ABCO Systems Inc. is a market authority in solutions for warehousing and distribution center automation. From the pre-design phase to construction and automation, the company delivers the best quality and service with more than three decades of experience in the field. From their headquarters in Belleville, New Jersey, the ABCO team serves customers across the United States, with a concentrated presence along the East and West coasts.
“Our goal and focus have always been about doing the right thing by the customer first. That’s how we built the business,” says owner and Chief Executive Officer Seth Weisberg. And it keeps growing. Following prudent and sustained growth, it recently opened a second office in Ontario, California and is looking to expand into Mexico, Atlanta, Chicago, Illinois, and Texas.
Every client’s project is treated as a unique opportunity to shine. The approach has paid off in several ways. The company appeared on Inc. 5000 magazine’s 2017 list of fastest-growing companies, followed by achieving eleventh place in weekly business journal NJBIZ’s list of fifty fastest-growing companies in New Jersey, which was no mean feat in a year like 2020.
The company’s service portfolio is as diverse as its customers’ needs, and its e-commerce solutions are fast becoming popular. “While we’ve always provided e-commerce, today, we find that our greatest value to our customers is helping them understand that automation and technology don’t need to be expensive,” says Weisberg. Investments in entry-level e-commerce technology need not break the bank and such investments deliver considerable improvements in effectiveness, speed, and accuracy.
Its clean-slate approach to warehousing and distribution is both novel and refreshing. As a result, its consultation process is thorough and considers goals, challenges, and the ultimate goals that it must render perfectly functional in the end-product. The design process is also inclusive as its team works closely with the client to ensure that every aspect is covered. This process is followed with estimation, after which engineering, implementation, and permit expediting follow before the project is signed off.
Its services are extensive with a host of design services for distribution centers, e-commerce fulfillment centers, and conveyor systems complementing automation integration, project management, and installations. It also offers preventative maintenance programs and conveyor repair together with office construction and expansions, plus rack removals and purchasing. For buying warehousing racks, clients are treated to two very nifty calculators on its website: one to establish the number of racks they need and another to confirm how much warehouse space they need.
The company has a long history that started by serving the fashion industry. From here, its client base grew into third-party logistics companies that were later joined by foodservice firms in need of refrigeration and food-specific warehousing. Today, the company is an expert in food storage legislation and Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidelines as well as the local and national code requirements that accompany the sector.
The company’s success is rooted in its relationships. “We believe that everyone has choices. In order to be different in today’s world, the level of customer service needs to be real. It needs to be something that’s ingrained in [our] company culture,” Weisberg says.
His father built the company to record annual revenue of $1 million in 2003. Then, after several medical emergencies, the father and son worked together. Initially, this was a temporary situation, but eventually, Weisberg Junior decided to resign his position at Price Waterhouse Coopers and join the company’s ranks permanently. The duo developed a strong bond in the process and implemented modern systems and technologies based on Weisberg Senior’s experience. The collaboration also proved a brilliant move financially for ABCO Systems, Inc. as, by 2019, its annual revenue had grown to $14 million.
In its role as a garment-on-hangar systems supplier to the fashion industry, the company continues expanding its selection of products to keep its clients ahead of the latest trends in warehousing and distribution. Some of its services to this market include slick rail systems, center-supported garment rails, hanging garment sorters, flat goods sorting tools, as well as commercial laundry solutions.
As the company expanded over the years, it strengthened its capacity to adapt and develop alongside its customers’ needs and volume demands. And, while business by definition is about profit, this firm puts service and its clients’ satisfaction before profits. “If we lose money on projects for different reasons, as long as we’re doing the right thing, I’m okay with it. The focus is on the relationship,” says Weisberg, and he means it. After all, ABCO Systems is known for client relationships spanning decades.
In distribution, as in most businesses, time comes at a premium, and the cost of shifting merchandise and materials from storage spaces onto shelves or into processing and shipping lines has become prohibitive without technology. Considering the sheer scale on which large companies and distribution centers operate in the twenty-first century, ensuring efficiency through automation and technology has become vital to sustaining success.
And, as the value of industrial land, labor, and other resources continue to skyrocket, the importance of investing in top-quality automation is unlikely to change. “When you have companies like [big multi-nationals] putting so much energy and time and money into development, it’s necessary for all companies to start automating their systems in order to compete,” says Weisberg.
ABCO makes it a priority to assist clients in problem-solving whenever possible, making it a critical partner in contributing to the health and wellbeing of America’s supply chain as well as the economy. With this undertaking comes its commitment to providing more employment and helping its clients grow and create safer and more resilient enterprises throughout the country.
The company notes that the effects of the 2020 shelter-in-place measures brought about permanent changes in the third-party logistics (3PL) landscape. To keep distribution running smoothly, ABCO Systems, Inc. has seen sharp demand for its automation services that deliver guaranteed growth through savings gained from replacing outdated manual systems with infinitely more efficient conveyor automation, print and application systems, inbound and shipment sorting, order fulfillment picking automation, and much more.
The company also reports via industry-leading publication 3PL news that automated warehouses are significantly more space-savvy, utilizing thirty-nine percent less space than traditional storage facilities. ABCO Systems, Inc. suggests products like push-back storage rack systems, pallet flow conveyors, automated pallet storage, and other similar systems to help reduce costs when transitioning from standard warehouse systems to automated outfits.
Adapting through technology is only one way in which the company helps its clients mitigate the pressures of the current economic climate. As more companies improve the automation of their distribution and warehousing processes, ABCO Systems increasingly becomes the partner of choice for state-of-the-art design and technology. The times ahead may appear challenging but Weisberg remains positive.
“It is ingrained in our culture that success is not built overnight or even over a few years, but rather through constant repetition of doing the best job we possibly can with the highest levels of integrity and a focus on customer service,” he says.
