MRO Today - The people's choice

Becky Graber
MRO team leader, Copeland Corp.

The Copeland plant in Lebanon, Mo., stresses high speed and high quality in making compressors for exacting customers such as Carrier, Trane and Goodman.

If a piece of production machinery goes down, even for a minimal amount of time, the financial impact can be substantial. That’s why Becky Graber is so important.

“She is the go-to person to find whatever we need fast and get it here,” says MRO buyer Gary Anglehart. “She has mastered the art of finding that supplier who has what we need and can get it here almost immediately.”

Becky’s resourcefulness and ability to care for the needs of those around her occasionally lead to comparisons with a classic television character.

“I’ve been called ‘Radar O’Reilly,’” she says. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Becky says there’s plenty of variables to consider in stocking inventory for this 800-employee plant.

“Price and availability weigh heavily,” she says. “We want to keep our turns high. We don’t want to be sitting on something for too long. But, we also don’t want to be out of something when we need it. It’s a balancing act.”