Olin
POINT OF VIEW
By Garza Baldwin, Jr.
This company was launched 45
years ago by people who took charge
of events rather than let events over
take them. They decided the time was
right for starting production of
cigarette paper in this country and
that there was a better way to do it.
After
45 Years —
The State
of Our
Businesses
This aggressive attitude put its
stamp on this company and led to an
unending pattern of growth and ex
pansion. This same can-do spirit will
also allow us to successfully meet
the current challenges to the paper
and cellophane industry.
Cellophane has survived a very dif
ficult packaging market in 1982 and
1983. We’ve done it by cutting our
operating and fixed overhead costs,
increasing our productivity in all
areas and maintaining excellent quality.
We reduced the size of our market
ing staff 80 percent without adversely
affecting service to our customers.
We certainly didn’t loose any share of
the market and may have actually
increased it.
I am impressed by the high morale
and fighting spirit of our people in
cellophane marketing and support
operations. Our manufacturing and
technical people have shown ingenu
ity and perseverance in keeping our
film plants producing quality products
at efficient levels.
If the economy continues to
strengthen we are hoping to see an
increase in domestic demand for our
film products for the rest of 1983 and
into 1984. We don’t expect interna
tional sales to improve and they
From The Blue
The Big Apple
For Ms. Susan Aiken, Northeast
Regional Manager for the Ecusta
Paper and Film Group’s printing
paper marketing operation, the road
from the quiet of Pisgah Forest to the
bustle of Manhattan has been excit
ing and educational.
A sixteen-year Olin veteran, Susan
joined Olin’s Pisgah Forest operation
in 1967 as a clerk/typist in the
personnel records department. Hard
work, dedication, and a willingness to
learn started Susan moving into the
area of finance and administration. A
switch to the New Business Planning
and Development team gave her an
in-depth look at the business opera
tion. Impressing superiors with both
job knowledge and creative ability,
Susan was selected to be secretary to
the Director of Marketing, Fine Paper.
This new position initiated Susan
into the world of marketing. For five
could get worse. This is due to the
strength of the U.S. dollar in overseas
markets, which makes our products
prohibitively expensive. The fiscal
problems of many South American
countries are making it almost impos
sible for us to continue to do
business there.
The international monetary situation
is also one of the factors increasing
competition in domestic tobacco
paper sales. Foreign paper producers
can sell their products in this country
at very competitive prices. At the
same time, the cigarette companies
in the United States are finding their
products too expensive for many
smokers in overseas markets. When
our customers sell fewer cigarettes in
export markets, they need less paper
from us.
The excess of cigarette paper man
ufacturing capacity world-wide which
Ridge To
years under the tutelage of Harold
Hellickson, then Director of Market
ing, Susan learned much about the
marketing of Olin’s tobacco products
and printing papers. She proved
a very apt student. In 1978, she
was named Sales Representative-
Specialty Papers.
Susan had become part of the
Ecusta Paper and Film Group market
ing team. Working out of Pisgah
Forest, she began to travel through
out the country calling on specialty
paper users—straw wrap, hairwave
paper, tampon wrap. It was a time for
the exhilaration of getting the order, a
time for the loneliness of being many
miles away from home.
In 1980, Susan was named Ac
counts Manager—Midwest, Printing
Paper in Chicago, a very large step
from the clerk/typist position 14 years
previous. Now traveling in eight mid
western states, calling on over 20
merchants, and handling innumerable
end-user accounts, Susan was truly in
the main stream of field marketing.
This year Susan was named to a key
Olin printing papers field position,
Northeast Regional Manager, which
includes the Big Apple—New York
City.
Susan appreciates the opportuni
ties Olin has given her to grow in her
career and to move into a large metro
area. Asked the key to her success,
Susan quickly answered, “Don't be
afraid to set goals . . . work hard . . .
expect to achieve . . . aim high.” Her
advice to those wishing a career in
marketing, “. . . get an education . . .
keep your mind active . . . and, most
of all, be prepared.” Good advice
from an Olin achiever—Susan Aiken,
Northeast Regional Manager, Printing
Paper. O
we have today is another threat to our
prices and profits.
Today’s demand for quality prod
ucts is another important factor. Our
competition is getting better and bet
ter at producing higher quality
papers. Our customers are becoming
increasingly competitive among them
selves and are demanding more ser
vice and quality from paper suppliers.
What was considered a superior pro
duct one year ago may no longer be
acceptable.
The quality challenge, however, is
also a real opportunity. We have
made remarkable progress in the past
six months in meeting this challenge.
We have been able to do that mainly
because of the outstanding response
and commitment of all our people,
particularly the first-line supervisors
and hourly work force. We have seen
growing awareness and concern for
TRIBUTE TO VOLUNTEERS
Max McCracken — Shoe Man
One Friday last month Max
McCracken took 15 kids to the shoe
store. Each left with a brand new pair
of NIKE sneakers to start the school
year. Without Max’s efforts and the
financial support of the Brevard Elks
Lodge, these children would have
started the school year in shoes
many sizes too small or just plain
worn out. Some may have skipped
school, because they had no shoes
at all.
As chairman of the Elks Shoe Pro
gram, Max has been taking kids to
buy shoes for the past 13 years. On
his days off from the film casting
department, Max travels to all county
schools from T.C. Henderson to Pen
rose. He travels over 800 miles per
year and purchases over 300 pairs
of shoes.
Max works very closely with county
social service counselors and school
officials who are on the alert for
children who need Max’s help. No
quality by individual employees on a
day-to-day basis. We also have
invested heavily during the last
several years in modernizing and
upgrading our papermaking and con
verting facilities. These efforts are
paying off and we have seen our
customers acknowledge the results.
We are not finished. Quality is a
moving target and I don’t think we
will ever be able to reduce our com
mitment and efforts.
We must also maintain our dedica
tion to new product development.
Many recent brand introductions or
cigarette product improvements grew
out of our research and development
programs. These account for signifi
cant sales increases each year. Our
people are currently developing and
perfecting products which will meet
the requirements of a cigarette in
dustry facing increasing government
regulation.
Cost effectiveness is the final com
ponent in our strategy for success. In
creased competition and a high val
ued dollar will make it difficult if not
impossible for us to pass our increas
ed costs to our customers. Our
customers have said they will go to
our competitors if our prices are out
of line. It is vital, therefore, to each
and every one of us who is dependent
on this business that we learn as
quickly as possible how to make the
highest quality products at the lowest
possible cost and shorten the learn
ing curve along which we are now
advancing.
We must excel in quality, product
development and cost effectiveness
and take advantage of the opportuni
ties awaiting us when the demand for
cigarettes recovers in the U.S. market.
We believe that the impact of the
sharp price rise of cigarettes due to
federal and state tax increases and
the effects of inflation will dissipate
by year end. Thus, we hope that 1983
will end on a positive sales curve. It
is doubtful, however, that international
sales will improve until the U.S. dollar
reaches a more realistic value in rela
tion to the other world currencies.
Printing paper demand should contin
ue to strengthen through 1983 and re
main at a high level during 1984. O
child, however, can leave school and
go with Max without written permis
sion from a parent.
Max does more than provide trans
portation to the shoe store and a
ready wallet. Feet are sometimes
washed and most need a new pair of
socks. The ride home usually includes
a stop for a can of pop or a bag of
candy.
The moments Max remembers most
are a little girl’s request to be carried
over a snow bank so her new shoes
wouldn’t be dirty before her mother
got a chance to see them. The only
thank you note Max ever received was
from a kindergartner. Another child
promised to stay in school if Max
would return and buy her a pair
of tennis shoes at the end of the
school year.
These are Max’s rewards, but our
whole community is rewarded by the
time, energy and concern of volun
teers such as Max McCracken. O