Karthik Chidambaram was recently joined by Adam Derry, President of Field Fastener, on the Driven by DCKAP Podcast. Derry, who is a second-generation family member. He discusses how Field has scaled from 12 employees in 1990 to more than 400 employees across 13 North American locations as well as an office in Taiwan without losing the culture that built it.Â
In this episode they dive into the Fieldamentals framework, front-line empowerment, multi-generational family governance, and what consistent customer retention actually looks like in a fastener distribution business.
Podcast Highlights
Culture as the Operating Variable
Culture is much more than a background condition to Derry. He treats it as the factor that determines whether the company’s 10-year strategic plan succeeds or fails.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast, so we feel like we’ve got a really good strategy, but ultimately culture wins and loses it for us,” said Derry.
That conviction shapes how he spends his time. Derry personally runs a 90-minute Fieldamentals workshop with every cohort of new hires, where he explains the company’s core values.
Furthermore, every individual new team member can also expect to have a one-on-one with Derry within their first two weeks. At Field’s current growth rate, that’s not a small commitment.
The Fieldamentals: From Values to Behavior
About a decade ago, Field decided that it was time for their values to be reflected in their actions.
“We converted our core values into 30 actionable behaviors that we call the Fieldamentals,” Derry said. “Someone in the company writes a weekly reflection, and we talk about that week’s Fieldamental at the start of a meeting. It’s been an amazing bonus to our culture, especially for new team members. It gives them a North Star.”
When asked whether the repetition ever becomes stale, Derry was direct. “Does Michael Jordan stop practicing free throws? It’s part of the regimen, the discipline to always drive for excellence and keep getting better.”
Empowerment as the Customer Love Mechanism
Field’s mission statement is to have everyone who interacts with the company love them. Derry is specific about how that happens at the operational level.
“The people that talk to the customer are the ones that should be making most of those decisions,” Derry said. “Empowerment is a really important piece of driving customer love.”
The results evidently speak for themselves. “We hardly ever lose a customer because our team does a great job taking care of them,” said Derry. “That’s really why we can grow at 18% a year.”
More Information
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About the Driven by DCKAP Podcast
The Driven by DCKAP Podcast is an audio and video show that explores B2B leaders’ stories, digital journeys, and insights on trends in distribution and manufacturing. The podcast is hosted by Karthik Chidambaram, Founder & CEO of DCKAP, who grew the company from a startup to a global team of more than 200 employees. Follow Driven by DCKAP Podcast on YouTube or LinkedIn.
About DCKAP
DCKAP is a leader in digital solutions that help distributors’ systems talk to each other. Its technology simplifies software integrations, e-commerce, and product information management for B2B companies. DCKAP’s flagship product, DCKAP Integrator, helps distributors and manufacturers automate data between ERP, e-commerce, and CRM systems. Founded in 2005, DCKAP is a global and distributed team headquartered in Austin, TX. Visit dckap.com or follow on LinkedIn.
About Field Fastener
Field Fastener is a family-owned global supplier of inventory management, technical support services, and complete supply chain solutions for fasteners and other C-class components serving the OEM market. Acquired by the Derry family in 1990, Field has achieved an average 18 percent annual growth rate by focusing on culture, customer centricity, and a differentiated value proposition built around vendor-managed inventory and engineering support. The company operates 13 sites across North America and maintains offices in Taiwan. Field has been recognized multiple times by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in America. For more information, visit www.fieldfastener.com.
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