A Manager with the Right Attitude

When Rustin Myers first joined the in-plant at Grocers Supply Co. his top priority was changing attitudes. From there, he went on to increase productivity.

By Kristen E. Monte

UPON HIS arrival at Grocers Supply Co., Rustin Myers quickly realized that the in-plant was neither productive for the parent company, nor service-oriented for the customer.

"I came from the environment where you have to be customer-oriented," says Myers, senior printing services manager of the 26-employee operation. "Once you start helping people, they want to use your services."

For the past 17 years, that's what he's been trying to do at the family-owned Houston-based company.

Myers was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and began his printing career at the in-plant of a local oil and gas company, C.E. Lummus Engineering.

"It was one of those accidental decisions that set the stage for my whole life," says Myers. "The shop was a combination of offset and blue line printing. I learned the art of printing on small duplicator presses and walk-up copiers."

Myers stayed with the 15-employee shop for about three years, soaking in the printing process, along with an ammonia-saturated atmosphere—the stuff of lawsuits in today's working environment, he quips.

In 1976, Myers uprooted his life and headed to Canada, drawn by the lure of snow, clear water and mountains. He worked for a small commercial printer in Edmonton, Alberta, and also took positions as a welder and a ranch hand. The cold weather eventually got the best of him, and he returned to Texas. He did leave Canada with one good thing though: his wife Kathleen.

Upon his return to Houston, Myers looked to get back into printing. He was able to secure a position with Minuteman Press, getting re-acquainted with his craft as its sole printer. After three years, Myers longed for the in-plant environment and obtained a pressman position with Grocers Supply Co., in 1988.

"When I first arrived at Grocers Supply we were in a building that was once a grocery store or something, it was a ragged affair for sure," recalls Myers.

"The shop personnel were like many of the in-plants of that time; people whom, for one reason or another, had angered the gods and been exiled to the printing department," recalls Myers. "I think I was the only one who had actually, willingly chosen to be a printer."

The four-employee shop provided Grocers Supply Co.—a wholesale supplier of groceries—with office forms and its customers with order books.

The shop operated with two A.B.Dick 360s, an A.B.Dick 9810, an Itek electrostatic camera and a C.P. Bourg collator.

Within a year, Myers was promoted to lead printer, then advanced to supervisor in 1990. Three years later he was named manager of the offset printing operation. In 2001, data printing services and retail label printing services were added to his responsibilities, fulfilling his goal of combining all the company's printing services into one department.

"I think the very first change I brought to the department was a change of attitude," says Myers. "My late father had taught me that any work that was honest was work worth doing with all your heart."

After the attitude adjustment, Myers set his sights on grander goals: insourcing. The in-plant had a lot of capacity, so it started taking outside work. With the profits, it purchased better equipment and improved the whole dynamic of the shop.

"The idea of insourcing was a hard sell because we don't sell printing, we sell groceries," says Myers. But his manager was very supportive and he eventually got the green light.

In January 2004, Myers started what was to be one his most successful project to date: the Ad Print Plus program. The Ad Print Plus program provides newsprint ads for the company's customers at a reduced cost. The program is a partnership between Grocers Supply and a local print provider.

"Through our program we have been able to offer our customers a higher quality ad at a lower cost," says Myers. The success of the Ad Print Plus program has played an important role in the continued growth of the department during the last year, he says.

Myers is researching equipment to justify bringing the ad layout process in-house and hopes to make a proposal in the next year.

His other challenge—upgrading to digital—was met last year with a little help from Xerox.

"I worked with Xerox to upgrade the front ends on all our digital printers so they could share info and act as a backup in case of an emergency," says Myers.

Myers says he would like the shop to get into four-color, full process printing once the market is there. It currently runs a Xerox DocuTech 6180, a 6100 and a DP 180, along with a DocuColor 6060, a two-color Ryobi 3302 and a 2800, an A.B.Dick 9810 and a four-color Didde web .

The 26-employee shop now prints proposals, marketing materials, business cards, books and promotional items for Grocers Supply and for some outside companies.

Myers says he doesn't ever underestimate the support of his management and his crew for his and the in-plant's success.

"I have great support from those I work for. That would include my wife. And great support from those I work with," says Myers. "The family owners of Grocers Supply also have always given me all of the opportunity I could handle."

Myers takes pride in the fact that, after 17 years on the job, he has never had to lay off an employee.

"It is a challenge to keep the department profitable and productive, so we can all have jobs," says Myers. "I do my best to ensure there is steady employment for those employees depending on me."

Myers has been married for 25 years and has two children, Tim, 21, and Melissa, 14. His hobbies include playing acoustic guitar, woodworking and reading.