A letter from ASW Global CEO André Thornton

Welcome to ASW Global 2011. It is my pleasure to send this annual personal note to re-acquaint you with the full range of services available at ASW Global, LLC. At ASW, we are excited that we have successfully weathered the worst of the economic downturn, relying on our strategic plan to give us focus and direction. Like all good business plans, it was a road map, not a rule book, and the plan guided us through the economic turbulence of the last few years.

Good companies are resilient companies and like most good companies, ASW had many positive outcomes despite business challenges . The primary and most important outcome was ASW’s ability to design and deliver new services for long term loyal clients as well as for new clients who required innovative processes to unacceptable practices. There are many existing clients to whom we owe a thank you for the loyalty and trust demonstrated by allowing us to solve significant issues, often in uncharted territory. We also gained new clients facing interesting situations that allowed us to design innovative solutions for some new as well as old pain points. The 2010 year was an ideal time to demonstrate ASW's ability to be a supply chain solutions company.

As I reflect on the progress made in 2010 against the ASW’s strategic plan, I would highlight just a few of the many successes:

Of course we intend to share past success with a new and diverse client base. It is not our intent to settle for repeating success. We continue to look at the changing face of business and the ever increasing pressure on supply chain management. Therefore, we see some genuine opportunity to expand in exciting ways. Some expansion opportunities that we are assessing at this time include strategic partnerships, product distribution, and outsourced services to aerospace industry. The strategic partnerships will allow ASW to be full service partner providing MRO services and industry solutions from sourcing to installation. Product distribution will focus on Biobased products facilitating compliance to industry or government mandates. ASW has prior experience with outsourced contract manufacturing so it is logical that new outsourced opportunities include light assembly, stamping and fabrication services.

Geographic expansion continues to be part of the ASW strategy. Our strategic plan seeks to fill the gap in regions where logistic solutions are weaker and demand for service is increasing. Economic expansion must serve our clients’ needs, not ours. So it is our ability to understand our clients’ strategies that will allow us to build shared solutions serving multiple industries at reduced cost. Expansion into Southeast U.S. remains the likely location given the expressed interest to date. ASW Global has a long term commitment to education, job creation, and regional stability. ASW’s promotion of corporate citizenship coupled with strategic expansion may result in establishing facilities where the public and private sector have united in a commitment to jobs, diversity, and economic expansion.

We continually look for new ways to deliver exceptional service. Thank you for considering ASW Global in the past. Let us be part of your future as well. All the best to you and your employees in 2011.

André Thornton

 
Andre Thornton
André Thornton,
President and CEO.
 
 
Video - Executive Chatter with André Thornton - 2008-01-30
*Courtesy of Crain's Cleveland Business