McArdle Skeath helps keep the wheels of commerce turning
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Business: Set up: 1968 McArdle Skeath Founder: Michael McArdle Turnover: €12m No of Employees: 120 Location: Hollystown, Dublin 15
JUST this past week or so we’ve had Black Friday, Cyber Monday and ‘The Late Late Toy Show’. We’ve been bombarded with reminders that the great Christmas rush has started. Over the next few weeks, the roads will be full of shoppers travelling to and fro doing their shopping. But it’s not just the families that are on the roads and it’s not just about Christmas.
Behind the scenes there is a whole industry that takes care of getting goods from manufacturers to their customers. Without the warehouses and the trucks that manage the physical supply chain, the wheels of industry would stop. From the days when I used to help our milkman in his horse and cart to the sophisticated logistics companies that manage a complex supply chain, the industry has come a long way indeed.
McARDLE SKEATH This week 50 years ago, the McArdle family founded their transport company in Co Monaghan. Starting with one truck delivering potatoes, the company soon responded to requests from customers to provide warehousing services. The next milestone in 1980 was the addition of transport services across Europe, with Michael McArdle accompanying the first continental journey.
Since 1994, the business has gone on to acquire an enviable portfolio of hard-won accreditations that are as long as your arm. Worn with great pride, these awards make up the essential USP that differentiates the company today.
The dairy nutritional, pharmaceutical and medical devices industries have stringent requirements for the storage and movement of goods. Compliance with hygiene, temperature, handling and other standards is critical and a challenge for most logistics companies.
On my tour of the Hollystown facility in Dublin, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the pristine and high-tech premises, from the front door to the back.
Being approved by regulatory bodies such as HPRA, BRC, achieving AEO status and having been successfully audited on behalf of a client by the US Food & Drug Administration is one thing. And that requires heavy capital investment in facilities, temperature control, processes, peo- ple and refrigerated trucks. But keeping the accreditation year in year out is something else.
That requires strict adherence to standards by having a strong culture and a highly engaged team of people. CUSTOMER FOCUS If there was ever a doubt about the importance of customer experience in B2B, then you only have to listen to Micheál McArdle, the second-generation CEO. He humbly outlined his family’s values, which included respect, trust, collaboration and quality. Above all, the customer is key.
This shows particularly in how the business listens to customers. “We have two ears and one mouth, and we use them in that proportion,” he said. This listening has served it well throughout the years. All milestones have been achieved in partnership with its customers, some of whom have been served by the company since the beginning. In frequent conversations with customers, real problems are debated between them and relevant subject matter experts in McArdle Skeath. The added value they bring is in the deep understanding of their customer’s supply chain challenges.
On many occasions such conversations have led to further capital investment in facilities to match customer’s needs. Being a family business with a ‘can-do customer focus’, decisions are made swiftly.
“We have developed a temperature-controlled refrigeration solution for one of our biopharmaceutical clients, whereby we designed a -40°C storage solution, the first of its kind in Ireland,” Micheál added. THE FUTURE As the logistics industry continues to evolve, further automation will present opportunities for increased efficiencies and margin improvement, both for the service providers and their customers.
Orders and deliveries on demand will escalate and logistics companies that can be true partners and embrace this change will win.
The challenges for nutrition, pharmaceutical and medical device companies in particular will grow further, such as the need for segregation to prevent cross contamination in storage.
That’s what McArdle Skeath will continue to specialise in, with plans to expand its facility in Hollystown.
This will enable the company to accommodate a total of 100,000 pallets in the company. With no hint of arrogance, Micheál believes that the company will double in the next three to four years.
Somehow, I believe him.