The Customer Is Always Dead

BCC is particularly sensitive to the needs of people who are looking for something special for a funeral. When a customer calls with an urgent, customized order, the company works double-time to build it and ship it on time. "We'll turn the world upside down for a special order," says Ken Camp. "And although this type of individualized process may not be the most cost-effective way to do it, our customers demand it."

How can BCC be so focused on customization when it produces caskets in such large volume? In part, because it has kept its manufacturing process so low tech. Orders are usually faxed between various distribution points, and the only computers immediately visible in the Batesville assembly plant are a few small, dusty overhead monitors that look as if they could be 20 years old. In fact, there's very little automation anywhere along the manufacturing line.

According to Camp, keeping things "high touch and low tech" enables BCC to strike the perfect balance between speed, change, and customization. "If our operation were highly automated," he says, "we could never satisfy the specific needs of our customers. And we also wouldn't be able to adjust quickly to changes in the market. If you have a big machine that does just one thing, and someone comes in with a great new idea that will require manufacturing changes, the new idea won't happen -- that big machine will only do one thing, and it would take a lot of time and would be costly to change it. We intentionally keep everything less automated so we can implement great new ideas quickly."

In many respects, Camp says, BCC is a company that has to combine the best elements of service and manufacturing -- the capacity to adapt as trends and tastes change in the funeral business. "Whether it's high tech or low tech, the key is rapid response," says Camp. "We always have an ear to the ground and always try to anticipate what the world's going to be like, what's changing, and what's going to be needed. In the end, it's all about listening, being willing to change, and having the systems in place to make those changes."

Lisa Chadderdon (lisajchadderdon@yahoo.com) is a former Fast Company staff writer. Visit Batesville Casket Co. on the Web (www.batesville.com).