If you’ve ever received an order from Zip’s AW Direct, chances are Brice Schissel played a role in getting it to your door. Schissel serves as the Distribution Center Manager here and oversees the processes which fulfill nearly 400 customer orders every day.

Schissel, our employee profile for the month of April, doesn’t do it alone. He said he is a proud member of a 30-person team which works hard every day to make it all happen. He credits everyone involved in the supply chain for the warehouse’s success and level of customer care.

“I love the people I work with,” Schissel said. “The people I deal with on a daily basis are all good people and very easy to work with. Even the ones I don’t see every day, or talk to every day, are always very nice and friendly when I do see them or have a problem to work out and I need their assistance.”

In role since late 2018, Schissel manages inventory levels, fills in for absent employees, helps fulfill walk-in orders in the parts department and, lately, makes sure the truck shop has the parts needed to complete their tasks. He and warehouse manager, Abe Karels, also check in with their staff regularly.

“Sometimes during the day, Abe or myself will do walk-throughs just to make sure things are going smoothly and people aren’t having problems in shipping and receiving or in the warehouse,” Schissel said. “We work together every day to help each other out and make both of our jobs a little easier.”

Schissel said he also dedicates a portion of his shift to either building kits or making sure kits are assembled to keep up with demand. Everything from axle chain kits and tie-down kits to fork kits and strap assemblies are created from their individual parts bins in the warehouse.

“Normally, I start my day by printing reports to tell me where the inventory levels for the kits are,” he explained. “We have a huge number of kits that we manufacture ourselves here, so we try to keep the levels high enough to suffice the traffic of certain items.”

In fact, ratchets, straps, chains, slings and tow dollies are some of the most popular items sold by Zip’s AW Direct, which Schissel attributes to tow companies remaining very busy this year. Other top-sellers include hi-vis apparel, lockout tools and truck lighting.

“The list could go on forever,” Schissel said of the shipping trends here. “I would say the season definitely has a lot to do with what we sell and how many sales we do. During the colder season, we sell a lot more winter jackets, pants and coveralls. We’ve also been selling a lot more insulated gloves.”

In his spare time, Schissel and his wife, Debbie, are busy with a six-month-old daughter, Harper Lee. “I spend as much time as I can with them,” he says. He’s also active in bowling in the New Hampton and surrounding area and recently rolled his first 300 game, “which was a major accomplishment for me.”

He said he also enjoys hunting and fishing and “just about anything that has to do with the outdoors.” He also likes to cook on the grill and with his smoker. But when the weekend’s over and his batteries are recharged, he’s ready to get back to work and do his part to fulfill customer orders.