Cody Stavig, Kyle Stavig, CEO, Christian StavigNorth Coast Container (NCC), the largest independent steel drum manufacturer in North America, holds this principle close to its heart and delivers the best quality, value, and service to clients. The company’s century-old legacy speaks volumes, positioning it as the most trusted partner for clients with varying and stringent packaging needs. From chemicals, lubricants, petroleum, and coatings to food and beverages, military, and radioactive materials, a broad spectrum of industry verticals trust NCC’s manufacturing and service excellence, testifying to its unique client centric business model.
The journey of this family-owned steel drum manufacturer began in 1917, when George Myers, a visionary leader, founded Myers Container, committed to providing the best wooden barrel washing services. His unrivaled entrepreneurial skills, business vision, and customer-first ethos provided the business with the initial thrust needed to roll its wheels and navigate the storms of time, evolving into one of the leading steel drum manufacturers in North America. Building on the same legacy, values, and principles, the Stavig’s reacquired the family business in 2007 and share a passion for innovation and service excellence, equipping it to cater to various customers nationwide.
Kyle Stavig and his brothers, Christian and Cody, hold the baton of NCC today, representing its fourth generation. This trio’s combined efforts have turned a new page in its history, enhancing operational expertise and facilitating its continuous improvement initiatives to embark on a route of steady and rapid growth. The team’s experience in steel drum manufacturing, coupled with Christian’s corporate development expertise, has allowed it to expand the business by 900 percent, primarily through strategic acquisitions. The Stavig Family’s focus was on acquiring like-minded family-owned businesses specializing in steel drum production, expanding its reach across North America.
NCC’s nationwide reach with redundant capabilities and highly engaged leadership enables it to serve as a reliable, quality, service-driven container partner, eliminating the risk of supply chain disruption and excess costs for clients. The company’s product portfolio encompasses open-head steel drums, tight-head steel drums, ISO export drums, and specialty drums such as salvage and overpack drums, chime band drums, 7A type A steel drums, knockdown steel drums, and intermediate-size steel drums.
Each of its products is designed and developed to meet clients’ specific needs and specifications, ensuring supply chain efficiency and overall value.
A Unique Approach to Quality Assurance
NCC’s commitment to quality is best reflected in its client engagement model, which is rooted in superior craftsmanship and an attention-to-detail approach. The process begins with its team of industry experts collaborating with customers to understand the specific requirements and key business objectives. The insights gleaned are then used to design purpose-built products that surpass the needs and expectations of each client while adhering to necessary quality and safety standards. The firm also goes the extra mile to identify cost-saving opportunities for clients, demonstrating its dedication to ensuring cost efficiency and driving maximum value.
A quality management system guided by ISO certifications (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, etc.) is central to NCCs commitment to product quality. Designed using continuous improvement guidelines, it’s instrumental in systematically evaluating the company’s various products and services, upholding its ability to address client requirements and quality expectations.
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Our accessibility and personalized attention have earned us a reputation as being easy to work with and a preferred partner
NCC also employs it Business System based on the Toyota Production System (TPS), an original manufacturing philosophy known for its ability to eliminate waste and drive efficiency. This complements the firm’s quality management systems and manufacturing excellence by building strong, enduring environments that ensure continuous improvement and process optimization. A time-tested Packaging Supply Improvement Process (PSIP) also contributes to NCC’s operational efficiency. Based on TPS, PSIP presents a nine-step problem-solving process allowing its team to systematically analyze and resolve quality, service, or administration related issues. Each team member is well-versed in properly navigating this process, ensuring a unified approach to problem-solving and finding improvement opportunities.
The team’s problem-solving expertise covers evaluating and understanding various aspects of a client’s interactions with NCC’s products and identifying the best way to unlock significant value for them. Committed to serving clients as a reliable partner, it uses rigorous cleaning methods to wash its containers, ensuring providing the utmost purity and eliminates the possibility of product contamination. This helps save significant time and resources needed for cleaning and inspecting the containers before they are introduced into the value chains.
Additionally, its ability to deliver products on time remains unmatched. The company embraces a customer-centric delivery model where a client dictates the timeline for product delivery.
Promptness is Key
With a wealth of industry expertise and a dedicated team of professionals, NCC adeptly serves diverse client demands.
A recent success best illustrates NCC’s value proposition. It involved a customer struggling with constant supply chain disruptions due to unreliable services from their existing suppliers. They approached NCC for assistance, and it proposed a trial to demonstrate their service excellence. In no time, the team dispatched a truckload of its product to the client’s facility, exceeding their expectations. Impressed by NCC’s quality and on-time delivery, the client decided to work with the team for their upcoming projects, resulting in a long-term partnership. This was a win-win situation, leading to sustained growth trajectories in both their businesses.
This is just one among its pile of successes; the track record demonstrates a remarkable growth of approximately 400 percent within the first year of onboarding a customer, demonstrating the value NCC brings to its partnerships. Client collaborations with the NCC team often result in long-lasting relationships due to its exceptional service, seamless communication channels, and timely responsiveness. They appreciate its ability to address queries and issues within 24 hours. This fosters a sense of respect and appreciation among clients, who receive constant updates on the progress of their inquiries.
Our vision is to be the preferred container supplier for clients by providing the best quality, value, and service
“Our accessibility and personalized attention have earned us a reputation as being easy to work with and a preferred partner,” says Stavig.
Scripting a Sustainable Future
Clients choose NCC as their top preference due to its ability to deliver recyclable products, ensuring sustainability and minimizing environmental footprint. The company adheres to multiple sustainable processes that repurpose, recycle, and reduce the usage of materials and water. Its closed-loop steel drum lifecycle produces 100 percent recyclable steel drums, allowing it to divert hundreds of millions of pounds of material from landfills. As a responsible community participant, NCC also ensures its products comply with necessary regulatory requirements.
Driven by the entrepreneurial spirit, North Coast Container envisions significant growth of the business in the next five years. NCC’s strategic acquisition approach targeting well-established family businesses nationwide remains the cornerstone of NCC’s success vision as these businesses thrive on a culture of customer-centricity and service excellence, qualities the company aims to preserve post-acquisition and foster the next chapter of its growth strategy to solidify its clients success.
