Top of the Chain with Kyle Guillot

with Kyle Guillot CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FENCING SUPPLY GROUP

Kyle Guillot is chief operating officer with Fencing Supply Group, the largest wholesale distributor and manufacturer of fencing and outdoor living supplies in the U.S.
He oversees supply chain, manufacturing, pricing and product line management and national accounts.

FSG has acquired many companies under its umbrella, including Binford Supply, Merchants Metals, Capitol Wholesale, Sharon Fence, Cedar Supply, Specialty Fence Wholesale and others. Guillot shares how the company stays connected to its customers, along with a current look at supply chain issues, and how he likes to recharge his batteries.

What was your career path?

I grew up and went to school in Texas and came to work for Merchants Metals right out of college in 2002. I started in a management trainee rotational program in Phoenix, Arizona, learning the business from the ground up: pulling orders in the warehouse, loading trucks and then taking on progressively more responsibility doing inside and outside sales over a two-year period.

I was then given the opportunity to move to California and take on a branch manager role. Of all the roles I’ve had in my career, this one was the most impactful. For us, our branches are where all the action happens and where we make the most difference for our customers. The lessons I learned in this role stick with me even today.

From there, I had a variety of roles exposing me to every facet of the business and eventually, I served as president of Merchants Metals in the early days of FSG formation. Today, I am chief operating officer of FSG, working to support all our branches.

Did you follow the career path you anticipated, or has it been different than what you expected?

I didn’t anticipate that, when I took the job out of college, I’d still be here over 20 years later. This company and this industry have been incredibly good to me. I didn’t expect this career path, but I wouldn’t change anything.

How many locations and employees does FSG have?

We are growing so fast, acquiring and opening new locations all the time. At this moment, we have 72 locations and 1,200 people.

With such a large company as FSG, how do you stay focused on the end customer?

We stay in touch with our customers by spending time in the field. We encourage and require all our associates to do this often. While we are a large company, our business happens locally at over 70 locations across the company. We win or lose every day based on the customer experience we deliver in each of those local branches.

For those of us who don’t work in a branch every day, our job is to support those locations in a way that improves the customer experience. To do that, you must understand the challenges our customers and our branch employees face every day. The best way to do that is to spend time shoulder to shoulder with our local teams.

With so many acquisitions in a few years, how does FSG foster a sense of community among the businesses?

Every acquisition comes with their own culture and way of doing things. Many times, that culture is a big part of why customers choose to do business with them, so we want to make sure to preserve that.

At the same time, it is important to us that we build an FSG culture that has at its core, a sense of community and belonging. With so many locations across a broad geography, we are trying to be intentional about how we do that, and it’s all about connecting people.

We connect our teams in a variety of ways: new hire video calls with our CEO, frequent site visits and a disciplined process that brings folks from across the company together to solve our biggest challenges in a collaborative way, just to name a few.

As a supply chain manager, what is your current snapshot of the manufacturing and flow of supplies?

Things are better than they were during the height of the pandemic, but the situation still seems fragile. Demand has been softer across the industry over the last several quarters and, although we would have preferred demand stay robust, it has given us all some breathing room to shore up our supply chains. The real test to see if things have improved will come when demand returns to more normal levels.

What were some of your pivots regarding supply chain during the last few years when things were chaotic for many companies?

For us, the main pivot we made was strengthening our capabilities in supply chain by adding some great talent and arming them by investing in technology. The timing was fortunate for us as it coincided with our buildout of a central support group for all our companies as part of FSG.

We have built two teams. The first is focused on purchasing, vendor management and optimizing our spend across product line categories. The second is focused on daily execution of PO’s and assisting our branches to manage inventory levels to ensure we can meet our customers’ needs at each branch. To do that, we have invested in business intelligence tools and other forms of technology that are allowing our teams to have information at their fingertips to support the best possible decision making.

What are your professional goals in the next one to three years?

I love what I’m doing at FSG. When I think about the next one to three years, my professional goal is simple: to keep growing and building this company in a way that provides even better support to our local branches as they take care of the thousands of fencing contractors across the U.S.

How do you juggle the number of responsibilities on your professional plate?

I am fortunate to have a great team around me and a supportive family at home. We are all moving fast to build FSG into the vision we have for the company and that can be stressful at times. But we have a team that looks out for one another and isn’t afraid to jump in and help when we see a teammate who needs it.
The same for my family; my wife and daughters are incredibly supportive and that makes a huge difference when things get hectic.

What do you most enjoy about your job?

It’s always been the people for me. This industry and this company are filled with some of the best people I’ve ever been around. As we grow, I find myself
surrounded by even more talented and genuinely nice people every day, it keeps me energized.

What is a little-known fact about you, professionally or personally?

When I’m not working or attending one of my daughters’ many activities on the weekends, my family loves to escape to a little place we own in the country
outside of Houston. Having some time to work outside, mow on the tractor, and just enjoy the peace and quiet is how I like to recharge my battery.