Harsco’s Bell parlays sales experience into shaping steel transport practices

In making transportation decisions for America’s leading grating manufacturer, Lance Bell relies upon nearly two decades of experience in steel industry sales to diligently pinpoint the most cost-effective supply chain scenarios.

Bell, now strategic sourcing manager for Harsco Corp.’s Channelview, Texas-based Harsco Industrial IKG division, previously held positions with Balli North America/Balli Klockner, Marubeni Itochu Steel America, Corus International Trading and Severstal North America. In an exclusive interview with the American Journal of Transportation, Bell offers insights on dealing with challenges such as regulation-exacerbated trucking concerns, as well as discusses what it means to be a fifth-generation Texan sharing simple joys with family. While you’ve been in the steel business for nearly 20 years, you joined Harsco just last December. How is your prior experience in the industry helping you address challenges at Harsco, in the transportation arena in particular? Given my almost 20 years of experience in selling steel, as a steel trader on the import side and as a regional sales manager on the U.S. domestic side, you get to see first-hand how going back 10 or 15 years ago, these costs were pretty minimal compared to where we’re at today. Because of the burgeoning costs in transportation and handling, this component of business has become a huge factor in one’s ability to offer competitive prices and, conversely, purchase steel at reasonable prices. My past experience has caused me to dig a little bit deeper on the side of purchasing and to turn over more stones, if you will, in finding the right partner who can offer the most competitive transportation cost for raw material coming into our facilities and then also for the end products that we ship out. With my prior experience, I understand the importance of looking at all potential options, even if it means not being able to go with one partner or your old traditional partner just because you always have. Although relationships are extremely valuable and important, at the end of the day, we are measured by our profitability. This makes choosing a transportation partner even more difficult, because we cherish our partnerships and our friends, but they do not always offer the best deals. It sometimes makes our decisions even more complicated and challenging for sure. I think that continuing to search for the right scenarios that different businesses can offer will help enhance one’s profitability. They will always have different scenarios, whether it be in terms of routes or in the capacity on trucks and railcars and barges. It is incumbent upon us to be diligent and to look everywhere you can for the most competitive cost being offered. What role does having strategically located regional manufacturing facilities – in Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Indiana and Mexico – play in facilitating cost-efficient transportation? From a raw materials standpoint, down in the Houston location, we’re well-situated to take advantage of imported material, which is not a problem to use in our manufacturing. In Houston, we’re very close to international ports, so these imported products are readily available to us with minimal transportation costs after they come off the vessel. If you look at our Indiana facility, we’re located in a region that is in near proximity to the United States domestic mills. So, from that aspect, we have lower transportation costs to receive our hot rolled coil for manufacturing from our homeland mills. I guess you could kind of look at it as the best of both worlds. There are times in the market when our company is heavily slotted toward import product, and then there are times when the market is sketchy, so it’s to our advantage to be closer to a U.S. domestic mill. Ultimately, we’re able to take advantage of both offerings to meet our company’s fluctuating needs. Conversely, when you look from the product-out-to-the-market standpoint, we do have good coverage to ship our products to our customers where a concentration of the consumption exists, and this is definitely a vital asset to us. Nearby, down in Mexico, grating manufacturers are more scarce, so our business is situated in Central Mexico, which is a sensible location from which to ship out, and the cost is affordable to get raw material in as needed. With so much steel transport being by truck, how are the new federal hours of service rules for drivers impacting Harsco’s transportation operations? The tightness in the trucking transportation has been a challenge recently, and, from what I gather, it has been tough for all industries that utilize trucking for raw material and for transporting out end products. It’s something that makes predictability hard to nail down as far as cost and timing. It’s causing us to work a little bit harder with our planning and calculations in order to bridge those gaps. It affects us negatively with trucks not being on time and arriving late on occasion. In some instances, just not being able to find trucks at the time we need them is another critical pitfall we experience. Primarily where we’re running into issues is with shipping out end product shipping from our facilities and getting them to our customers in an efficient and expeditious manner. What do you find most interesting about the steel supply chain and why? The most interesting thing about the steel supply chain to me is that it’s always changing and evolving. Being successful in our industry requires finding the most competitive cost and yet still having sufficient timing. Additionally, it is vital to stay very engaged with everything going on in the logistics world – and not just what’s happening in one’s own realm of business. Looking at the whole picture and how each sector works together is the key to efficiency, and this makes communication so essential. And then, to add to that, you also must stay on top of the ever-changing big government regulations and laws that seem to be changing a little bit more frequently these days. Keeping abreast of these changes requires a lot of reading and studying, but it is a huge prerequisite for conducting good business. Seeing as you’re a fifth-generation Texan, with degrees from both the University of North Texas and Abilene Christian University, what is it you believe sets Texas apart from every other U.S. state? In Texas, there’s still a fundamental importance on independence and freedom. I think that, while the people from the state are known for being, for the most part, friendly people, we don’t like government to tell us what is best for us. We like to have the autonomy to make decisions on our own, based on where we’re from and on the beliefs that we hold, value and live by. I think that, overall, Texas still exemplifies what America was based on – freedom and the ability for individuals to choose their own destiny. I believe you’re an avid sportsman, so can you tell us what some of your favorite activities are, for yourself and sharing with your family? I love fishing. I would have to say that fishing is, out of outdoor sports, probably my most favorite. I still enjoy freshwater fishing, but, more specifically, I really prefer saltwater fishing. I like to wade-fish in the bays down here on the Texas coast and then also fish offshore from time to time. I also enjoy hunting. I like to go deer hunting and duck hunting and other bird hunting, including dove and quail hunting at times. Most importantly, I like doing these activities with my boys [Max, 14, Beau, 11, and Ty, 8] and kind of teaching them what I’ve learned along the way. Seeing the excitement from them is really neat and fulfilling. I love spending time on the ocean and on any beach. I am an advanced open-water scuba diver, but I haven’t had the time to go down and dive in the Caribbean or in other desired places as much as I’d like to, but that to me is a very special thing. It’s just a whole new world under the sea, with so much to observe and explore. I feel most relaxed under the water, without any feelings of panic or stress, and just filled with peace and an exhilarating sense of escaping from the worldly grind. I immensely love watching my boys as they grow up and participate in different sporting events, seeing them mature and understand the importance of teamwork and how to deal with success and failure. Lastly, I would say I treasure traveling and doing things as a family together [including wife of 18 years, Cynthia], whether we’re going to a college or pro sporting event or traveling to a fun destination like water parks or amusement parks. Sometimes it is the simple things that make life most meaningful.