focus on our customers’ needs, then we are accomplishing our goal.

RDA: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for Red-D-Arc’s future?

MJ: We have great leadership and are focused on market and customer growth, which sets us up for a sustainable future. In the space we occupy, our competition has never been greater. That said, it is imperative that our focus and attention to customer satisfaction and delivering a great customer experience is in every associate’s heads-up display. We have the tools today that provide insight into our performance at the customer level. Those insights help us understand the key issues that impact the customer experience so that we can tackle and improve on those specific points that may be negatively affecting that experience.

The bottom line is that it is critical that our Sales and Operations teams work hand-in-hand to deliver an exceptional customer experience if we are to grow our customer base and grow our business. I feel that we have never been in a better position to do so than we are now. I have visited many of our branches over the past year, and I continue to witness and experience a renewed energy between our Sales and Operations teams. However, as good as we may feel we are, we have more work to do. We can’t rest on what we have accomplished. We have to operate in a continuous improvement mode to stay ahead of and outpace our competition. 

The late great coach Vincent T. Lombardi once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” Chasing perfection requires commitment and putting in the hard work, both as an individual and as a team. Be willing to do that, and you’ll win more often than losing. I’m still passionate about this industry, what I do, and, most of all, the success of our business. It’s a great time to work at Red-D-Arc, and the future is bright for the next 70 years!

Mark is confident that Red-D-Arc’s future is brighter than ever, driven by strong leadership, continuous improvement, teamwork, and an unwavering focus on the customer. Red-D-Arc is well positioned to carry its legacy forward, delivering innovative solutions and exceptional service for the next 70 years and beyond.