Stuart C. Irby Co. : Electrical Distributor

Late on New Year’s Eve night, Armstrong in Pensacola had an emergency. Oz Linam, with Moody’s Electric, was called out as the maintenance contractor. Oz tried for several hours with the call-out service for Pensacola to get someone to respond, which no one did. Oz tried for several hours with the call-out service one more time and apparently the service got one of Stuart C. Irby Co.’s Pensacola salespeople, Brent Roberts, at home. Oz let me know how pleased with the level of Irby customer service he received during an emergency and on such an important night.

Mr. Stevens,

I am the president of a local motor controls manufacturing and assembly business in Pensacola. We have the occasion to purchase a fair amount of Hoffman enclosures, motor control components, PLC's and wiring material from the Stuart C. Irby, Pensacola branch. Our inside contact there is a man that deserves all of the credit he can be given and then some for working in a manner that is what is commonly referred to as "Above and beyond the call of duty". This man is Gary Turner. Gary has the attitude that every employee in a company should have. He responds totally to the customer's need without hesitation and will go to extra efforts to ensure complete satisfaction.

Gary has the uneviable task of being our contact for control components and enclosures. We are like probably a lot of other of his customers, we always ask for next to the impossible to be done by our suppliers and we still want to know when can we have it. We have learned since our association with Gary, that we don't have to worry about it if Gary has it on his list of items to do. He has a great understanding of our business and our job requirements and continuously performs at the highest professional level.

As you are well aware, Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties in Florida and other Alabama counties had a visitor blow through the area that really upset the apple cart. Not only were our businesses impacted but our homes as well. I have the priviledge of living in a small remote area of Santa Rosa County that we refer to as "Paradise", with ten other families. It is located on the eastern shore of Escambia Bay. We all live on the bay with our homes situated were when we look out our windows facing the bay, we see the aftermath of the destructive force of IVAN in the form of the I-10 bridge that collapsed. With that in mind, you can well imagine the destruction that took place in "Paradise" from the storm surge.

After the storm, we all got together and started forming a plan of attack on how to restore our homes. Calling adjustors, lining up contractors, renting tractors, etc. My tasks was to find an electrical contractor and work with him to repair our services on our homes. First problem, contractors running up against a shortage of panels, breakers, and powerpaks. We had most of what we needed but were short some items. I knew I had the easiest task of the group because all I had to do was pick up the phone and call Gary. I sent neighbors to see him. I ordered material from him, and he has yet to let me down. He kept me informed as to the status of the material and when my neighbors would go to Irby to pick up material, he made them feel that they were the most important person in the room.

This is not an example of how Gary operates in a crisis situation. This is how he operates on a day to day manner. By far, Gary is the most professional individual in a position likes his that I have had the priviledge to work with. And on top of that, he is a great guy.

Saying all of that, I felt that we all have a tendency to complain when something doesn't go like we think it should, but we never voice our opinion when someone constantly performs at a level of "Beyond the call of duty". That's what this message is intended to do. I hope you and you organization realize what a valuable employee you have in Gary.

Sincerely,

J.L Roy Hutcherson, President

Automation Control Service, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

I welcome Irby Online! Stuart C. Irby Co. has provided me with a tool to simplify my day-to-day procurement business. It allows me to conduct business faster and easier than ever before. I use Irby Online daily for online ordering which uses real-time processing that eliminates delays in filling my orders, viewing open orders, and viewing a full history of past orders. The convenient reorder pad option is great, I simply order by my SKU number and Irby Online links it to the correct manufacturer number that I need. The ability to view inventory levels and cost online at all Irby locations is also a great tool. I’m really pleased that my local sales staff in Jackson, TN introduced me to Irby Online and also the support from the corporate office in Jackson, MS. This system was designed to be user friendly and it is! Stuart C. Irby Co. is a leader in the industry when it comes to taking care of their customers needs, so when Irby Online was implemented it didn’t surprise me that they were the first vendor to make such a useful tool available to all their customers.

- Lynnwood Jackson, Purchasing Agent

Ripley Power & Light Co.

Irby Online enables our company to handle orders via the internet before, during and after normal business hours. Today's construction environment is too fast paced and competitive to spend time calling, faxing, holding on the telephone or sending our electricians to supply houses to pick up material. We simply go online, fill in needed quantities using OUR product lists, or templates, that WE designed (on Irby's web page from our historical orders), hit enter and get our stuff...usually the same afternoon. There is online pricing, availability and quantity in stock-by branch so that, if necessary, while we are ordering, we can substitute or change our order based on Irby's levels for maximum efficiency.

I have often needed to place orders from home (or other locations) or obtain pricing after hours and have been able to easily with Irby Online. Irby Online is the next best thing to having our Irby salesperson standing in our warehouse. In fact, it's even better because every time information is relayed from one person to another there is room for error or misunderstanding in quantity or even the material needed.

This program is in no way a replacement for a knowledgeable salesman or counter man but simply a tool that makes both our lives easier...here's why: you order from your descriptions on your forms and the salesman gets the order in Irby's form (item #'s, bin locations, etc.). You get a copy of your order when you enter it and within a minute or so, you get a confirmation that Irby has received it. Another benefit to using Irby Online is that we can search our account for anything we have ever ordered, or search for, compare and order any product Irby carries, whether or not they stock it at our local branch.

Congratulations to Mr. Jim Beall at Irby who developed this program and to our salesperson Steve Salter (Pensacola) for providing the use of modern technology to make our business more competitive and our lives easier.

D. Mark Cotton, President

Cotton Electric, Inc.

Pace, Florida