Insects Limited’s 2023 Recap
By Tom Mueller, Vice President of Insects Limited. Inc.
Go for Launch in T-Minus….
I wish we had a picture of the entire Insects Limited in astronaut uniforms. The kind with the bubble helmets where you can see our faces, and we are all sitting on a rocket ship. In the movies, we would all have little beads of sweat on our foreheads, with a slight look of exhaustion (but a good exhaustion). That nervous/excited look where you can tell we have prepared, worked hard, and are proud/confident that the risks we are about to take are worth it.
This is how our 2023 movie would start. Then it would flash back to this time last year with a caption reading “January 1, 2023.”
Insects Limited’s Mission
The reason this company exists is to make the world a better place by helping to protect its food and cherished belongings from damage by insect pests. We do this by providing Science, Education, Innovation, and the Highest Quality Pheromone Technology available to the market. Those utilizing our technology and expertise will agree with that statement.
We have a goal at Insects Limited. Growth. We want to expand our customer base to further our purpose. Sure, we added 278 new customers, and sure, our average order values increased by 5%, after considering inflation. This growth is important to be a healthy company, but this is not the growth that is giving us the nervous/excited (but confident) look on our faces.
Insects Limited Key Hires
In 2023, Insects Limited made 5 key hires.
We added Samantha Kiever to our laboratory as a research entomologist and product support specialist. The addition of Samantha increases our capacity to create more science for our customers and for this industry.
We added Brandon Rodriquez and Carlos Salinas to our production team to help meet the increased order demands of both our new and existing customers. We have also taken another step in automating the production of our base products, allowing us to say yes to customers with special product requests. The representation of the high-quality Insects Limited pheromone technology capacity has also increased.
We are proud to announce that Ed Bredemeyer and Patrick Callahan have joined our team as independent sales representatives. These two additions increase our capacity to service our existing customers from New Mexico to North Carolina while growing our customer base for those who have not benefited from our products in the past.
Stored Product Protection Conference
In June, Insects Limited fulfilled our promise of education to the industry by hosting another international conference focusing on Stored Product Protection. We were joined by 125 individuals from 7 countries on 6 continents. Those in attendance joined us from industries such as pest control, food manufacturing, grain, academia, government, and supply chain distribution.
Increasing Efficiencies
Recognizing a need for increased efficiency, the entire company took on the task, led by our administrative team members, of implementing a new ERP system called NetSuite. This software has already started revolutionizing our business processes, from how an order is received, and how it flows through our different departments, to how it is shipped and billed promptly. The great thing about NetSuite is that we have barely scratched the surface of its capabilities. It will also improve our customer’s experience by providing a customer portal, increased capabilities with customer service, and of course, creating profitability through increased efficiency allowing us to invest back into this company, and therefore, into this industry.
The Center for Stored Product Protection
As if everything that has already been mentioned is not challenging enough, Insects Limited started and finished construction of our new Center for Stored Product Protection. We now have our very own 10,000-square-foot facility designed specifically for our needs and the needs of our customers. Creating the Insects Limited Center for Stored Product Protection™ and adding a research entomologist increases our capacity for our existing professional services.
We can now perform food package penetration studies for customers working to protect their products throughout the supply chain.
Our ability to perform insect identification for food manufacturers receiving customer complaints and conduct forensic entomological analysis on the genesis of insects in food products has improved. We now can conduct research on minimal-risk products for customers interested in eco-friendly pest control options.
And to top it all off, our ability to create, improve, and test our innovative products has gotten as close to perfect as any company can.
Our very own Ethan Estabrook, BCE had taken the initiative to create a native plant prairie in the back of our property, putting the cherry on top of our new facility and giving another example of our passion and love for insects.
Insects Limited’s 2024 Outlook
Finally, I would like to say running a business is challenging. With a goal for growth comes a need to improve our structure and how we operate. We have found comfort through the implementation of EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System). If you have not heard of it, read the book Traction by Gino Wickman.
This operating system helped to create a structure for Insects Limited giving us a better ability to tackle business issues head on and make decisions quickly. The Insects Limited team knows our 10-year goal and has created short and midterm goals to help us reach it.
Our team is ready for 2024, and we will continue to improve this company allowing us to deliver on our purpose; to make the world a better place by helping to protect its food and cherished belongings from damage by insect pests.
Related Insect and Pheromone Posts
Read more about insects and pheromones in these related posts:
Product of the Month - All Beetle Trap with Gel Attractant (IL-2700)
Insect of the Month: Black Carpet Beetle (Attagenus unicolor)
Insects Limited, an Insect Pheromone Company
Insects Limited, Inc. researches, tests, develops, manufactures and distributes pheromones and trapping systems for insects in a global marketplace. The highly qualified staff also can assist with consultation, areas of expert witness, training presentations and grant writing.
Insects Limited, Inc. specializes in a unique niche of pest control that provides mainstream products and services to protect stored food, grain, museum collections, tobacco, timber and fiber worldwide. Please take some time to view these products and services in our web store.
