Douglas Fenwick on pandemic impact
From Manufacturing Strong with Doug Fenwick · · eLogic
“One of the silver linings for Koppers has been during this pandemic it's placed a lot more people at home and within their own living quarters and there's a lot of make-work projects that are going on right now. Our company makes chemicals for the wood preservation industry and that business has never been stronger.”
On , Douglas Fenwick, President of Koppers Performance Chemicals at KOPPERS HOLDINGS INC, spoke about pandemic impact during Manufacturing Strong with Doug Fenwick on eLogic.
About Douglas Fenwick
In a September 2020 interview, Fenwick stated that Koppers Performance Chemicals was experiencing "historical demand" from home improvement retailers such as Home Depot, Lowe's, and Menards, which he attributed to an increase in do-it-yourself projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that treated lumber was the second-best-selling product at Home Depot at the time, behind paint. Fenwick described the company's supply chain as "tight" and said that while production was fine due to prior capital investments, the company was "scrambling" to meet demand and sourcing materials from Asia, India, and domestic suppliers. Fenwick also commented on the shift to remote work, saying that communication had "never been better" due to the adoption of Microsoft Teams. He described a work-from-home environment where multitasking was common, citing an instance where a participant on a call was heard casting a fishing line, which he characterized as a lighthearted moment.