| Introduction
—Peter M. Sharpe, President and Chief Executive
Officer, GSW Inc.
As one of the oldest companies in
the country, we have gone through many transitions.
We learned early to never stand still. For more than
150 years, we have relied on our commitment to innovation,
quality, service, leadership and growth to guide us
through fluctuating market conditions. GSW has evolved
and flourished where many have perished because not
only have we embraced change, we learned to lead it.
Over the next year, we will strive
to solidify our position as a major player in the North
American water heater market, taking advantage of synergies
and opportunities for GSW Water Heating and American
Water Heater Company. We intend to grow our building
products division through strategic acquisitions, balancing
the two segments of our business. We are determined
to stay on our course of reducing costs, improving operational
efficiencies, and developing new and innovative products.
Our new senior management team will continue to have
a sweeping impact on all of our businesses. But most
of all, we will foster the all-important relationship
with our customers, focusing on their evolving needs.
By looking ahead and leading change,
we will deliver a promise that is as old as GSW’s
long history of groundbreaking achievement.
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Our promise: We will continually improve everything
we do.
We are committed to improving every
aspect of our business, yielding clearly measurable
results. We will continue to work hard to reduce the
number of man-hours it takes to build each water heater,
to decrease material costs and to raise product innovation
to new heights. While our 99.9 percent on-time delivery
performance is remarkable, it still leaves room for
improvement. We will increase the efficiency of our
shipping process. Our management team will renew their
dedication to customer service and product quality,
while working hard to reduce costs to achieve this quality.
Although American Water Heater Company has posted its
best year ever, we promise never to falter in our commitment
to bettering our business. And we will always keep the
chief beneficiary of our efforts in mind – our
customers. They will continue to receive the very best
water heaters, delivered on time every time.
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Our promise: We will deliver superior customer service.
We will continue to be our customers’
water heater supplier of choice, striving to understand
their businesses better than anyone else. They will
receive customized service and products that help them
to achieve their business goals. We intend to constantly
improve our manufacturing efficiencies and cost structures.
We will develop further synergies with the American
Water Heater Company, exploring a variety of manufacturing,
distribution, purchasing and R&D opportunities.
Despite fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar,
our new leadership team will continue to work hard to
offer the best water heaters at competitive prices,
leading the way as well in new product development and
on-time delivery. And we will reaffirm our commitment
to being responsible corporate citizens, supporting
our employees and their community, just as we did last
year – in the wake of the August blackout, we
reduced our factory’s power consumption by 75
percent and received special recognition from the Government
of Ontario.
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Our promise: We will strive to set new standards for
competitiveness and growth.
We are determined to maintain and
strengthen our market leadership position in manufacturing
vinyl rainware and railing systems. We will strive to
overcome competition and the rising Canadian dollar
by continuing to offer customers the very best service
and highest-quality products at value prices. Following
last year’s unprecedented successes, we will again
embrace a company-wide initiative to reduce costs and
increase productivity. Our motivated workforce and strong
management team will work together – guided by
a shared vision and sense of mission – to achieve
marketing goals and streamline manufacturing processes.
We will seek to secure our long-term future through
a carefully planned program of growth and acquisition.
Building on the foundation laid these last few years,
we will do our best to win new business and solidify
our premier position in the market. We will never stand
still.
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