Temple-Inland’s technical services team has one goal: to ensure that each customer’s expectations and requirements are fully understood and communicated, while providing them products that meet or exceed their expectations.
This tall order is just part of a day’s work for dedicated technical services managers of industrial particleboard, Chris Russell and Todd McKinney.
“Simply put, we are the voice of the customer”, said Russell. “It’s our responsibility to convey our customer’s current and future needs and expectations to the plants.”
“We have built strong customer relationships,” said McKinney. “They know they can depend on us, and that level of trust keeps them coming back to Temple-Inland.”
The success of the technical services team is a collective effort, which also includes various account managers, plant process improvement directors and applied research center personnel. Together the team is responsible for responding to quality control issues involving the industrial particleboard line and establishing continuous-improvement programs for customers.
“The entire Temple-Inland team really is the best in the business”, said Russell. “Our plant personnel are knowledgeable about our customer’s processes and specifications and do a superb job in making consistent, quality products.”
The pair also attributes the team’s success to Temple-Inland’s technically competent and knowledgeable account managers, as well as the excellent operations and sales and marketing teams.
“We are all constantly striving to improve our operations and service, provide our customers with greater value and to be the very best we can be,” said Russell.
Chris Russell joined Temple-Inland in 1972 as a quality control technical when the Diboll plant was a mere six months old. While working full time, Russell earned a BS from Stephen F. Austin University with a double major in history and political science. He worked as production superintendent, then production manager in Thomson and was the plant manager in Monroeville. He has held his current position of technical services manager since 1996.
Todd McKinney has almost twenty years of experience in the industry. He has held positions such as quality control supervisor, technical director/environmental coordinator and technical services manager for several companies before being hired by Temple-Inland in 2000 for his current position of technical services manager. He holds a BS in wood utilization and an MBA from Louisiana Tech University.
Both Russell and McKinney enjoy the challenges they encounter each day in technical services. But for them, the job is really about their customers – and providing them with the very best products, services and answers to technical questions possible.
After all, giving Temple-Inland’s customers a “voice” is all in a day’s work.