Coffee Break: Daniel Harms, Optimas Solutions CEO, America
Q: Describe your company.
A: Optimas Solutions is a global manufacturer/distributor and service provider specializing in fasteners and supply chain solutions for industrial manufacturers seeking to improve efficiency and profitability. With deep manufacturing expertise, advanced technology and forward thinkers, Optimas:
• Minimizes supply chain cost and risk.
• Optimizes inventory.
• Enhances operations.
• Improves quality.
Q: Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
A: We continue to invest heavily in our people and are always looking for top talent in an ultracompetitive landscape. One area of particular interest is experienced, cold form machine operators for our manufacturing facility in Wood Dale.
Another significant investment this year is our Distribution Optimization Strategy that West Monroe Partners in Chicago is helping us execute. Additionally, Optimas is investing in new equipment and technology that expands our manufacturing capacity for customers in North America and Europe.
Q: What will your company's main challenges be in the next year?
A: For the distribution side of the business, our focus will be on elevating our execution and helping customers reduce costs and increase profitability. To do this, Optimas will continue to leverage data analytics and technology to influence forecasting, improve purchasing and create efficiencies.
Regarding manufacturing, I continue to see shifts to local and regional plans to assure supply chain continuity. With multiple industries pursuing electrification strategies, the need to engineer new characteristics into fasteners is growing to better meet product requirements.
More than ever, I anticipate manufacturers continuing to require a full-service distribution partner that can offer in-house engineering, sourcing options, inventory management and quality services to achieve their production and financial goals.
Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?
A: Digitization - better insight through data; and Localization - focusing on supply chain continuity by bringing inventory closer to customers.
Q: If you had one tip to give to a rookie executive, what would it be?
A: Start with the basics. Understand your people, process and technology and invest appropriately.
Q: Do you have a business mantra?
A: Efficiency Up! It's the full service we promise to our customers and the value we drive across their manufacturing enterprise - improving operational efficiency and profitability.
Q: From a business outlook, whom do you look up to?
A: Craig Groeschel, Sakichi Toyoda, Bob Iger.
Q: What is one interesting fact about you or your company that most people may not know?
A: Because of our heritage, audiences often view Optimas as a distributor of fasteners and C-Class parts.
However, our full-service offerings include in-house application and manufacturing engineering, sourcing and inventory management, fastener manufacturing and quality services. With 25 distribution centers in North America and another 12 located in Europe and Asia Pacific, Optimas applies local, regional and global strategies to manufacturers' supply chain challenges.
Q: Was there a moment in your career that didn't go as you had planned? What lesson did you learn from it?
A: I have many examples of "learned lessons" based on things not going as planned. Personal mantras I try to make actionable: I have tried to live and teach ... I would rather swing and miss than never swing at all ... there are often greater lessons in things gone wrong then when all go as planned. Create space for people to take initiative, lead and learn.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I spend almost all of my free time with my family traveling or engaged in some type of outdoor activity like hiking, camping and exploring our national parks.
Q: What book is on your nightstand?
A: I'm reading "Lead Like IT Matters" by Craig Groeschel and I love pretty much everything Patrick Lencioni writes.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: How to effectively solve our customers' problems and help them better meet their production challenges. The past couple of years have been exciting. Optimas retooled its processes to elevate our execution for customers. This continues to be a primary focus for our teams.
Q: If you were not doing this job, what do you think you would be doing?
A: Great question. I'm at the point in my life where I need a mountain to climb. I'd have to find the right one. The opportunity to help lead people to maximize their ability and drive organizational change is what fuels my passion every day. Leading change is challenging but incredibly rewarding when vision meets execution to deliver results.
Q: What was your first paying job?
A: I spent most of my adolescence playing sports, so my paying jobs were always working on my uncle and aunt's farm in eastern Tennessee. Very few people work harder than farmers. The value of hard work was instilled in me at an early age.
Q: If you could put your company name on a sports venue, which one would you choose?
A: It would probably be a baseball field because it takes a team to win a game and a team to deliver our solutions. You have to get up every day, be focused and diligent on what needs to get done, to experience success.
Q: Two people to follow on Twitter and why. (besides your company)
A: I pretty much stick to LinkedIn for social and recommend following Patrick Lencioni for his practical insight and to remain connected between books being published. I'm also a big fan of Harvard Business Review. These provide big- and little-picture views that I find helpful to remain focused on the right things.
Daniel Harms
Optimas Solutions CEO, Americas
Optimas Solutions
1441 North Wood Dale Road, Wood Dale, IL 60191
(224) 999-1000
optimas.com
Industry: Fasteners
Annual revenue: $627 million (2021)
Number of employees: 1318
Age: 46
Family information: Married with three children