President of Maguire Products, receives SPE Business Management Award

02-Apr-12

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) has presented its Business Management Award to Steve Maguire, the president of Maguire Products, Inc. and a pioneer in the field of plastics auxiliary equipment systems. SPE presents the award to one industry leader annually. Mr. Maguire received this year’s award during the Sunday night NPE2012 Opening Gala. “Steve built Maguire Products into a leading worldwide plastics auxiliary equipment company by supplying machinery of his own design that has transformed the way manufacturers manage raw materials and meter them into processing machines,” said B. Patrick (Pat) Smith, vice president of marketing and Sales. “He has succeeded because of his determination to make auxiliary equipment simpler, more reliable, and easier to operate, and he has achieved these goals by completely re-thinking the design of this equipment, developing his own unique operating concepts, mechanical systems, controls, and software.” In Steve Maguire’s business philosophy, product design is the most important consideration in that better products are the key to growth. “Slow, reasonable, and sustainable growth is what we work toward,” Mr. Maguire has noted in discussing his company. “We invest in more manufacturing space to make operations simple and efficient, because more space means less wasted motion, less movement of goods. We carry sufficient inventory so that production is smooth and uninterrupted, goods are always in stock, and customer orders are filled quickly. Purchasing and production are not driven by computer reports or projections. Instead we have a ‘visual’ inventory system that is simple to understand and implement, making it easy to decide when to order parts and when to build stock.” The human factor is critical, according to Steve Maguire. “There has to be genuine respect for all those involved in our business—our employees, our suppliers, and of course our customers. All have mutually shared interests. It is easy to see that with everyone pulling in the same direction, it is hard to fail.”