Spring Air CEO: New team is 'the best'
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, November 12, 2007
Elk Grove Village, Ill. — Bob Hellyer, CEO of Spring Air, says his senior management team is "the best I've worked with" in 25 years in the industry.
It's a team with more than 100 years of experience in the mattress industry, and Hellyer admits he can best help the team by letting its members stay focused on their jobs.
"The best thing I can do is to remove obstacles from the management team so that they can do what they do best," he said. "The role of the CEO in the bedding industry today is to manage the financial sponsors."
That is H.I.G. Capital, a private equity investment firm that provided the equity funding for the merger that led to a consolidated Spring Air organization.
Hellyer is the conduit for H.I.G.'s financial questions about the business, he said.
His most significant achievement in his first 100 days on the job, he said, was "putting together the senior management team. It is the best management team I could assemble."
Hellyer has worked with some key members of the team at Simmons, which he left as president two years ago. For example, he has 14 years of experience with Kevin Damewood, executive vice president of sales, who formerly worked with him at Simmons. Hellyer described Damewood as "the hardest-working individual I've ever encountered. The value he brings is that he challenges everything I do. That helps us keep refining our thought processes and our creativity."
As the leader of the sales force, Damewood "brings structure to a sales force that has never really been held accountable for pricing. We were everything to everybody, and master of nothing," Hellyer said.
Reporting to Damewood are three divisional vice presidents — Charles Dietiker, Chad Megard and Eric Jent — that Hellyer called "the dream team." He added: "All three are capable of assuming my duties. They are future leaders of companies in the bedding industry."
Hellyer also worked with Allen Podratsky, who has been named senior vice president of supply chain management — a new position at Spring Air, and a critical one, as the company aims to dramatically pare its number of vendors.
In the old Spring Air organization, Hellyer said, the plants did their own purchasing. The current vendor structure looks like this: 14 ticking vendors, seven foam suppliers and six innerspring suppliers. That will be pared down to four ticking suppliers, two foam suppliers and one innerspring supplier, Hellyer indicated.
Why make those changes: "Our vision strategy is: Quality, service and value," Hellyer responded. "There is no way we can achieve the quality standards we want if we are using every supplier associated with the bedding industry."
Another key member of the senior management team is Ron Lueptow, chief financial officer, a "consummate professional" who has experience working with private equity companies and is leading the drive to put all plants on a common computer system. "That will be a huge step in our push toward quality," Hellyer said.
Jan Wettergren, senior vice president of manufacturing, is leading a best practices push in the factories. He also has the challenging job of capturing "synergies," a benefit often touted in mergers, but one that is hard to realize. "They are there," Hellyer noted, "but you don't just snap your fingers to get them."
Greg Moore, senior vice president of human resources, is another member of the senior team. "Spring Air didn't have a human resources person," Hellyer noted. "There was no HR manual or policies or procedures." Moore, who also worked with Hellyer at Simmons, is addressing those issues now, and will give the company a solid HR footing, Hellyer said.
Also on the senior management team is Richard Fleck, vice president of merchandising. A 17-year Spring Air veteran, he is "strong in product development and merchandising, and he knows you have to merchandise to the retail sales associates," Hellyer said. He has been heavily involved in the development of Spring Air's revamped product lines, which are now being shown to retailers from across the country.
Damewood, who has almost 30 years of mattress industry experience, said the senior team is a standout. "The new Spring Air has assembled the most experienced management team in the industry," he commented.
Hellyer resigns as Spring Air CEO
09/10/2008Hellyer leaves Spring Air
09/14/2008Spring Air appoints Cumbow COO
08/31/2008Hellyer builds on family legacy
11/14/2007Spring Air hires Spitzer, Frame
07/06/2009
