As a leader, Keith Smith said his dearest value is to care more. “I care for myself so I can pour into all of the Vonco team, so we can pour into our customers, and so that we can change the world for the patients and consumers we serve,” he said.
This care carries over into his role as the president and chief executive officer of Vonco Products, a manufacturing firm founded in 1955.
Vonco provides the technology, creativity, experience, and innovation needed to take medical devices, fluid bags and flexible consumer packaging ideas from concept to commercialization – as quickly as possible. Both a packaging company and a components company, Vonco fills a unique space of manufacturing both custom flexible packaging solutions, and custom flexible component solutions.
With more than 60 years of experience, Vonco has the ability to design and develop solutions in a fraction of the time to increase speed-to-market, lower costs and improve returns on investment.
Under Smith’s leadership, the firm completed three acquisitions in three years to provide more value to its customers in expanded product offerings that allow it to simplify the customer experience. “This supports our customer-centric approach and vision of having our valued customers publicly declare the ease of doing business with Vonco,” he said.
According to Smith, a Titan 100 Hall of Famer, the firm’s vision is to create and manufacture products and packaging that allow its customers to improve the lives of patients and consumers. He said the company will continue to do this by executing a strategy that is extremely relevant to its strategic customers, providing superior design services, executing a strong quality and service model, innovating new products and acquiring technologies that simplify the customer buying process.
With Smith leading the company, the team uses various tools and analyses to understand where people have their natural and adapted energies. Then, they support them in developing the technical skills they need. According to Smith, these efforts support the company’s tagline of “we care more.” He said it’s a lot more than a marketing tool – it’s the first item in the company’s list of cultural operating principles.
When nurturing the next generation of titans, Smith encourages others to “define what you want and what you stand for and then be extremely intentional about your time and avoid distractions that don’t align with your vision and creed.”