Appointments: New Brasstech president

Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Zone : Leadership and strategy
Published : 29 Jan 2007 17:54

For newly appointed Brasstech, Inc. President, Ronald “Ron” Foy, signing on with a Masco Corporation-owned company is like a return home. That’s because the veteran executive has a history with Masco that spans a decade. Foy sat at the helm of Masco companies’ Baldwin Brass and Bath Unlimited earlier in his career and says he’s thankful to be back with another of the mega-corporation’s companies.

“Masco’s success is driven by a continuity of philosophy. They have consistently shown a dedication to innovation, industry leadership and management professionalism that makes it possible for them to provide top quality goods and services for the many channels of distribution and consumer audiences they supply. I believe whenever you can be affiliated with great quality, you should be,” explained Foy.

He says the Corporation also has an appreciation of people and family that aligns with his own philosophy. Foy and his wife of 28 years, Kathleen, along with the couple’s three sons, Ryan, Jeff and Sean, have formed a familial partnership of sorts that has contributed to each member’s success. The partnership and its success, Foy explained, rely heavily on the family working together, understanding each other’s needs and hopes while trying to respect the individual priorities each hold dear. By the same account, the new Brasstech, Inc. leader believes individuals within an organization can use a similar model to find success.

“Business is the language of numbers but those numbers can’t be achieved without the organization, which is just many individuals working in concert. Collaboration always produces better results,” he said.

Foy believes that the relationship between the organization as a whole and the individual should be one of reciprocation, with each co-investing in the other. The self-described pragmatist says a company must take the time to invest in its people and help them to understand that they are part owners if it expects those people to invest back in the organization. The Foy business model also holds that senior level executives should push employees to strive for unreasonable goals but should do so without becoming objectionable to the employees.

“Asking for – and expecting to receive – extraordinary results,” he explained, “may force people out of their comfort zones but in the end they’ve grown professionally and they, along with the business and its customers, reap the benefits.”

Another relationship that Foy believes must be cultivated in order for a business to succeed is the one with its customers which, in his company’s case, are the hundreds of showrooms and specialty retailers across the country that carry its solid brass kitchen and bath products. He explained that an organization shouldn’t make decisions that work solely toward its bottom line while failing to increase the customer’s opportunity to grow; the company should care about the sustainability of its customers.

“We always need to be working to move [our relationship] past just that of supplier and distributor. While one of our goals is to deliver goods and services that allow customers to remain competitive, we must also work to the type of decisions that work best for each others goals and objectives. If you work for the quick sale only, you may enjoy a quick fix, but in looking at the big picture,” he said, “you’ve failed.”

Although just a couple of weeks into his new presidential post, Foy has already begun folding his philosophies on customer and employee relations into the long-standing Brasstech, Inc. model of dedication to excellence. Admittedly the company has hit a few unavoidable rough patches in the past year that may have shaken both employees and customers but Foy is certain that in time, confidence will be restored.

“I’m unbelievably optimistic about where Brasstech can go. With Masco’s support and stewardship and our unique position of product value and non-commodity oriented channels of distribution our biggest challenge lies in regaining customer confidence while simultaneously restructuring the cost base in order to return the organization to previous levels of profitability. In general, our customers are committed to our product and design offerings and are comforted by our Masco affiliation. We’ve had the good fortune to use the Masco Operational Services team in the past and I see that continuing while we shore up key leadership positions. In addition I and the executive team are committed to empowering our employees to meet objectives and re-focusing on customer needs. While the overall market still has areas of softness, I see nothing but market growth opportunity ahead, especially as the [Masco] Plumbing platform continues to mature and find ways to leverage each others competencies.” said Foy. Adding, “My passion is to see everyone win. As a leader, my role is to create a team based organization with strong strategic perspective and tactical plans that can be executed for optimum performance. This opportunity gives me that chance, for the people here and for all the Masco stakeholders.”

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