Profiles in stamping: Steve Peplin

Talan Products CEO Steve Peplin (left) has set a high standard of excellence and ethics and has left an indelible mark on his employees, colleagues, and customers over the course of the 31 years he has led the company. At right, Peplin a few years back. Photo courtesy of Talan Products, Cleveland, Ohio.

Talan Products Inc. has gone years without a lost-day work accident. Literally. As of the publication of this article, it has been 2,119 days since a lost-time injury.

The high-volume Cleveland metal stamping manufacturer has a customer list and a growth trajectory that would intimidate a FORTUNE^® 500 company. The manufacturer started with a $2,100 investment about 40 years ago and realized $40 million in sales in 2016—without acquisitions.

The company’s trophy case is crammed full of awards, and every year they are joined by more (see Figure 1).

Stellar records and achievements like these don’t just happen. They are borne of a rich, values-based company culture. Obviously, that culture didn’t just happen, either. It is sprung from the ethos, aspirations, and ambitions of a CEO who sleeps, eats, talks, walks, and dreams the company he co-founded in 1986.

For Every Generation, There Is …

Talan Products CEO Steve Peplin is a third-generation manufacturer (see lead image). Thing is, he didn’t go into the manufacturing business his grandfather started and his father later presided over. A self-described, fiercely independent nonconformist, he worked in everything else but manufacturing before, during, and after college, where he studied architectural engineering.

“My family had a metal manufacturing company. I did a little work there as a kid. But I was independent and never wanted to go into the family business,” Peplin recalled.

So he indulged in a number of “adventure jobs,” as he called them, as a cowboy, a sailor, a leathersmith making jackets for rock stars, an oil driller, a contractor, and a chef.

Then after firmly defying the path that led to the family business, he and two partners founded a … metal manufacturing company. Talan Products was launched.

“It’s ironic that I ended up in manufacturing. Although I didn’t go into the family business, I ended up following in their footsteps,” he said, laughing his contagious laugh. “I am the son of a son of a manufacturer. I guess it’s in my blood.”

But Peplin started this business on his own terms.

Newfound Appreciation for Manufacturing

Early on Peplin worked as a manufacturers’ representative and then as a distributor. “But people always want to cut you out of the deal. They want to go right to the manufacturer. So part of starting Talan Products was, ‘Hey, if we’re the manufacturer, you can’t go around us now,’” he said.

As the young business grew roots, Peplin came to appreciate industry’s valuable role. “We manufacturers are doing something noble. We create value. We’re not just buying low and selling high; we actually produce something. Everything else is just moving the money around. So that was also my mindset. Manufacturing’s cool.”

Prolific Awards

Of the growth, entrepreneurial, and excellence awards wallpapering the lobby, Peplin said he is especially proud of the Inner City 100 Award, having won it five times and earning a spot in the Hall of Fame. “It’s national and it’s Harvard”; the Weatherhead 100, which honors the fastest-growing companies in northeast Ohio (10-time winner); and the MANNY Award for manufacturing excellence (four-time winner), which the company won alongside conglomerates like Parker Hannifin, GE, TRW, and Eaton.

“When you’re a startup, it’s kind of inconceivable that you’re going to keep growing; now we’re a $40 million company,” Peplin said. He almost didn’t apply for the MANNY. “The companies that won it were the huge guys. To the best of my knowledge, we were the first small company to win it,” he said.

Culture Clinches It

Many companies have achieved financial success, but how Talan does so—not by ignoring ethics, but by embracing them—is the reason this CEO is being profiled in STAMPING Journal^®. Peplin truly believes that the corporate culture he has cultivated is the secret sauce for his success.

“What drives our growth? The culture,” Peplin said. “We’re very values-based. Like everyone else, 20 years ago we wrote a mission statement, went through this process of setting up some values, put it up on a wall, gave everybody wallet cards, and then got back to work. What we did five years ago was not only to write those values—safety, collaboration, tenacity, and respect—we outlined behaviors that support those values,” he said.

“No. 1 is safety,” Peplin continued. “We wanted to make it clear that this trumps everything.

“The second one that I think is really important to our success is collaboration. That is another way to say partnering. We started our company with the concept of partnering, and partnering can be a customer/supplier relationship. Collaboration goes farther. In addition to partnering with our customers, we really have good interdepartmental relations here.

“Tenacity is our third value. It means that we will get it done. We won’t just roll over and say, ‘Oh, it’s hard.’ When we run into a challenge, we work on it around the clock. People want to stay and work until they drop. We have to make them go home. We don’t mind rising to the challenge.

“The last one, respect, basically means ‘Don’t be a jerk.’ Treat others like you’d like to be treated.

“And that’s the kind of culture that you really need. That’s why we’re successful. It’s not me, it’s the team,” Peplin said.

Employer of Choice

Being a company with a stellar safety record, culture of respect, and a solid track record of growth makes Talan an employer of choice. The company’s 75 employees love to work there, and the low, 11 percent turnover rate proves it.

“Working at Talan Products is like working for yourself. You feel like it is your company and you do your best every day because you enjoy what you do,” said Jerry Moore, senior customer service rep. “You receive recognition for what you contribute. Steve and Pete [Talan Products president] treat you like you belong here, and they appreciate you being a part of the company.” He added, “After working here for almost 23 years, I can say that Talan has never lost sight of what makes us what we are—honest, respected, and resourceful.”

Brad Partee, supply chain manager, concurred. “I have only had the pleasure of working at Talan Products for about a year and a half, but one of the main reasons I was drawn to it was the culture. This is an enjoyable and exciting place to come to work.”

“I love hearing that,” Peplin said. “I never stop enjoying it.”

It’s no wonder that the skilled worker shortage barely grazes him. “We have an easier time than our competitors recruiting people. We try to have a lot of opportunities, a lot of workforce development.”

As he continues conversing in his deep, folksy voice, you can’t help but recognize that making money is not what propels Peplin. “I used to think it was getting rich, but I’ve made a lot of money and I still have a lot of drive.”

No, what drives Peplin has to do with doing right by people while achieving excellence and making a difference—that, and the next-gen energy force exploding behind a warm smile.

Talan Products Inc., speplin@talanproducts.com, www.talanproducts.com