In August of 2006, Yakima Products appointed Jerry Heinlen, a long-time executive in the tool industry, as the company’s new CEO. Over the past six months Heinlen has been learning the ropes of the new business, and getting to know the various industries where Yakima is a key player. 2006 was a year of transition for Yakima, with a new headquarters in Portland, Ore., a new team in place and new leadership. Heinlen has since implemented a number of initiatives to drive growth in the business while at the same time meeting the needs of Yakima’s retailers and end consumers.

One of the key initiatives is Yakima’s manufacturing and supply chain. The company has initiated lean manufacturing processes in their factories, a new internal sales and operations process that ensures the company has the right inventory in the right place at the right time, and they have expanded their sourcing and purchasing efforts. In addition, Heinlen will be working up the supply chain to distribution and improving the link between Yakima and its retailers.


“We also are working on changing our distribution footprint. We currently distribute out of one warehouse in the middle of the country in Memphis, but we have to ship product from the west coast out there sometimes just to be shipped back. We’ll be changing that in the future,” he said.


Yakima will also be taking a new look at their marketing, merchandising and communications strategies moving forward.


“Coming from outside the rack industry, I get to take a fresh look at this, not only as a player in the industry, but also as a consumer. Compared to a lot of consumer categories, a rack purchase is complex because of all of the various parts and the issues with vehicle fit. It’s also complex for a retailer to sell. There are lots of parts to stock and sell, so our supply chain is critical and then communication,” Heinlen said.

While the look and feel of Yakima’s marketing campaigns will maintain its same edginess, the company will focus more on making the purchasing decision easier for the end consumer. Mike Steck, Yakima’s Sr. VP of marketing explained, “We are looking for innovative ways to communicate with the consumers.


“It started off with our viral films like Speedy Piñata. Now it’s moving into The Coach, which is kind of a meeting place for our audience. We are looking to use this individual as a way to communicate the focus of getting outdoors and do it in a way that is irreverent and fun in the Yakima style. Its all wrapped around making the process of buying a rack sweet and easy,” said Steck.

Yakima is also rolling out their new environmental campaign, Planet Payback. Currently, the company is using up to 100% recycled paper and water-based dies to prevent pollution; not using white cardboard, which uses chlorine; and recycling lock core packages sent back by customers. In addition, Yakima’s cargo boxes are made of up to 80% recycled ABS plastic. Yakima will also be offsetting 100% of their carbon emissions through Carbonfund.org.

“We will start with providing carbon neutral products starting immediately. By the third quarter of this year we will also incorporate our office operations to be carbon neutral,” said Heinlen. “We’ve always been very focused on promoting that outdoor playground and making sure that it is supported, because it’s not replaceable. Our consumers depend on it, our business depends on it, and it’s a personal priority for us as well as a professional priority. We will first work to reduce whatever we can, then continue our efforts and even expand them in recycling, and what we can’t we want to offset.”

While Heinlen admits the company has seen some difficulties over the past year, he is already seeing the benefits from these initiatives. “A lot of the story around the industry regarding Yakima in 2006 was that we hit some rough spots. I know that in the first half of the year there were some weak deliveries, some delayed launches, and some inconsistent product availability. The last six months of these initiatives has put us in an excellent position for 2007,” said Heinlen. “We made some changes in our logistics system and our transit times are shorter, and today I believe 75% or more of our products ship the same day. We’ve also cut our transit times in half.”

Going forward, Heinlen sees Yakima maintaining consistent growth and he sees most of the opportunity for growth domestically, through Yakima’s core distribution channels. After that, the company will let their consumers guide them to the next opportunity.