Quick actions protect us now and position
us for the future

While no company can say that they saw the economic freefall coming, we weren’t unprepared and that has helped us to minimize the impact. Airgas is a fairly conservative company. When the financial markets began heading south, we took immediate actions.

At the leadership level, we made rapid adjustments in variable compensation and discretionary expenses, inventory, receivables and capital expenditures. On the front lines, our managers and associates responded with amazing speed to reign in expenses, reduce local expenditures and reach out to customers.

Additionally, we had a number of our major efficiency projects already under way, including ultrasonic cylinder testing, computer-generated delivery routes and improved plant efficiencies. These projects saved millions of dollars in fiscal 2009 and will continue to reduce our expenses going forward. We also realized significant savings from acquisition synergies as a result of our unhurried approach to business integrations.

We’ve recently reduced annual operating expense by more than $45 million and have contingency plans ready for further cost reductions if necessary. The actions we have taken to date are saving money and making us more efficient, which will help build business over the long-term.