September 2022
Hello All,
It’s newsletter time again! There is much to talk about this month especially with our latest acquisition of CareSight and how it fits in the big picture of where we are going as a company.
August was a good month for Lone Star Communications Companies finally. This has been a long time coming with the woes of 2022 with Covid, supply chain issues, and people shortages. The shortages for product have been challenging to say the least. It is not only Rauland. Just about every other supplier has had issues. We are looking at all the projects in house and seeing exactly what we need and when it is critical to have material delivered so that we can install it in time for finalizing the project, TDH inspection, or whatever deadline we have. We are working with Rauland on when these items must be delivered. Rauland and other suppliers are prioritizing when these items will be shipped with the plan to get them to us in time for our needed installation dates. A whole new meaning to JIT, just in time delivery. Some of the dates have been missed and that leads to delays and upset customers. This is unfortunate, but that is what we are dealing with these days. We will get these projects done, but we are at the mercy of the suppliers and not able to complete until we get the equipment. We have used some substitute vendors for certain products, but there is no replacement for the Rauland products.
We have one of the biggest backlogs with Rauland we have ever had, well over 10 million, and they are working hard to make sure Lone Star Communications, as well as all distributors, are receiving the equipment that is critical to their customers and projects.
As you know, we have had the need to hire employees. As discussed in the Town Hall today, we are about where we were last year at this point in the total number of employees. We had 265 in August of 2011 and today we have 269, up by 4. Add to that, we hired 9 in August that are not in that count and we have 3 more finalizing paperwork so far in September. We are making progress, just not as fast as we need or would like. We continue to keep this a “Rock” and on the top of the initiatives.
The question is, why are we in need of 50 people right now if we have a few more than last year already? Growth. We have had an incredible 1st and 2nd quarter for sales, and the company will grow by more than 5 million dollars in revenue in 2022 and our backlog supports an even bigger growth if we can get the equipment. We need to hire people now, get them trained on equipment we are going to have them install or support, or train them on internal procedures, so that when the equipment starts to flow, we can continue to provide the right people on the right projects. Competent technicians, installers, and service personnel as well as internal project managers and so forth. There is a big shortage of qualified people for our positions, which is normal, so we will train them to do what they need to do. We look first for fit or attitude and second on their skillset. We can teach the skills; you can’t teach attitude. We will continue to look for the right people that fit our culture. If you know of someone, please recommend them to apply at Lone Star. www.lonestarcom.com/careers
We had a discussion on the value CareSight will bring to Lone Star Communications on the Town Hall. This product is the key to Lone Star’s total solution, and we will be using CareSight, Vizibli, IOW and Helpp.ai along with Responder 5 and Responder Enterprise for our total solution. This package solves a lot of the problems hospitals face every day: fall risk, communications and information about and for the patient, and alarm management are the major issues that we hear from clinicians. It is our plan to solve these problems in the most cost-effective way possible making it possible to provide these solutions to all hospitals, not just some. And now that we have this solution together and proven over the next few months, we would like to see the SD6 and later, all Rauland distributors promote the same set of solutions. This will make the solution package stronger if it is available to all facilities through their local connection, the Rauland distribution network. The Rauland distribution network consists of the best of the independent companies, like Lone Star, that provide these types of systems and services. This will require that we are ready to help other companies implement these solutions via training and Professional Services.
The future is so bright, you gotta wear shades…We have a lot of solutions, ideas, and willingness to make all of this happen. Thank you for all you do for Lone Star Communications. You really are the key to making Lone Star the best of the best and we appreciate your commitment.
Until next time, Ray
- Ray Bailey, President