Fuller Technologies Reimagined: Insights from CEO Dennis J. Cassidy Jr.

Cassidy joins Fuller with over three decades of leadership experience spanning energy, industrial services, and global operations. Following stints at AlixPartners in Dallas, Texas, and Pentair Valves & Controls in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, he most recently served as President and CEO of Pilot Thomas Logistics LLC, a provider of fuel, lubricants, and petroleum logistics solutions to North America's energy, marine, mining, and construction industries. So, what attracted him to join Fuller?

"I’m fascinated by opportunities to be transformative,” Cassidy explained, “and when I look at Fuller, I see these opportunities everywhere. We have great people, technology, and products in this company, but we’ve been constrained in recent years by external factors. Independence changes this. It’s a strategic liberation.” Cassidy continued "Independence brings clarity and coherence to our priorities, vision, and mission; it also creates positive momentum.”

ON RE-ENGAGING WITH THE CUSTOMER

Cassidy describes himself as fundamentally customer-focused, motivated by a single daily question: How can we serve the customer better? "I believe that if you're willing to be open-minded, there's always an opportunity to serve the customer better,” he said. "Whether it's reducing response times, improving service quality, or making products more cost-effective—there's always an opportunity."

Reflecting on this mindset, one of Cassidy’s strategic priorities is simplification. "One of our strengths lies in solving complex problems for our customers in a way that makes their lives easier. Unfortunately, along the way, we’ve actually become quite a complex organisation to deal with. Reducing this complexity is a key aim, streamlining interactions, and making it easier for us to respond to customer needs.”

"At the core of what we're doing is customer-centricity," Cassidy emphasised. "We think about the customer as a long-term partnership. Our simplification strategy aims to free up capacity to serve these long-term partnerships, enabling us to be more present for the customer rather than focused on internal structures and processes.”

ON REINVESTING IN OUR CAPABILITIES AND PLANS FOR GROWTH

This process of customer-centric re-engagement isn’t possible, however, without the people and capabilities to carry it out—and here Cassidy is putting his money where his mouth is. "Our focus is to get as close to the customer as possible. To do so, we're increasing our presence in the regions. We’re also rebuilding technical capabilities and filling gaps in our organisation.”

This includes investing in our Pyro & Grinding (P&G) business, where Cassidy sees significant untapped potential. "Looking back, we went from full-flowsheet solutions to a products-only model too quickly,” he acknowledged. “However, customers still need the ability to interconnect components.”

According to Cassidy, we’re now developing a scope of supply informally named EP+: engineered products plus the solutions needed to make those products work effectively in customer environments. "Across all our product lines, there are opportunities to define what the 'plus' is," he continued. "Some of our products have this well-defined; others, like P&G, we're still figuring out, particularly as we connect the automation elements of our business to all the product lines."

In all of this, Fuller is moving counter to industry trends. "In an environment where many engineered products companies are continuing to shed costs and pull back from the market, we're purposely re-engaging and re-investing.”

ON RE-EMPOWERING OUR PEOPLE AND LEANING INTO CHALLENGES

Cassidy isn’t one to avoid challenging topics. One particularly thorny issue has been our US manufacturing, where a combination of plant closures, operational moves, IT system changes, and personnel turnover has created long order backlogs. Cassidy took up the challenge immediately. “Customers will be patient,” he said, “but not forever.”

The sense of urgency is clear. "Week two on the job, I was at the plant. We rolled up our sleeves and figured out what was going wrong. Within a week, we had a plan to clear the backlog by the end of 2026. Another week went by, and the team got to July. By the third week, we now see a pathway to clear the backlog by April, with aspirations to improve further."

The complexity of the situation required a cross-functional team. Specific actions include recovering critical manufacturing data from an old ERP system with help from Fuller's India team, prioritizing recruitment to address bottlenecks, and re-engaging with suppliers to restore relationships. But what made the difference was the commitment of the Fuller team, who were re-empowered to solve the issue. "When we eliminate distractions, we can solve complicated problems. The takeaway is: lean in when you have an issue. Find the right people and then empower them to solve the issues one by one."

He's proud of the speed with which progress has been achieved. "I've been part of other organizations that took years to solve these kinds of things. We've overcome this in weeks, not months. Not doubt, there is much hard work ahead, but a clear path forward has been defined and that's pretty exciting."

ON WHAT LIES AHEAD

“We're flipping the mindset," Cassidy concluded. "We're re-engaging, reinvesting, and re-empowering our great people. This is one of the most experienced, most professional workforces I've ever been around; these people know this business. My job is to release them to fulfil their potential.”

Cassidy is also excited to get out to meet customers and tour the regions. Plans include launching our new Chennai facility in January, followed by an Asian tour to meet with customers. You will likely run across him at key industry conferences and events throughout the year.

His final message is clear and unapologetic: "The things that were distracting us are behind us. Now we're liberated to focus on our customers and their needs, helping them to grow and succeed. Fuller Technologies is back.”