Phil Cannady This is Me

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1. 1. Features Item : The 24/7 PVF Wholesaler

   www.supplyht.com/CDA/ArticleIn - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/21/2002   Last Visited: 12/21/2002

   "We just say yes, then we hang up and spring into action," says Phil Cannady, owner and president of Mechanical Pipe & Supply (pictured above). "That day we had two trucks in Atlanta. We called and got a bolt, nut and screw manufacturer to stay open," he recalls. The wholesaler arranged for another truck to pick up additional materials by 5 p.m. Cannady loaded the gasket materials in his own vehicle and delivered them to the site.
   ...
   Cannady sat with the plant manager and together they planned the construction inventory. By 12:30 a.m., within 10 to 12 hours of the original phone call, Mechanical Pipe & Supply had dispatched three trucks that delivered the necessary material. Mission accomplished!
   
   "If a customer needs it, we will get it, anywhere in the world," Cannady says. "We know specialty manufacturers. We use our expertise. We have the most knowledgeable employees in the industry."
   
   Cannady stayed at the plant until 1 a.m. that day. He received a phone call from Marlin at about 2 a.m. The industrial plant was up and running the next morning.
   
   "They never gave us a purchase order," he says. "We did it together. When they need additional pipe, valves and fittings, they will look at us for the business."
   ...
   "We said, sure, our trucks run like anyone else's," Cannady says. "Now we know a large number of project managers and site engineers on a first-name basis. More than 600 construction workers are employed on three of these separate jobs. It's like a pyramid. When those people leave and go somewhere else we are right there with them, wherever they go."
   
   The wholesaler does business in 27 states and Mexico from its single branch in Nashville.
   ...
   Cannady says. "Our territory served extends from London to Singapore. We can go anywhere we can fly, drive or walk."
   
   ...
   The company grew from an idea in February 1995 to a multi-million dollar company in one year, Cannady says. He started the company in March 1995 after spending 21 years with Ferguson Enterprises.
   
   He will not disclose the company's sales but says they are at the multi, multi-million dollar level at present and still growing.
   
   Service Available 24/7
   
   ...
   "We get 20 phone calls a day from that customer," Cannady says. "Our product knowledge is so helpful to their engineers."
   
   Cannady doesn't like answering machines and doesn't have an answering service. A sales representative from MPS monitors the 1-800 hotline each night and weekend.
   
   The on-call service also applies to holidays.
   ...
   "We were sitting on the dock at the lake writing up orders, doing a project," Cannady says. "On weekends and at night a lot of industrial plants shut down for maintenance. Our competition goes home and cuts off the phones. We look at that as an opportunity.
   
   "All of our truck drivers have keys to the office," he adds. "The drivers have satellite beepers and are on call 24 hours a day."
   ...
   "They can put their material in the truck," Cannady says. "It saves them a couple of hundred dollars per month. It's not a huge concession, but a little something extra."
   
   ...
   "We'll go into a mechanical contractor's office and tell him he can pick up his order, it will be ready when he gets there," Cannady says. "Our customers don't pay for T-shirts or popcorn. We are in the PVF and industrial business. We will fly or drive in to take a customer to lunch or dinner, but we don't make our money on the golf course or in a restaurant. We make our money on the jobsite where we help the contractor make money."
   
   Cannady says he doesn't believe in distribution centers and other corporate America expenditures. "We strive to keep our business as simple as possible to service all types of customers," he says.
   
   Computerized systems that automatically identify the aisle and bin location for an item when it is purchased enable wholesalers to hire counter salespeople with minimal product knowledge, Cannady notes. The downside to this is that the counterperson may not be able to help a customer who refers to the product he seeks by a slang term used in the field, or someone who doesn't provide the information in the form required by the computer system.
   
   ...
   "We worry about the customer," Cannady says. "Corporate America is training people to be distributors, not salespeople in customer service."
   
   At Mechanical Pipe & Supply, Scotty Marlin, warehouse manager, keeps an immaculate warehouse which enables inventory growth and bin changes to be handled easily and effectively, Cannady says.
   ...
   Phil Cannady, owner/president of Nashville, Tenn.-based Mechanical Pipe & Supply, was born and raised in Nashville. He served in the infantry in Vietnam and was decorated. He proudly displays his service record and awards in his office.
   
   After the service, he went to work for Tennessee Pipe & Supply, a family-owned business. "I swept the floors," Cannady says. "I learned the business from the ground up." After about five years, he was hired by Ferguson Enterprises (Newport News, Va.) to work in its Nashville branch. He spent 21 years with Ferguson Enterprises, 19 years as a branch manager.
   
   He started his own business with a cash investment in March 1995, along with his wife, two daughters and several dedicated employees.
   
   MPS opened its doors in a newly constructed building surrounded by colorful flowers and attractive landscaping. The business has been successful from the outset. It has grown rapidly over the past seven years and the future looks even brighter, Cannady says.
   
   Mechanical Pipe & Supply was nominated by its bank for the 2002 Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Music City Future 50, which recognizes the most successful local businesses.
   
   MPS is proving to be a rising competitor in its industry and a flourishing business for the Nashville community, Cannady says.
   
   Mechanical Pipe & Supply truly represents the American way, he says. "Only in America can you start a company from scratch and transform it into a profitable, multi-million dollar business in only seven years."

2. 2. Features Item : The 24/7 PVF Wholesaler

   www.supplyht.com/CDA/ArticleIn - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/31/2002   Last Visited: 12/5/2003

   "We just say yes, then we hang up and spring into action," says Phil Cannady, owner and president of Mechanical Pipe & Supply (pictured above). "That day we had two trucks in Atlanta. We called and got a bolt, nut and screw manufacturer to stay open," he recalls. The wholesaler arranged for another truck to pick up additional materials by 5 p.m. Cannady loaded the gasket materials in his own vehicle and delivered them to the site.
   ...
   Cannady sat with the plant manager and together they planned the construction inventory. By 12:30 a.m., within 10 to 12 hours of the original phone call, Mechanical Pipe & Supply had dispatched three trucks that delivered the necessary material. Mission accomplished!
   
   "If a customer needs it, we will get it, anywhere in the world," Cannady says. "We know specialty manufacturers. We use our expertise. We have the most knowledgeable employees in the industry."
   
   Cannady stayed at the plant until 1 a.m. that day.
   ...
   "We said, sure, our trucks run like anyone else's," Cannady says.
   ...
   Cannady says.
   ...
   The company grew from an idea in February 1995 to a multi-million dollar company in one year, Cannady says. He started the company in March 1995 after spending 21 years with Ferguson Enterprises.
   
   He will not disclose the company's sales but says they are at the multi, multi-million dollar level at present and still growing.
   ...
   "We get 20 phone calls a day from that customer," Cannady says. "Our product knowledge is so helpful to their engineers."
   
   Cannady doesn't like answering machines and doesn't have an answering service.
   ...
   "We were sitting on the dock at the lake writing up orders, doing a project," Cannady says.
   ...
   "They can put their material in the truck," Cannady says.
   ...
   "We'll go into a mechanical contractor's office and tell him he can pick up his order, it will be ready when he gets there," Cannady says. "Our customers don't pay for T-shirts or popcorn. We are in the PVF and industrial business. We will fly or drive in to take a customer to lunch or dinner, but we don't make our money on the golf course or in a restaurant. We make our money on the jobsite where we help the contractor make money."
   
   Cannady says he doesn't believe in distribution centers and other corporate America expenditures. "We strive to keep our business as simple as possible to service all types of customers," he says.
   
   Computerized systems that automatically identify the aisle and bin location for an item when it is purchased enable wholesalers to hire counter salespeople with minimal product knowledge, Cannady notes. The downside to this is that the counterperson may not be able to help a customer who refers to the product he seeks by a slang term used in the field, or someone who doesn't provide the information in the form required by the computer system.
   ...
   "We worry about the customer," Cannady says. "Corporate America is training people to be distributors, not salespeople in customer service."
   
   At Mechanical Pipe & Supply, Scotty Marlin, warehouse manager, keeps an immaculate warehouse which enables inventory growth and bin changes to be handled easily and effectively, Cannady says.
   ...
   Phil Cannady, owner/president of Nashville, Tenn.-based Mechanical Pipe & Supply, was born and raised in Nashville. He served in the infantry in Vietnam and was decorated. He proudly displays his service record and awards in his office.
   
   After the service, he went to work for Tennessee Pipe & Supply, a family-owned business. "I swept the floors," Cannady says. "I learned the business from the ground up." After about five years, he was hired by Ferguson Enterprises (Newport News, Va.) to work in its Nashville branch. He spent 21 years with Ferguson Enterprises, 19 years as a branch manager.
   
   He started his own business with a cash investment in March 1995, along with his wife, two daughters and several dedicated employees.
   
   MPS opened its doors in a newly constructed building surrounded by colorful flowers and attractive landscaping. The business has been successful from the outset. It has grown rapidly over the past seven years and the future looks even brighter, Cannady says.
   
   Mechanical Pipe & Supply was nominated by its bank for the 2002 Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Music City Future 50, which recognizes the most successful local businesses.
   
   MPS is proving to be a rising competitor in its industry and a flourishing business for the Nashville community, Cannady says.
   
   Mechanical Pipe & Supply truly represents the American way, he says.

3. 3. www.mid-americabancsharesinc.com

   www.mid-americabancsharesinc.c - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/9/2005   Last Visited: 4/21/2008

   Phil Cannady, President and Owner