Thymly Products with Paula Linton, Purchasing & Logistics feature 115 of Together Talks

KLS
Mar 26, 2024
6 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

"Together Talks" feature 115: Thymly Products presented by KLS, freight company

Some Background on Thymly Products

Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the opportunity to interview Thymly Products and Paula Linton, Purchasing & Logistics. Thymly Products Inc. is a 4th generation family owned manufacturer of quality food ingredients since 1967. They serve all aspects of the food industry and have the ability to formulate ingredients to your needs. Thymly is well known for their baking powder, yeast foods, dough conditioner, food grade chemicals, grain blends, shelf-life systems, & dry milks. They also offer custom blends that allows you only to scale and stock one item. These blends have safeguards built in to make your batter or dough more tolerant. Thymly's blends are widely used by the following industries; sweet good, bread, tortilla, and the snack food. They also offer onsite professional technical help to solve any of your food related problems.

Since 1967

The company began operations in 1967. With a demand for bakery blends and food creation being not fulfilled, Harry Muller-Thym, Sr. set out to fill that gap. In due time, the company became a staple for their formulations that provided a solution for a baker's specification. Fast forward 50+ years later, and Thymly is not only excelling in those two sectors, but has branched out further to be provide even more created value for their customers.

Being in business as long as Thymly has, is a testament to the relationships they have developed. Growing over five decades allowed them to not only work with small companies but also national and even worldwide bakeries. Their commitment to service has propelled them into one of the industry leaders. The relationships created have morphed into partnerships with Thymly believing that in order for their operation to grow they need to play a pivotal role in their customers growing as well.

In speaking with Paula, she stated one of the ways that Thymly remains an industry leader is their innovation. With an industry that is constantly changing, evolving, onto the next "it" thing, she credits their drive and passion to innovate which allows continued growth. The entire company is proactive which has them prepared for the next new phase in the industry. "Our core group of people are so devoted to innovation that allows us to excel, but we can't forget about our customer service.", Paula explained. She continued that all departments strive to provide the best all-around service for any customer that works with TPI.

Paula wasn't able to narrow down one area or department of the company that is their strength stating, "if every area isn't strong then there is something broken and it needs to be reviewed." Instead she praised Thymly’s team atmosphere and how everyone is pushing the company forward into new heights. She credited her success starting at the top with the president and trickling down. With the bar set high for expectations and work ethic, the team first mentality promotes not only professional but also personal growth. She stated that the longevity of some of the core employees is truly invaluable due to their knowledge and experience.

Covid Challenge bring opportunity

When Covid hit it was the fear of the unknown, followed by regrouping, and problem solving. Thymly never shut down during the pandemic. Once they understood the landscape they realized it was an opportunity. It turned out to be a huge growth period for the company as they did what they did best, problem solve for their customers. Paula did reflect on how difficult it was to not only get in supplies, but also keep up with demand.

In addition to trying to maintain inventory levels, they had to deal with the new transportation outlook. "Prices shot up immediately and it became harder to source trucks and products.", Paula shared. (Our favorite buzz term during that time SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGES). Post-Pandemic Paula shared she doesn't feel freight costs or reliability have returned much to levels prior to Covid. This has presented challenges in trying to meet customer demands while keeping them in budget and remaining profitable at TPI. Having any type of delay can cause massive implications for their customers as missing one ingredient can shut down production. Paula said the communication, transparency, and reliability of all aspects of their supply chain is critical to once again provide the best possible service for their customers.

Paula depicted the upcoming goals for Thymly which is to gain a larger presence on the west coast. While already dealing with some large wholesale bakeries, they would love to expand and increase their footprint with small to midsized bakeries as well. Being an industry leader, that pushes innovation, also allows the company to not just be known for one thing, but blossom into other areas they can provide value. By always learning and developing Thymly is poised to continue to expand their reach and growth through innovation of not only new products, but ideas as well. Paula also was kind enough to share a beneficial tool they use, receiving and understanding market reports from vendors has been very insightful for them. A great learning point many of us can implement, thanks Paula!

One of a kind team

Paula has now been with Thymly for over 11 years. Prior to joining the company she worked in a purchasing role, albeit a much smaller scale. She shared she had no knowledge of the baking industry or logistics prior to her transition. She was hesitant that she would be able to step in and deliver immediately, but she told us about very early in her time there, "I remember taking a PO to Vince to sign off on and he asked me what I am doing. My last job was so micromanaged, I couldn't do any aspect of my job without it being signed off on. Here I realized early I was given the freedom and trust to perform my tasks which was so empowering."

The early part of her career with Thymly Paula shared an office with Vince. She told us how initially she thought it would be so detrimental, but looking back it was the ultimate opportunity. She was fortunate enough to be able to listen, watch how he handled situations and problems, and constantly strived to learn. She was under his learning tree and taking full advantage to better her own skillset. He was critical in her development through teaching, training, guiding, and supporting her.

The amount of support geared towards development from employees is unique in Paula's estimation. She said it makes it easy going to work when it is as enjoyable as possible. Enjoying your work also brings a different level of confidence in completing her tasks she explained. This support gives her the chance to grow in light of mistakes as well. She told us a story about sending product to the wrong location for one of their larger clients. "That immediate sense of panic sets in. But I took a step back and assessed the situation. We found out where the truck was and got it rerouted. It wasn't ideal, but we fixed the problem and communicated with our customer." She explained that despite the mistake she was able to take away the importance of slowing down and being thorough with the logistics portion as it is always changing.

Piece of Advice

The conversation with Paula ended with her sharing her piece of advice:

The conversation with Paula ended with her sharing her pieces of advice:

"I can sometimes be a little close minded and hard on myself, but being open to learning new ideas, concepts, strategies is important. The team at Thymly is always looking at the future, and uses resources at our disposal to read, study, and learn. Be educated and prepared to adapt with changes and evolution within an industry. Look at what is coming down the road, what is the next “in” thing, be open to that and ready to handle it.

As for personal growth welcome it, don’t shy away, instead chase it. But remain positive while doing it. Gaining confidence from growing has a huge impact. Coworkers, family, friends see that. Confidence can lead you to incredible new places, that you never previously could have envisioned.

For years had I rented, always wanted to buy a home but was terrified. Vince and I have a great working relationship. He suggested buying a house, but I shared how scared I was. We broke it down and I ended up realizing I could do this. He is my biggest cheerleader and I am grateful for that. I've owned my house for over 5 years now! Doing things out of my comfort zone has been huge and after completing, I think back and wonder why was I scared. Great opportunity to grow, but also learning from mistakes. Own it, how can I improve, be ready to implement new skills to be better with the next opportunity."

In Closing

KLS wants to thank Paula Linton, Purchasing & Logistics of Thymly Products for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!