Shari Blackburn started with Missouri Valley Steel sale team in December 1994. She transitioned to the purchasing department and will be retiring in June 2017 after almost 23 year of service. We interviewed Shari on her experience with MVS.
Owen Industries: What did you value most about you experience working at MVS during your many years of tenure?
Shari Blackburn: The close friendships that I’ve made with my co-workers. I’m always happy working here and have enjoyed my job and the people.
OII: What do you consider to be the most significant change that helped the company grow?
SB: The invention and creation of the Slagger Table, MVS just sold their 1000th table!
OII: Do you recall a past project that challenged the team? One of those “They said it can’t be done” projects?
SB: The implementation of the SAP Computer Software. This made my job 100% easier to trace and track orders.
OII: What do you think the future has in store for MVS and for Owen Industries?
SB: I think it’s a very bright future, hopefully the Slagger will go international and help the company grow.
OII: What’s different from the way things were done your first day on the job from the way they are done now?
SB: When I started, inventory was done by hand and recorded in books. Now everything is computerized. There was no cycle counting, adding this has eliminated yearly inventory. This saves a great deal of time.
Shari and her husband have a 1969 Firebird, they plan to spend time going to classic car shows after her retirement.
