When Australian family-owned steel distributor Queensland Steel & Sheet (QSS) was founded in 1985, it was on the belief that exceptional customer service was the key to business success.
That conviction remains central to the company, helping foster innovation-driven productivity and a diverse, motivated workforce under the watchful eye of second-generation Chief Executive Officer, Cecily McGuckin.
Customer-led digital transformation
From the forward-thinking in-house development of a custom Enterprise Resource Planner (ERP) solution more than 25 years ago, to the more recent enterprise-wide workflow digitisation, identifying opportunities for efficiency improvement is a QSS constant. Cecily says this is viewed chiefly through a customer-focused lens.
“We optimise everything so we can better serve our customers,” Cecily says. “We assess every role in the business, every process and ask ourselves what we can do to save time or minimise error.”
That perspective has helped improve the customer experience for QSS’ manufacturing clients. This includes a real-time notification system providing end-to-end order visibility and supply chain enhancements to plan workflows more effectively.
Cecily says going paperless has also delivered efficiency gains, made possible through continued investment into the ERP system. “It has removed slow and error-prone manual processes and gives everyone in the organisation access to the same data. That means we can make more informed decisions and respond quickly to customer needs,” she says.
The next step for QSS is further developing and integrating HR functionality within its ERP engine, but the company’s investment in productivity doesn’t end with its software. “We regularly look at everything from our fleet and our forklifts as well as phones and tablets. We ask, ‘Is this item at its premium, or is it starting to lag – do we need to look at upgrading?’.
“We invest in modernising equipment in a logical way. We don’t just throw money out there; we make sure we are reinvesting into measurable efficiency improvements that ultimately benefit our customers,” Cecily says.
Positive shifts in generational norms
Cecily thinks the move toward technology investment to improve quality and generate supply chain efficiency is at least partly due to a changing of the guard.
“Every business needs to adapt to technology advances. Whether it’s robotics, improving operating systems or introducing AI – finding efficiency means you’re free to focus on growth and the future instead of fixing problems.
“But there is a definite transition happening, as was certainly the case for me in QSS, where the younger generation that grew up with technology is now really driving its implementation as a productivity enabler,” Cecily says.
There are other generational and societal shifts at play, something Cecily – as a female chief executive in a still largely male-dominated industry – sees, embraces and aims to amplify.
“When I first started in this industry 15 years ago, women were only found in admin roles, and that’s as far as they would go. There’s been some change, but not nearly enough, and it really comes down to what we are willing to accept. It’s easy for people to say, ‘oh it’s a male-dominated industry’, and just leave it at that.
“An industry isn’t largely male because women don’t have the nous or ability, but established attitudes and behaviours can lock people out of opportunities. We really need everyone at every level to help stamp that out.”
For Cecily, this means proactively creating a culture that supports workplace safety, equality and diversity, which she says takes continuous commitment from within a business – or an industry.
This speaks directly to Cecily’s firmly held view that gender has little to do with whether someone should join the organisation. “Hiring decisions should be based on skill, about a person’s ability to do the job, she says.
“It shouldn’t be about whether they are male or female, but the opportunity firstly needs to be available to all. Making that happen starts at the top and filters down, but I think we are seeing a lot more of it, thankfully,” Cecily adds.
