# Quality, Resilience and Open-Mindedness: Winning the Long Game w/ Paul Lordan and John Lordan

- Show: [The Manufacturing Executive](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive)
- Published: 2025-02-18
- Length: 38m
- Episode: 245
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j
- Listen: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-manufacturing-executive#episode-dac02e69-b968-4244-85a0-d374366612e2

## Summary

Paul and John Lordan, co-owners of Steele Canvas Basket, discuss how their 100-year-old Massachusetts manufacturer survived economic shifts by prioritizing quality, resilience, and community over cost-cutting. They detail the transition from local suppliers to complex global supply chains, including sourcing wheels from China and vinyl from South Korea, while maintaining final assembly in the US. The brothers explain how the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to pivot into new markets, such as retail display baskets and PPE, proving that open-mindedness and refusing to say 'no' to unconventional projects were key to their long-term survival.

## Chapters

- [0:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j#t=36) Introduction: Paul and John Lordan of Steele Canvas Basket
- [4:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j#t=298) Company History and Family Dynamics
- [12:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j#t=774) Supply Chain Evolution: From Local Pickup to Global Containers
- [18:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j#t=1094) Navigating the 2008 Recession and Retail Pivot
- [24:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j#t=1492) COVID-19 Response: Manufacturing Masks and Keeping Staff Paid
- [29:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j#t=1783) Commitment to US Manufacturing and Community Stewardship
- [32:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j#t=1978) Quality Philosophy: Refusing to Make Junk

## Topics

- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Steele Canvas Basket (company)
- Gorilla 76 (company)
- Industrial Marketing Summit (other)
- Guerrilla 76 (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [How I Built Resilience: Bayard Winthrop of American Giant](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-04-22-how-i-built-resilience-bayard-winthrop-of-american-giant) (How I Built This)
- [American Giant: Bayard Winthrop](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-07-01-american-giant-bayard-winthrop) (How I Built This)
- [#331: 28 Days To Save The World: Lessons Learned from a Pandemic Month of Supply Chain Issues](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/global-medical-device-podcast/2023-08-10-331-28-days-to-save-the-world-lessons-learned-from-a-pandemic-month-of-supply-ch) (Global Medical Device Podcast)
- [EMS@C-Level 2022 Season, episode 12 - Chng Boon Huei (BH), CEO, Flexi Versa Group](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2022-09-12-ems-c-level-2022-season-episode-12-chng-boon-huei-bh-ceo-flexi-versa-group) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [How I Built Resilience: Luke Holden and Ben Conniff of Luke's Lobster](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-09-03-how-i-built-resilience-luke-holden-and-ben-conniff-of-lukes-lobster) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-02-18-quality-resilience-and-open-mindedness-winning-the-long-game-w-paul-lordan-and-j. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Manufacturing Executive.