Blackbuck Logistics is an award-winning, Canadian-owned third-party logistics (3PL) company serving customers across North America with a comprehensive suite of logistics and end-to-end supply-chain management solutions. The company is highly regarded for its integrity, transparency, and customer-centric approach—traits which, unsurprisingly, continue to grow its market presence.

“Blackbuck Logistics Inc. was founded on the premise of exceptional customer service. Transparency, reliability, and on‐time performance are the key drivers of success in the transportation industry,” says Navpreet Kaur, Accounts Manager. “Over the years, the company has steadily evolved by embracing innovative technologies and continuously enhancing its service portfolio.”

Established as a core logistics services provider, Blackbuck has crafted an adaptive business model that continues to bring success as the company evolves its capabilities to supply what this highly competitive market seeks and take advantage of a market that’s projected to grow to US$29.11 billion in Canada alone by 2029.

Driving value
Blackbuck Logistics was founded at a critical time. Established in 2021, the company rode the wave of demand that resulted from the monumental growth of e-commerce platforms, while addressing the pandemic-related backlog that bottlenecked the global supply chain.

“During that time, it was like everybody was looking for shipping, and there were fewer people in the market who could help out because of the pandemic. People were scared and not many drivers were available in the area,” says Kaur, who notes that Blackbuck got its start meeting shippers’ needs by working with active and reliable carriers.

Since then, the team has continued to build relationships with partners and customers alike, positioning itself to be a leader through the provision of reliable and safe over-the-road dry van transportation, temperature-controlled (reefer) services, flatbed transportation (including over-dimensional loads), logistics trailers (pad, wrap, and strap), warehousing, and local pickup and delivery services.

Blackbuck’s consistent on-time performance and rigorous standards continue to enhance the company’s reputation for quality service, as does its ability to adapt to changing market conditions and diverse client needs.

For clients, partnering with Blackbuck Logistics takes a lot of the guesswork out of supply chain matters, instead offering peace of mind that their freight will get where it needs to go when it needs to be there, despite rising fuel costs, tricky tariff conditions, and uncertain political times.

Leading with quality
As well as industry-recognized certifications such as US EPA Certified SmartWay for eco-friendly operations and ACE, ACI, and HAZMAT certifications to ensure safe handling and transport of materials, Blackbuck’s internal protocols include employee training, regular audits, and a culture of continuous improvement and constant customer checks to ensure that its performance is of the highest calibre.

This performance comes by way of innovative technology and is unwaveringly concerned with satisfying the client. Investment in a state-of-the-art platform offers customers real-time tracking, documentation, and transparent communication end-to-end across its suite of services, because Blackbuck is acutely aware that its own internal efficiencies power the efficiency of its customers.

“We’re driven by a commitment to delivering tailored logistics solutions, whether for a single load per week or large-scale shipments for Fortune 500 companies,” says Kaur. Blackbuck achieves this through the integration of advanced tracking systems, digital documentation, data-driven insights, and real-time communication tools that are setting industry benchmarks for excellence in logistics and transportation by offering 24/7 support.

Bridging industry and community
When the team at Blackbuck Logistics takes a break from serving customers, it serves its community through sustainability initiatives like route optimization to reduce fuel consumption, the maintenance of eco-friendly operations to minimize its footprint, and offering support to many local and industry-wide initiatives.

The company also lives by its own high values, for which it has been recognized time and again. In less than five years of operation, the team has earned impressive recognition of its culture and performance.

Notable achievements include being named in the B.C. Business 30 Under 30, which celebrates the next generation of leaders; judged as one of Canada’s Best Employers for Recent Grads by The Career Directory for 2025; becoming a finalist for the title of 2023 Rose Rocket Freight Excellence Awards Community Champion; as well as garnering countless nods for its logistics, warehousing, supply chain, and consultative services.

These awards not only acknowledge the vital role Blackbuck Logistics plays in the Canadian economy but also demonstrate the value it brings to the market and the dynamic, forward-thinking workplace culture that allows the team to shine. “The company fosters a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration, empowering employees to contribute ideas and drive operational improvements,” says Kaur.

Blackbuck Logistics brings together the best in talent, including a dedicated team of logistics experts, customer service professionals, and technology specialists to “ensure superior operational support and client engagement,” as she describes it.

Committed to doing it best
With a family-like culture, supported by access to a modern fleet of dry vans, reefer trucks, flatbeds, and specialized trailers for diverse transportation needs, as well as strategically located warehousing facilities and distribution centers, Blackbuck excels in the delivery of logistics and cargo management solutions, ensuring its customers’ needs are met and exceeded, dock-to-dock.

Driven to succeed and acutely aware of its impact on its customers’ success, Blackbuck Logistics constantly seeks improvement in its own operational efficiencies, service delivery, and value proposition through technological innovation and continuous professional development by way of training opportunities. In doing so, the company continues to demonstrate its prowess as a logistics specialist, growing its network of customers and partners across Canada and the United States.

The goal, Kaur says, is for Blackbuck Logistics to “position itself as the leading integrated logistics solutions provider in North America by continuously evolving its service portfolio and technology offerings,” while investing in sustainable practices and adopting cutting-edge innovations. “With an eye on the future, Blackbuck is committed to investing in research and development to ensure that it stays at the forefront of technological advancements and continues to meet the evolving demands of the logistics landscape.”

The post Powered by Technology, Driven by People<p class="company">Blackbuck Logistics</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Prior to the founding of Dethmers Manufacturing Company (Demco), Robert Dethmers and his father owned and operated Dethmers Implement, a farm equipment dealership. Dethmers Manufacturing company was launched on this site. Still in business nearly three quarters of a century after its founding, today Demco manufactures the highest quality agriculture equipment, semi-trailers, RV towing products, and trailer components.

The company’s focus has evolved over the decades, but the family tradition continues, with Koerselman’s son, JC, currently serving as Managing Director. How has the company managed to succeed into the fourth generation, when so many other businesses fail to make that leap? One secret is that successors must earn their place. It has never been a given that the next generation would reap the benefits of the previous generation’s labor.

Robert Koerselman made sure that the fourth generation of the family explored other options first, gaining real-life experience and strengthening their work ethic. “You’re going to go out and grow your roots elsewhere and learn business,” he told them. “If the fourth generation wants to be involved, they would be given an opportunity to get involved, but only after they’ve been able to provide growth opportunity in a different industry, with a different job first.”

Then, after a new generation commits, they are treated like anyone else. “No guarantees that an opportunity to work at Demco means that you’re going to own shares,” Koerselman says. “And [being] an owner doesn’t give you any special privileges.”

Throughout Demco’s long history, the company culture has remained a critical component, uniting multiple generations. “We’re very focused on faith,” says Koerselman. “We’re a faith-based company.” This faith is reflected in the team’s ongoing commitment to the community. “We are very community minded, and so there have been a lot of projects that we get involved in, whether it’s economic development, our high schools, or trade schools.”

With community ties stretching back to the 1930s, the team is eager to maintain those connections in the future. “We’re committed to passing this on to the fourth generation, keeping it in these communities that we’re involved in, and continuing to support the communities in many different ways,” Koerselman says.

This community spirit isn’t just outward facing. “There are communities inside the building where we build teams,” says Mark Nilles, Vice President of Operations. “Every one of them knows the ownership. They know who they are; they’re involved. And that’s just a good feeling when you bring people into the company. I have my son working here. So does [Director of Sales] Benji [Vande Griend], and you wouldn’t do that if you weren’t comfortable. So that environment that we’re talking about—that community environment, that family environment—is throughout the company internally and externally.”

Demco’s diverse portfolio across a wide range of industries is another secret to success. The team pursued this diversity in order to survive a difficult time that affected the agricultural industry nationwide. “It really came out of the 1980s farm crisis, and it was at that point that we got into these various industries besides just agriculture,” Vande Griend explains.

“The diversity helps us in sales,” adds Nilles. “If one product line or market is down but another is up, that helps us keep going.”

Another advantage is that employees have an opportunity to work across a wide variety of operations. “Internally, we’ve really focused on cross-training people,” says Nilles. “So it’s helped us in that we don’t have one person stuck at one machine doing one thing all the time. We could have them building grain carts and building couplers. Our workforce is very diverse; they don’t get stuck in one area. They get to branch out, find what they love, and work in multiple areas. We have a wide variety of aspects with different challenges to keep them motivated. So it’s very good for our workforce as well.”

The company’s products break down into four broad categories: one is RV towing, which includes tow dollies, tow bars, fifth wheel hitches, tow bar baseplates, braking systems for towed vehicles, and frame bracket kits.

Another sales category covers trailer components. This includes everything from trailer couplers, trailer brake actuators, and jacks to trailer tongues, spare tire mounts, and safety cables. A lot of these products are sold directly to trailer manufacturers.

True to its roots, the company still provides a wide range of agricultural equipment made for any size of farming operation, available in a variety of sizes and models. “That’s a number of products—anything from sprayers to tractor-mounted tanks, grain carts, gravity flow wagons, header transport trailers for hauling combine heads, tip-ups and tank extensions that go on the combine to hold more grain—all products focused on the farmers—grain farmers mainly,” says Vande Griend.

The team’s expertise in agricultural grain trailers has expanded to cover the broader semi-trailer category, and these trailers have successfully moved Demco into new industries. For example, the side dump trailer has a variety of uses, “anything from hauling product out of mines to hauling gravel, sand, dirt—lots of types of products,” says Vande Griend. “Then we also have a steel drop deck trailer which, again, has various usages in various industries, from farming to construction.” Demco’s gondola trailer, another diverse product, hauls scrap, “so that puts us into the scrap industry, hauling scrap out of scrapyards.”

Demco also operates a rental side of the business, which provides trailers and dollies for well-known companies such as Penske.

The team is committed to providing the highest quality product and service to every market they serve. “It goes along with our mission statement of doing our best to provide the best,” says Koerselman. “Whether it’s designing product, building product, doing customer service, working trade shows, or being an employer, we are doing our best… We’re not suggesting that there’s perfection within Demco, but there is a high expectation to do our best and define what that best is. And so we work very hard at doing that.”

“The mindset of the company, the mindset of the ownership, is continuous improvement,” Nilles agrees. “Our best always gets better if we never stop focusing on improving, challenging ourselves every day on all processes.”

A strong focus on customer service is a critical component of this commitment. “We try to set ourselves apart, along with high-quality products, by having personable customer service,” says Nilles. “So, as an example of that, when our customers call into Demco, they get a person. They do not get a machine—they get our receptionist, and she will ask a couple of questions to make sure that we’re going to get them to the right team member that can help that customer out.”

The company is eyeing expansion as it looks to the future. “We have a strong desire to continue to grow market share,” Koerselman says. Management is always asking, ‘are we offering the right products? Are there holes in our offering within this given industry? What do we need to do to fill that gap?’”

To ensure the company can fill those gaps, “We’re investing in more engineering resources, trying to get our project timeframes shorter so that, when we do get involved in an engineering project, that time to market is shorter,” Koerselman says. “And we get very intentional with that, knowing that if we can be there quicker than our competition, then we’re ahead of our competition. And we’ve got a lot of good competitors in all of our industries.”

With such strong competition, this team will have to stay at the top of their game. But, after 61 years in business, they are more than prepared for the challenge. “Our focus is to try to be an industry leader within all of our industries,” Koerselman says. “If we can accomplish that, there’s tremendous growth for us.”

The post A Fourth-Generation Family Success Story<p class="company">Demco</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

On May 1, the company introduced three new lines of trailers: “Tag-alongs, fixed neck low boys, and logging trailers,” shares Vice President Joseph Scott.

As their name implies, logging trailers are used to transport logs. Dorsey Trailer introduced the first logging trailer in the United States decades ago but stopped building them at a certain point, adds Scott. So, the return to making logging trailers represents a new beginning for the company.

Low boy trailers ride close to the road and feature a drop deck—that is, two sections of different heights. In a fixed neck low boy, the neck is permanently attached to the deck of the trailer while in a detached low boy, the neck can be detached and then lowered to set up a ramp for loading/unloading. Dorsey sells both varieties of low boys, which are often used to handle construction freight.

Tag-along trailers are affixed to the rear end of a vehicle to haul additional equipment and are commonly used by construction and municipal work crews. Dorsey also makes chip vans (lightweight but sturdy enclosed trailers often used to move wooden chips in forestry operations), combo trailers, aluminum trailers, and flatbed trailers (trailers with an open deck but no roof or walls).

Over-the-road operators doing long-distance hauls continue to make up the bulk of Dorsey Trailer’s clientele, and companies within the oil & gas, construction, road & bridge work, municipal, and military sectors are also partial to the company’s offerings.

Dorsey maintains two separate sites in Elba—a main production plant comprising roughly 700,000 square feet and a second facility, located nearby and measuring 150,000 square feet, that manufactures aluminum trailers. The company has roughly 850,000 square feet of production space in total, 10,000 of which were recently added to accommodate the new trailer lines. All told, Dorsey produces approximately 2,800 to 3,200 trailers a year which are sold through a dealer network extending across the United States and into Canada.

The company has achieved an impressive level of success given its rather humble origins. Dorsey Trailer was launched in 1911 by Pete and Henry Dorsey, who fixed power saws, trucks, and other gear for timber companies inside a converted livery stable. From this low-key start, the firm expanded and within 20 years was designing and manufacturing its own commercial freight trailers. Business continued apace and the company grew.

Dorsey provided trailers for the U.S. military in World War II (and continues to supply trailers for the Department of Defense today). During the ensuing Cold War, Dorsey supplied transporters for rockets. Over the decades, the company has attracted a few celebrity clients including the country band Alabama (which has used Dorsey trailers) and NASCAR drivers (who utilize Dorsey hauler vans). An enclosed 45-foot Dorsey trailer featured prominently in the 1980s hit TV series Knight Rider (in which actor David Hasselhoff drove a customized Pontiac Firebird Trans Am around the country to fight criminals).

The company today is owned by Alabama-based investment firm Propst Companies. Looking back, Scott says focusing on relationships has been key to Dorsey’s longevity. “We build relationships with our dealers. We really hit the road a lot, spend a lot of time with those guys. We want the everyday truck driver to want our trailers. In the end, it’s a family-oriented business we’re in; we treat our employees like family. I know everybody says that, but we do. And that extends to the trucker,” he explains.

It also helps that Dorsey offers low-priced, high-quality trailers, has a reputation for excellent customer service, and excels at doing more with less. At the time of our previous profile, the company employed over 350 people, and that number has decreased to around 257, even as production has risen. “We’ve downsized, but we’re more efficient today than we were before. We’re building more trailers today then back then,” says Scott.

Downsizing has been accompanied by greater outsourcing. The latter strategy was initially suggested to Dorsey by lean manufacturing consultants who advised the company a few years ago. Today, subcontractors currently handle about 30 to 40 percent of Dorsey’s workload. By outsourcing peripheral duties, Dorsey has been able to concentrate on core operations and boost production. “We really want to get to a point where we’re just putting the pieces together… [Using outside vendors] is faster and they can build it cheaper than we can in-house,” says Scott.

The team aims to raise production levels even higher through the use of industrial robots. “Our ownership is willing to invest a lot of money for long-term solutions,” notes Scott. That said, having a loyal, reliable workforce remains central to everything Dorsey does. Extensive education—or even experience—isn’t necessary to get a job at Dorsey.

“We actually hire people that do not know how to weld, and we train them. They go through a training course of six to eight weeks. We want long-term employees. We want somebody that wants to build a career at Dorsey,” states Scott.

What’s important is having a good attitude, strong work ethic, and team spirit, he adds. Taking pride in your work is also imperative, given that Dorsey places a strong emphasis on quality control. The company recently doubled the size of its QC team to four staff members, whose sole function is to monitor Dorsey trailers for quality issues. In a similar fashion, Dorsey employs an on-site safety director who runs a team of two people who walk the plant floor, keeping an eye out for safety concerns or OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) violations.

The company also maintains close ties with several trade groups including the National Trailer Dealers Association, the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association, the Alabama Trucking Association, and the Alabama Forestry Association.

In addition to building trailers and servicing clients, Dorsey actively supports its community and local charitable initiatives. Donations have been made to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Coffee County, for example, and annual fundraisers are held for breast cancer awareness and the Wounded Warrior Project (which provides assistance to injured or ill veterans). As part of its philanthropic mission, Dorsey staff sometimes cook meals which are sold to employees, with proceeds going to charity. The team also strongly supports the Boys & Girls Club and area food banks, and distributes holiday turkeys and hams to the needy.

In our last article, high interest rates and the difficulty of securing skilled workers (an industry-wide problem) were cited as Dorsey Trailer’s main challenges. The company is hoping to offset some of the worst impacts of the latter issue by utilizing robotic systems. On the economic front, tariffs imposed by Washington have become a far more pressing concern than interest rates. While Dorsey doesn’t use offshore suppliers to make parts or components, some of its vendors do, causing headaches all around. China is also a main source for aluminum imports, resulting in additional price pain.

“The tariffs are definitely challenging right now… This is something [where] we are all hands on deck,” states Scott.

For all this, Dorsey staff have big plans for the future. These plans do not involve new locations (“We would love to just continue to build here in Elba,” says Scott) but do include a surge in production. Within half a decade, Scott would like to see Dorsey’s market share grow and annual output reach approximately 5,000 trailers.

Despite new technology and greater outsourcing, this optimistic forecast is largely a reflection of the Dorsey Trailer workforce, he stresses. “The company is not about [me] or our president or our owners. We have 250 hardworking men and women that really push our product. They’re the best sales team we have. They deserve every bit of recognition they can get,” says Joseph Scott.

The post This Venerable Alabama Trailer Manufacturer Has New Products and Big Goals<p class="company">Dorsey Trailer</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

In fact, Georgia is the number one state for business, according to Area Development magazine—and has been for the last 11 years. What is the secret behind Georgia’s success? The adage, ‘location, location, location,’ for starters. 80 percent of the nation’s population live within a two-day truck drive or a two-hour flight of Georgia, and the state’s world-class infrastructure is ideal for moving goods.

The deepwater Port of Savannah is the third busiest and fastest-growing container gateway in the nation, and boasts the biggest single container terminal in all of North America, according to georgia.org. The Port also maintains a greater refrigerated container capacity than any other port terminal on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast. As a result, 40 percent of the United States’ containerized poultry exports pass through the Port of Savannah.

The deepwater Port of Brunswick, meanwhile, is the U.S.’s number one terminal for new automobile imports. Its Colonels Island Terminal is the nation’s second busiest port for total Roll-on/Roll-off cargo. Already home to three berths able to accommodate more than 900,000 vehicles each year, the Georgia Port Authority has committed $150 million to building a fourth berth at the terminal, as well as 85 additional acres for auto processing and 360,000 square feet of new warehouse space.

Once goods exit the ports, they are easily whisked away via I-95, I-16, or two Class 1 railroads. Appalachian Regional Port connects the port of Savannah to companies in northwest Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky through a direct, 388-mile CSX rail service route. Currently under construction, Northeast Georgia Inland Port will create a direct link to the Port of Savannah via the Norfolk Southern railroad in the near future, making it even more efficient to move goods.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), the busiest passenger airport in the world, offers direct access to domestic and international markets, with nonstop flights to 150 cities in the United States and direct flights to 70 cities in 50 different countries. On average, the airport sees a whopping 2,700 arrivals each day and over 100 million passengers departing each year. More than 725,000 metric tons of cargo are moved through ATL’s 1.5 million square feet of cargo warehouse space every year, and eight other commercial airports and over 100 public-use airports provide even more options for efficient air travel to and from the state.

Georgia’s networks go beyond transportation to include the fastest information networks in the world. In fact, Georgia was the first state in the union to precisely map the availability of broadband services, accurately identifying which areas required accessibility. Now, 85 percent of Georgia households have access to broadband internet, thanks to the public-private collaboration Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative. In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked the state #5 for internet access. Two of the biggest fiber optic trunk lines in the U.S. intersect in Atlanta, in addition to two major research lines.

The state has worked hard to cultivate a pro-business environment, another key factor in its success. At just 5.19 percent, corporate tax rates are low while fiscal responsibility is high. State law requires a balanced budget, and Georgia boasts one of the lowest debt-per-capita levels in the U.S. For the last 21 years, the state has maintained the highest bond ratings from each of the Big Three credit rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch.

As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and businesses have demonstrated that proof by flocking to the state in recent years. 440 Fortune 500 companies operate within Georgia, and 18 are headquartered there. Major industries including aerospace, agribusiness, automotive, defense, electric vehicle manufacturing, energy, film & entertainment, food processing, life sciences, logistics & supply chain, manufacturing, technology, and tourism are all thriving within the state.

Agribusiness is the state’s leading industry, with an economic impact of over $74 billion annually. Georgia is number one in the nation for peanuts, broilers, and hatching eggs. There are 9.9 million acres of operating farmlands and 399,200 jobs in food, fiber production, and related industries throughout the state.

With such an active agricultural sector to draw from, food processing has become another big industry within the state. Georgia is home to 1,586 food processing facilities and nearly half of the leading 100 U.S. food processing companies operate there. The state has 178 million cubic feet of cold storage space, and four of the five top global public refrigerated warehousing companies boast locations within the state.

The automotive industry also has a big presence in Georgia. The state first became an automotive manufacturing center back in 1909, when the first car was assembled there, and over the last century, leading automotive companies have continued to enjoy an ongoing presence in the state. Now, Georgia is also welcoming electric vehicle manufacturers in addition to existing automotive companies. Major players within this thriving automative ecosystem include original equipment manufacturers Kia, Hyundai Motor Group, Metaplant America, and Rivian, as well as battery manufacturers including LG Energy Solution and SK Battery America.

Georgia continues to evolve with the times, attracting new, leading-edge industries. Aerospace is the state’s second largest manufacturing industry, with over 800 aerospace companies creating an economic impact of $57.5 billion. The state’s number one export is aerospace products—$12.6 billion last year alone, and its aerospace connection goes all the way back to the 1960s, when Camden County was one of the finalists for NASA’s launch site. While it didn’t make the final cut, NASA did go on to test rockets there and the state developed a leading satellite communications technologies industry.

Today, Georgia’s aerospace industry boasts a wide range of players, from research & development, original equipment manufacturers, and hypersonics to unmanned arial vehicles, transportation services, and cybersecurity operations. Over 40 aerospace-related facilities have moved to Georgia or expanded their operations there over the last decade, creating 2,500 new jobs, and more than 200,000 people in Georgia work within aerospace-related industries, including a large number of engineers educated locally. Georgia Tech is one of the nation’s top producers of aerospace engineers, providing a steady pipeline of new talent for the industry.

The Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) industry is one rising player to watch within the state’s aerospace ecosystem. Participants within the sector are involved in a full gamut of activities, from research and design to manufacturing and operations.

Major aerospace companies located in Georgia include Anduril Industries, Archer Aviation, Arconic, Delta Air Lines, Gulfstream Aerospace, Hermeus, Lockheed Martin, Meggitt, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon, StandardAero, Triumph, Thrush, and Universal Alloy Group.

Defense is another leading industry in the state. A strong military presence within Georgia combined with a thriving manufacturing industry across numerous sectors makes it an ideal location for defense companies, with cybersecurity just one of the many thriving defense industries in the state. Georgia boasts a “Cyber Corridor” made up of 27,260 employees and 75 information security companies generating an estimated $2.6 billion each year. The new, $100 million Georgia Cyber Center is the biggest single investment in a state-owned cybersecurity facility. The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS), which is located in Georgia, has opened the Georgia Cryptologic Center and the U.S. Army’s Cyber Center of Excellence is moving to the state—along with almost 4,000 new jobs.

Georgia caught Hollywood’s attention in 1972, when the classic thriller Deliverance was filmed there. The following year, Jimmy Carter, who was governor at the time, established the Georgia Film Office, and today, the state boasts a thriving entertainment industry, raking in $4 billion annually. You may have noticed the Georgia peach logo at the end of movies or television shows, announcing the production’s connection to the state.

From entertainment and aerospace to cybersecurity and agriculture, Georgia is home to a booming and diverse mix of industries. The Peach State has evolved with the times, welcoming the most leading-edge industries while successfully maintaining its traditional sectors. With so much to offer, Georgia will be a place to watch in the future as more and more companies and individuals relocate there to enjoy the state’s many advantages.

The post Georgia on Our Minds<p class="company">Why the Peach State is Ranked Number One for Business </p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“The single biggest change is that we’ve engaged our upstream strategy,” states President and CEO Steve Hightower, “and we’ve started Hightower EV Solutions, where we’re putting [electric vehicle] charging stations throughout the country.”

In the fuel industry lingo, ‘upstream’ gas or oil production refers to companies involved in the identification, extraction, and production of raw materials. It is a broad category that covers surveying, drilling, manufacturing, oil sands mining, and other activities. ‘Downstream’ refers to post-production fields such as retail and distribution.

HPC’s upstream work centers on crude oil and liquid natural gas. Core downstream services include bulk fuel deliveries for commercial vehicle fleets, supply chain and inventory management, and emergency fuel supply. The company provides bulk fuel that goes into new cars coming off assembly lines at Honda, Nissan, and General Motors plants and also has clients in the sports, retail, utilities, government, manufacturing, and education sectors.

Given the surging popularity of electric cars, its move into the electric vehicle (EV) market makes good business sense. Launched a year and a half ago, Hightower EV is the third company to operate under the HPC umbrella. The other two are Hi-Mark Construction Group, which works on water and wastewater facilities in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. and HP Energy, which tackles infrastructure projects that enhance energy efficiency. Hi-Mark and HP Energy are both thriving, along with their parent company, Steve reports.

Hightower EV can design, build, and install electric vehicle infrastructure. In partnership with various tech companies, the turnkey service provider has worked on roughly 12,000 EV charging units nationwide.

“In some cases, we’re providing charging as a service. We go in and make an investment, say, for a retailer. We would actually bring the [EV charging] units in, and we would own them. We would do a profit share with the retail service station or hotel if they didn’t want to do the initial investment due to lack of early traffic. We would take on the risk,” he says.

For all the attention on EVs, HPC has no intention of abandoning gas and diesel.

“We focus on our customers where they’re at. We are a strong liquid fuels organization. That’s our core. That’s what built us. We don’t shy away from it. We try to bring in clean fuels and biofuels that are more ecologically friendly. Electric is a new fuel for vehicles, and our customers have expanded into that area, so we expanded with them,” Steve explains.

Unlike fossil fuels, biofuels are derived from living plant material. Ethanol, made from corn, is a common biofuel in North America, while fuel made from sugarcane is ubiquitous in South America.

The company’s business-to-business (B2B) fleet card continues to be one of its most popular offerings in the gas and diesel space. Used to purchase services and/or products, the card is accepted at thousands of gas stations and truck stops across the U.S.

The popularity of the fleet card “is growing tremendously. We’ve got over 300,000 cards in the marketplace right now, all commercial B2B. It’s saving many of our customers lots of money, and it’s growing very rapidly,” he says.

Hightowers Petroleum Company remains vigilant to the threat posed by COVID. While not as deadly as it once was, the virus has not been eradicated. “We’ve maintained a pretty strict protocol. We’re probably one hundred percent back to work. We are a critical business. People need to have fuel in the marketplace. We try to be pretty strict, based on lessons learned relative to mask-wearing in our facilities and common areas,” Steve says.

Now that the pandemic has hopefully peaked, trade shows and industry events that were shuttered or conducted online have reopened to the public. In recent months, he has been traveling a great, visiting trade shows in person to meet peers, promote the company, and network.

Another thing that has not changed since the last profile is the company’s ownership structure. The firm remains “one hundred percent” family-owned, states Steve. His son, Stephen Hightower II works as its chief operating officer, while his daughter works on contracts. Other family members, including a nephew, are also employed by the company.

“I’m extremely proud. If something were to happen to me, I know the business would continue to move forward,” he says.

Hightower family members participate in an array of business and community organizations, including the fuel marketing association SIGMA, the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the National Petroleum Council, the Cincinnati Opera, and the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE).

The company has ISO 14001:2015 certification for Environmental Management and ISO 9001:2015 certification for Quality Management. “When you talk about ISO, it’s not just words. It’s how you operate your business, how you document your business, how you continuously improve your business. We have customers that require, through their ISO procedures, that we are also ISO. A lot of the [original equipment manufacturers] require that. So, we have to maintain our ISO, our quality standards,” Steve states.

In addition to ISO, “We have continued to develop our ESG (environmental, social and governance) program that looks at ways in which we can reduce our environmental impact. Part of that would be Hightower EV Solutions. One initiative is to reduce carbon emissions, but there’s the social side of that as well. We’re continually making sure we’re doing the right thing by our communities—not just investing in our communities, but participating in the communities,” he says, adding, “Our company maintains its values of being an honest and socially responsible organization that has a reputation of working hard.”

Asked if he finds it odd that a company built around fossil fuels is so concerned about the environment, he says no. “It’s important for our company to remain relevant and forward-thinking. We know our customers. As they began to be forward-thinking, we also had to be forward-thinking. We never want to be the last horse and buggy on the street,” he explains.

HPC is not looking to get into hydrogen, touted as an up-and-coming miracle fuel for vehicles by some proponents. “I believe that the U.S. made a bet on electric as a primary fuel,” Steve says.

He anticipates that hydrogen will eventually make a mark in some parts of America, depending on federal government infrastructure funding. It is far too early for the company to get involved, given the nonexistent state of hydrogen infrastructure, and the company’s commitment to EVs.

In addition to the Middletown headquarters, HPC maintains offices in South Africa, New York, Michigan, and Washington, DC. The company has approximately seventy-five employees across all its companies, a number Steve believes will grow significantly once federal funding for infrastructure projects kicks in.

It follows a certain process when it comes to new hires. “Each and every time we go out, we look for the best possible person that we can. We don’t ask them about their politics. We don’t look at their color. We don’t look at their sexual orientation. We look at their qualification, abilities, attitude,” he says.

The result is HPC’s diversity, of which he is proud. The company is one of the leading African American fuel firms in the country. “We know there’s a level of uniqueness in our diversity, and there’s not much diversity in this industry. We’ve hopefully done a lot of things right,” he says.

Given the company’s ownership structure, it is not surprising that he describes Hightowers’ culture as family-oriented. “You have to be compassionate to your employees and their needs because they have families as well. My employees want the best for their families as well, their kids. Things happen, and when things happen, you have to be compassionate and understanding and try not to be strict or unreasonable when someone has a personal issue. You’ve got to support them, help them take care of it any way you can.”

Not counting COVID, he cites fuel shortages as the biggest challenge facing HPC at present. Global shortages and rising fuel prices are concerns that keep the company on its toes.

Still, Steve offers an upbeat forecast. “We really feel we can operate in the neighborhood of half-a-billion dollars. I am moving very hard to get to $1 billion over the next twelve months. That’s the ambitious part of me.”

Increased upstream business will likely drive this growth, he says. After reaching the billion-dollar mark, there is a new set of goals he wants to achieve. “Half a decade into the future, we want to be a global energy organization. At that point in time, then I can begin to look at possibly resting a little more,” he states, with a laugh.

The post This Gas and Diesel Downstream Wholesaler Goes Upstream and Electric<p class="company">Hightowers Petroleum Company</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The company’s two divisions make a logistics powerhouse that consists of warehouse operations via Hanover Terminal Inc. and trucking solutions via RH Crawford Inc. Combined, both organizations provide over 150 years of industry experience and expertise.

Hanover Logistics’ founding President Kurt Dietrich began his early career in the banking industry and developed a working relationship with the original owners of Hanover Terminal Inc. Dietrich seized the opportunity to buy the company as the original owners were approaching retirement. Hanover Terminal, Inc. was acquired by Dietrich as a 140,000-square-foot building in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Four expansions and forty plus years later, the company now owns over 1.2 million square feet of prime third-party logistics space conveniently located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

As a family-owned business, Hanover Logistics focuses on remaining service-oriented and balanced in its growth. “When we commit to our customers, we commit all the way,” Dietrich says, a philosophy entrenched in the history of the business.

The transportation division of Hanover Logistics, RH Crawford Trucking was founded in 1932. Dietrich purchased RH Crawford Inc. in 2006 from long-time business partner, mentor and friend, Bob Crawford and the Crawford family. It became the in-house trucking carrier for Hanover Terminal and would eventually become half of the Hanover Logistics business model and brand.

The future success of RH Crawford was made possible by hiring key individuals like Wayne Rice, Vice President of Operations, to grow it and form a merger that would benefit both sides of the business. Now, with nearly 100 owned trucks in its fleet and a quarter more owner operators, the complementary sides of the company tie together to make Hanover Logistics the exceptional full-service provider it is today.

The company’s drivers are frequent recipients of Safe Driving Awards, including commendations from the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association for numerous years of safe driving. Hanover Logistics’ leadership team share sentiments of pride while seeing the company’s drivers compete and net industry awards. Rice says, “Skilled and reliable drivers are the lifeblood of the logistics industry. What separates us is our employees. There is not one person in our organization that is more important than the other. It takes each of us working together to be successful.” Hanover Logistics’ trucking division RH Crawford is celebrating its 90^th year in business in 2022.

Pride in its people

Hanover Logistics employees are strongly dedicated to both the logistics industry and the company itself. The company attributes its success to tenured team members who have retired after 40-plus years of service in addition to new employees offering valuable insight and perspectives. Warehouse Manager Patty Smith adds, “The leadership of the company often recognizes that the key to success is our team members. They know that without the solid foundation of the hard-working staff, we could not deliver the quality service levels that we do to our customers. This is often a key selling point when speaking with prospective clients.”

Likewise, Hanover Logistics continues to work to make its employees feel heard and valued. When commenting on what makes working for Hanover Logistics unique, many employees state the importance placed on feeling and being treated like family in the atmosphere of a family-owned business. Shelly Mentzer, Accounting Manager, comments that, “Every employee here is a ‘Contributor’ regardless of their position. Our approach is to treat people the way [we] want to be treated.”

Included in that family atmosphere are special opportunities such as being part of Make A Wish Foundation team fundraising events, driving competitions, company picnics, and the infamous Hanover Christmas Party. To meet the needs of its valuable employees, the company also increased available work hours by implementing a third daily shift, an addition that helped employees in need of flexible hours. “The difference is you are not just a number here. Each and every one of us matter,” says Mentzer.

Since its previous feature in Business in Focus in early 2020, the company has enjoyed its share of well-earned recognition within the logistics industry. Since 2008, Hanover Logistics has been designated as a top 3PL (Third Party Logistics) cold storage provider by Food Logistics Magazine.

Beyond the awards and recognition, the company’s charitable efforts are of great importance to the organization. Ongoing commitments to non-profits such as the above mentioned Make-A-Wish Foundation bring the Hanover Logistics team together to serve those in need within the local Hanover and logistics industry communities.

Supply chain woes

Post-pandemic supply chain issues are currently more challenging as companies are struggling to ship from overseas, causing raw material shortages. This has made manufacturing difficult, which contributes to further challenges and delays in production. However, the logistics industry is still seen as very strong amid the ongoing supply chain issues.

The expansion of production lines worldwide, paired with the need to place inventories close to plants and customers, has benefited the warehousing industry. Challenges also exist for the trucking portion of operations as a shortage of experienced drivers and increasing fuel costs persists. It seems that this challenge may be with the industry for a while if wages and employment packages remain as competitive as they are at present. As a small business, Hanover Logistics prides itself on offering attractive benefits like health packages and schedule flexibility, along with the warmth and personal touch that only a family-run business can offer.

In addition to a strong workforce, shifts and upgrades in technology are driving both the warehousing and trucking industries forward. As Hanover Logistics looks to its future, it is investing in improved technology in warehousing and trucking management, especially with new warehouse management systems (WMS). The changes are based on automation – although not limited to that – software-to-management workflows, and billing automation.

For the long haul

Hanover Logistics’ continued expansion is thoughtfully calculated.

The company plans to expand and build on its service shops, enabling it to increase service to truckers who need help and to expand the trailer pool for parking purposes. The company is also reviewing plans to expand its warehousing footprint to help accommodate market demands and customers’ needs. The goal will always be to grow in a methodical manner, while providing the service its clients value and rely upon. Kevin Davis, Director of Operations, remembers owner Kurt Dietrich’s philosophy of keeping one’s debt low and continuing operations through difficult times. This philosophy has encouraged company leadership to focus on sustainability even in downtimes.

Dietrich and Davis agree this is how a business plans wisely, and why it is that Hanover Logistics is confident about the future of its operation. Businesses will always need a tested, reliable partner, and the team at Hanover Logistics is determined to offer its services for the next century and beyond.

The post Robust Logistics Solutions for the Long Haul<p class="company">Hanover Logistics</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

A one-stop shop, ABCO’s team works with customers at all stages, from initial system design to construction, automation, tear-down and decommissioning.

Active in many areas of warehouse automation including Garment on Hanger (GOH) systems, distribution-center design, conveyor-system maintenance, pallet racks, permit facilitation, and stockroom optimization, ABCO Systems has earned its reputation as a respected systems integrator for material-handling equipment across the United States.

With its hub in Belleville, New Jersey and a location in Ontario, California, ABCO recently opened its newest facility in Pennsylvania. A staff of 44 across all locations, plus subcontractors, brings decades of experience to handle the distribution center needs of all customers.

Ultimate solutions

“We design and build distribution centers based on specific needs and specific requirements of each individual customer,” says Chief Executive Officer and Principal Seth Weisberg. “We don’t manufacture anything, but we’re with dozens of manufacturers to ensure our end-users are getting exactly what they need.”

Much more than a provider of automation systems, ABCO creates storage solutions that increase client efficiencies, and are custom-tailored to meet their specific needs.

As the company says on its website, “Even if your business has a storage solution currently in place, it might not be as efficient as it could be. It doesn’t hurt to revisit your options and see where improvements can be made.”

From warehouse automation to pick modules, from ABCO’s GOH Systems to Storage Solutions, and from warehouse mezzanines to warehouse safety, ABCO is there to help. The company often becomes engaged when clients are looking for a new building, helping them find the structure that will suit their purposes. And when customers are staying put but realize that their facilities need optimizing, they so often also reach out to ABCO.

Experience and more experience

Before Seth Weisberg came on board in 2003, ABCO was in business for over 30 years under the hand of Seth’s father, Michael Weisberg.

Prior to 2003, Seth had been working in project management in the IT Department of PricewaterhouseCoopers for about six years. One day, receiving a call that his dad was ill and that the business needed help, Seth’s career path took a new direction, and he came into the family business.

“We decided to rebrand the business and open up our services to provide greater and more in-depth opportunities for customers,” says Seth of the company, then in Carlstadt, New Jersey, which was renamed ABCP Systems LLC.

He found that his years of experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers were a tremendous asset personally and professionally. “It helped me immensely,” he says, adding that his time with the multinational professional services firm gave him real-world experience and confidence.

Soon after he joined the company, ABCO began broadening its services into automation. Until that point, the business had focused mainly on Garment on Hanger, which was stationary, but now it began providing customers with full-service solutions. These encompassed design and engineering, including e-commerce, multi-level pick modules, and a varied array of automated solutions such as print and apply, inbound sortation, outbound sortation, and product movement throughout facilities.

Today, ABCO’s wide range of services includes distribution center safety, design, automation integration, conveyor system design, preventative maintenance programs and conveyor repair, and pallet rack removals and purchases.

Rise of e-commerce

To customers, ABCO Systems is more a partner than a business. Working hand-in-hand with clients big and small, ABCO’s commitment to finding the right customized solutions remains unsurpassed. By helping customers maximize storage solutions through professional, streamlined distribution center design, clients not only operate much more efficiently than before but are of course more profitable.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many sectors of ABCO’s business were on the rise. With more people doing online ordering over the past two years, the growth in the sector has become significant. E-commerce has skyrocketed. Taking on projects ranging from $250,000 to $2 million, ABCO’s services and solutions see clients realize their vision from inception to completion.

By taking on smaller projects, end users can enjoy some of the benefits of automation without breaking the bank, allowing them to see the value and benefits of these systems. And, of course, if they choose to do so the systems can be made larger. “Most times when we are building, it’s with the thought that we will be expanding into it,” says Weinberg.

Even with the rise of e-commerce, ABCO maintains that its focus remains on automation, with storage being part of the equation. “The focus of this company is working with the data and helping companies understand the best methodology for distribution,” says Weinberg.

“Most companies are really, really good at what they do, but they don’t necessarily have the experience with distribution that we have. So if we can help them reduce their costs and create efficiency at the same time, it’s a huge win for them.”

True sustainability

Many companies talk about sustainability and recycling for the good of the planet, but ABCO has been putting this into practice for years. Just by implementing a metal recycling plan, ABCO has reduced the amount of energy it consumes by a dramatic 72 percent, compared to virgin ore mining.

In 2019, the company recycled over 2.3 million pounds of steel; the next year ABCO recycled another 1.5 million pounds.

“We recycle probably 10 tons of steel a month,” says Weinberg of the company, which re-purposes older systems and recycles components as part of its eco-friendly business model. “That’s always been a focus.”

Recognizing that warehouses and distribution centers can be dangerous places to work, ABCO Systems also dedicates an enormous amount of time and effort to safety and safety protocols. This includes everything from the company’s safety specialists conducting complimentary assessment calls with clients to discuss their warehouse set-up and concerns, from rack backs and safety netting to warehouse safety products such as bollards, guard rails, and column bars.

“We have an in-house safety officer, safety protocols, and we’ve got our safety manual,” says Weinberg. The company also hosts safety meetings every Monday.

Doing it right

With next year marking the 20^th anniversary of ABCO Systems, the company plans to acknowledge the milestone – and keep growing. Gaining most of its business through word-of-mouth referrals, ABCO recently hired a full-time marketing manager to promote its products and services.

Making the 2019 and 2020 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing businesses, the team at ABCO looks forward to the future and continuing to serve the warehousing, storage, and distribution-center automation needs of all its customers. In 2021, the company did $63 million in sales. By 2025, ABCO expects to achieve $100 million in sales.

“Our focus is on full-service, full-design systems for our customers,” says Weinberg. “We want to be the company people call when they realize they can do it better. We’re not just going to help them install steel; we’re going to help them install it the right way to move product in their facility.”

The post They’re Here for One Thing – to Get your Distribution Center Sorted<p class="company">ABCO Systems</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Valley Equipment Ltd. is Atlantic Canada’s #1 Truck & Trailer Team, headquartered in Hartland, NB with locations in Salisbury, Fredericton and St. Leonard, NB, and under the banner of North East Truck & Trailer in Truro and Dartmouth, NS, both part of the Cook Family Group of Companies.

Valley Equipment serves loyal, longstanding customers who appreciate the highest standards of service. Clients include transportation companies ranging from small to medium to the region’s largest national and international carriers; municipal fire departments; and in New Brunswick, the Department of Transportation, which purchases its various snow plow trucks.

In addition to superb service, the company provides its customers with their pick of leading brands of new and used trucks, trailers, chassis, tires, and parts. As an authorized dealer for new and used Freightliner and Western Star trucks, both leaders in the industry, Valley Equipment can provide a trailer suited to every job from such leading brands as MAC, Utility, BWS, Lode King, Trout River, and Stargate, along with Max Atlas Chassis, and has been an authorized dealer for Michelin Tires for over 50 years.

Clients have access to the largest parts inventory in Atlantic Canada and qualified technicians who are committed to excellence with Elite Support Certification, and who can service Class 6, 7, and 8 premium trucks.

The company’s dealerships and service locations are strategically located. The Hartland location is well positioned close to the Houlton, Maine-Woodstock, NB border crossing, with traffic entering New Brunswick and returning to Maine on Interstate 95. The Salisbury location is advantageous as it is located on Rte 2 of the TransCanada Highway, just 20 minutes from Moncton, the Hub of the Maritimes, as all traffic going to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland from the rest of Canada and New England has to pass by there. The Truro location is similarly well placed as Truro forms a hub for Nova Scotia, while the Dartmouth location is at the port which receives and delivers container shipments from across the Atlantic. (Note, Dartmouth is now officially integrated into the Halifax Regional Municipality or HRM).

Recently, Valley Equipment purchased JML Garage Ltd., a trailer and truck repair shop in St. Leonard, NB, another strategic location as it is in the centre of the northern NB logging business and catches traffic heading to and from Quebec and Fort Kent, Maine. In the spring, there are plans to break ground in St. Leonard to build another Valley Equipment location housing another Western Star/Freightliner dealership.

Meanwhile, VEL Nationalease, a division of Valley Equipment, offers short- and long-term trailer rentals including dry van and reefer storage, available in tandem and tridem configurations, at the Hartland, Salisbury, Truro, and Dartmouth locations.

We learned all this and more in a wide-ranging interview with President Peter Cook and his son Caleb, Vice President of Truck Sales, in which they talked about the company’s beginnings, its business philosophy, growth, the benefits to consumers that come from dealing with a family-owned business, and other Cook Family Group holdings, including a major recent acquisition across the border in Maine.

A rocky start on the road to success
Valley Equipment is truly an inspiring success story that nearly didn’t happen. The company was formed in 1964, when a group of Hartland area farmers joined forces to launch a full-service dealership supplying agriculture, lawn care, forestry, and industrial equipment. Early on the company purchased a local John Deere franchise which encouraged them to construct a new facility in 1966.

But a decision by John Deere in 1969 to separate their existing dealer networks into two divisions — one selling industrial and forestry equipment and the other farm and lawn care, with Valley assigned only the farm and lawn care lines – put the fledgling company in a precarious position. Prior to 1969, it had been “just getting by” according to Peter, but this change saw sales volumes drop and things going south very quickly.

One of the owners, Joseph Palmer, who was also President of Day & Ross, one of Canada’s largest transportation companies, bought out the other farmers and offered Raymond Cook, Peter’s father, the position of General Manager in 1970.

Hoping Raymond could turn the company around, Palmer offered him a small starting salary, which included a five percent ownership share per year if he could meet the targeted profits — which he did, increasing sales to $620,000 in the first year.

Year after year, Raymond continued hitting his targets. In the second year he became 10 percent owner, in 1975 purchased 40 percent of the shares, and in 1978 purchased the remaining 50 percent, becoming the sole owner.

Always looking for ways to grow the company, he added the Hayes Truck lines in 1971, and in 1972 was awarded the “Golden Grizzly Award” as the top Hayes truck salesman in Canada. Over the years he added other lines including Freightliner Trucks, Michelin Tires and Utility Trailers.

Family-owned businesses
Peter Cook recalls, “Dad brought me in to work on the first day. I was just 11 years old, so I’ve always worked in the business. I was an only child and if I wanted to spend time with him, I had to work with him. I worked all through my teenage years and did everything. I started on the ground level in the company, painted, ran errands, and even cleaned the floors.”

By age 16, he was selling lawn mowers and making deliveries. After attending Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, he returned to work alongside his father, taking over as President when Raymond passed in 2014.

Today three of Peter’s sons are involved in the business. Ben is Vice President of Trailer Sales; Caleb is Vice President of Truck Sales; and Bryce works in accounting, while Connor, the youngest, is pursuing a business degree at Mount Allison University and plans to pursue a working career within the family business.

The Cook family is extremely close-knit, Peter says, “something my mother and father instilled in me growing up, and a trait I hold true today. My wife Patricia and I enjoy time at our cottage, and spending time with our boys and their families, which include four cherished grandkids under the age of seven. We enjoy all that rural New Brunswick has to offer; we love to snowmobile, hunt, boat, and fish together.”

A belief shared by Raymond and Peter Cook is the importance and value of diversification. In addition to Valley Equipment and its sister company, North East Truck & Trailer in Nova Scotia, the Cook family owns car dealerships including Valley Honda and Connell Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, both in nearby Woodstock, and Covered Bridge Farms. Named in recognition of the longest covered wooden bridge in the world, which connects Hartland with Somerville across a 1,282-foot span of the St. John River, the 2,500 acre farm is dedicated to growing over 1000 acres annually of chip stock potatoes.

In total, the companies including Valley Equipment provide 265 people with employment. “I’m proud to say I treat employees like family,” Peter says. “We have very little turnover and a lot of them have spent their entire career here. We have many who have been with us 25 and 35 years and even a few 40-plus-years people.”

“People here are a name and not a number and I don’t like to hear people saying they work for Peter Cook. I say no, you work with the Cook family to improve things. I believe in that philosophy. I don’t want employees or anyone to think I am better than anyone else and I never ask anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do myself.”

Certainly, maintaining positive relationships with employees is of great benefit to any business. “Long-time employees know customers’ needs,” he says. “That promotes their trust and loyalty, and it works because we do have loyal, long-standing customers. Many have been purchasing here since 1970.”

Another advantage to being a 100 percent family-owned business is that “it allows us to make quick decisions in the marketplace and often jump ahead of changes in the industry. Also, it means there are no shareholders looking to turn a quick profit, so we are able to reinvest all we can into the growth and sustainability of all our holdings.”

Adds Caleb, “there are no closed doors and no ‘corporate stuffiness’ here.”

Rolling across the NB-Maine border
At present, everyone is excited about the acquisition by the Cook Family Group of Freightliner of Maine, also a privately-owned company and Freightliner dealership. This company is headquartered in Bangor, with locations in Auburn, Houlton, Waterville, and Westbrook, and has 130 employees.

The good news is that employees will all be keeping their jobs, the management will continue to run the company in the way they had been, and Freightliner of Maine will retain its name, which Cook assured the employees in a letter sent to all of them.

In it he wrote: “Our intention will be to keep all of Freightliner of Maine Inc.’s current locations and divisions running as they currently are and allow all of you to continue to do what you do best, servicing our customers.” He goes on to praise the outgoing owners, Joe Cyr and Brenda Thornton, who have been at the helm since 1992, and “who have mirrored our same business philosophy.” Referring to the employees, he wrote: “You are the backbone of this wonderful opportunity and I truly believe we will grow and prosper together. I thank you for your years of service to Freightliner of Maine, Inc. and I cannot wait to have you all as part of my family.” What’s most touching about this personal letter of welcome is that it’s signed simply, “Peter.” Not President, not CEO, not owner – just Peter.

Speaking on behalf of the Cook Family Group, Caleb explains, “This is a major acquisition for us and our biggest one yet. It gives us more stability because along with our multiple locations on the east coast of Canada, we will now have Freightliner of Maine’s current five locations to better serve all of our customers.”

The Cook family is already expanding Freightliner of Maine’s footprint by opening a new Western Star/Freightliner location in Fort Kent. Caleb shares that, “We felt there was an abundance of customers who have been loyal to our brands in that area, and we believe a dealership there will suit their needs.”

The group has also purchased a Western Star franchise in Maine from another company, Daigle & Houghton, which was an International and Western Star dealer combined. “They sold out to another company, and we’ve bought the Western Star side of their business. That will now go with Freightliner of Maine, which gives us almost the entire State of Maine for both Western Star and Freightliner dealerships and service. This is a big win for us,” says Caleb.

He concludes, “I’m sure they are going to teach us some tricks of the trade and maybe we will teach them some of ours. Both sides of the border will benefit from the knowledge that each of us has about doing business. It’s truly a win-win for everyone.”

The post Always Ready to Roll<p class="company">Valley Equipment</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

From the taste and aroma of our favourite morning coffee to the safety and reliability of the cars we drive, there is an inherent expectation that the product we purchase is consistent and produced to meet specific quality benchmarks. In manufacturing, these standards are especially important.

Although many of us may think of quality control as relatively new, its origins go back hundreds of years to the Middle Ages. Apprentice craftsmen or merchants were under guilds associated with a certain town or city. Vital to strengthening local economies, guild members varied considerably, including everything from butchers and bakers to architects, soap-makers and leather-workers. Regardless of their discipline, these men and women had several goals in common, including setting and maintaining quality standards for the goods they produced.

For centuries, emphasis among tradespeople was on quality over quantity. Goods such as shoes were painstakingly made by hand, which changed dramatically with the Industrial Revolution and the shift to machine manufacturing in the 1760s.

Industries as disparate as meatpacking and munition-making soon adopted and improved assembly line production, which required fewer skilled workers, less training, and reduced physical effort. When engineer and automotive visionary Henry Ford brought in the world’s first moving assembly line, cars which previously took 12 hours to assemble could be built in about an hour and a half.

Successful companies are founded on quality, and one of the legendary examples is Toyota. Founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in Japan in 1933 and later becoming the Toyota Motor Corporation, the company‘s future growth and global success were hardly the result of good luck. Following the Second World War, Toyota executives toured big American automobile manufacturers including the Ford Motor Company, noting their production methods and improving them in their own facilities.

Coupled with sound business sense, these careful observations of U.S. production led to initiatives including lean manufacturing systems, and Total Quality Management, better known simply as TQM, and Quality Control (QC).

Lean is founded on tried-and-tested principles including one-piece flow, and zero defects. TQM is based on putting customers first and kaizen, Japanese for “continuous improvement” or “change for the better.” Streamlining operations results not only in improved processes flow, but eliminating waste, just-in-time delivery, and maximizing equipment efficiencies, which ensures customer satisfaction, and greater profits.

Known internationally for its highly efficient manufacturing, the company’s Toyota Production System (TPS) was officially described almost 30 years ago. Along with incorporating what company officials saw when touring auto plants, they were inspired by the way American supermarkets were set up, in particular by the constant restocking of items on shelves.

This principle was transposed to Toyota factories, with workers being minimally – but reliably – supplied with only enough parts they needed at any one time, reducing waste and unnecessary expenditure.

Investopedia defines QC as “a process through which a business seeks to ensure that product quality is maintained or improved.” This is achieved through staff training, establishing quality benchmarks, testing products, and creating “an environment in which both management and employees strive for perfection.”

Products coming from nature, such as meat, must pass inspections and quality control tests to prevent food-borne illnesses that become more and more rigorous yearly. These include evolving checks for chemical residues.

These and other food products are scrutinized by the likes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Other agencies, like the Canadian Beef Grading Agency (CBGA), grade beef, veal and bison.

While most consumers will ask their butcher for “their best steaks,” many are unaware there are 13 grades of beef and five yield classes in Canada. Many factors, including age of the animal, muscling, marbling, and fat color and texture are taken into consideration.

Quality control exists in virtually every service, and every sector, of today’s economy. From the tap water we drink to the highways we drive on to the life-saving medicines we use and the beverages we consume, all are governed by quality control guidelines. More importantly than ever before, we place a great deal of trust in manufacturers that the products they make are held to exacting quality and safety standards.

And as advanced manufacturing techniques evolve and manufacturing processes are streamlined thanks to automation, more of this work is being taken out of the hands of humans, and our faith is actually being placed in machines.

Today, nearly every industry has its own sets of quality standards. In the pharmaceutical industry for example, many procedures are in place to assure quality and consistency, including strict laboratory procedures, staff training, testing, calibrating and maintaining laboratory equipment, cleaning, storage, and labeling.

Then there are standards set to comply with requirements established by the European Union (EU), United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), British Pharmacopoeia (BP), and others. Without updated quality standards manuals (QSMs) and laboratory procedures, the entire system would fall apart.

For businesses of all sorts, QC represents care and integrity. Consider its absence: If a manufacturer promotes and sells a stepladder with a stated maximum weight capacity of 300 pounds (136 kg) and the ladder snaps at just 200 pounds (90 kg), word will quickly get out that the company is deceitful, and sells products that are likely to be dangerous.

The term for this concept is ‘cost of poor quality’ (COPQ), and it can put a company out of business quicker than almost anything.

Establishing and following quality standards benefits everyone. It encourages consumer confidence and profitability for the manufacturer. International standards set under the International Organization for Standardization – better known simply as ISO – provide manufacturers with yet another badge of pride in craftsmanship, and reassure the public they are following well-developed standards.

As of 2019, ISO has published over 21,584 standards under ISO 9000 – Quality Management; ISO/IEC 27000 – Information Security Management Systems; ISO 14000 – Environmental management; and many others covering risk management, social responsibility, and other areas.

Quality control is not static. As more and better technology is developed, it keeps evolving to ensure the items we buy are safe, well-made, and free from defects. From raw materials to finished products, testing must be performed at different stages of manufacturing to make sure, for instance, that the medicines we buy help to heal rather than harm, and that the vehicles we own are reliable.

With proper QC measures in place, brand loyalty is encouraged, and customer satisfaction is far improved. If purchasers know with some certainty what they are getting every time, they are more likely to keep coming back.

For manufacturers, properly applied QC can lower manufacturing costs and ensure consistency, making items less expensive to make. Internally, quality control often buoys morale, since every employee likes to know that he or she is part of a team dedicated to making the best products on the market.

And with each satisfied purchaser referring others to a great product through word-of-mouth, guaranteeing quality is the ultimate in free advertising.

The post Changing for the Better<p class="company">The Importance of Quality Control</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

From the taste and aroma of our favourite morning coffee to the safety and reliability of the cars we drive, there is an inherent expectation that the product we purchase is consistent and produced to meet specific quality benchmarks. In manufacturing, these standards are especially important.

Although many of us may think of quality control as relatively new, its origins go back hundreds of years to the Middle Ages. Apprentice craftsmen or merchants were under guilds associated with a certain town or city. Vital to strengthening local economies, guild members varied considerably, including everything from butchers and bakers to architects, soap-makers and leather-workers. Regardless of their discipline, these men and women had several goals in common, including setting and maintaining quality standards for the goods they produced.

For centuries, emphasis among tradespeople was on quality over quantity. Goods such as shoes were painstakingly made by hand, which changed dramatically with the Industrial Revolution and the shift to machine manufacturing in the 1760s.

Industries as disparate as meatpacking and munition-making soon adopted and improved assembly line production, which required fewer skilled workers, less training, and reduced physical effort. When engineer and automotive visionary Henry Ford brought in the world’s first moving assembly line, cars which previously took 12 hours to assemble could be built in about an hour and a half.

Successful companies are founded on quality, and one of the legendary examples is Toyota. Founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in Japan in 1933 and later becoming the Toyota Motor Corporation, the company‘s future growth and global success were hardly the result of good luck. Following the Second World War, Toyota executives toured big American automobile manufacturers including the Ford Motor Company, noting their production methods and improving them in their own facilities.

Coupled with sound business sense, these careful observations of U.S. production led to initiatives including lean manufacturing systems, and Total Quality Management, better known simply as TQM, and Quality Control (QC).

Lean is founded on tried-and-tested principles including one-piece flow, and zero defects. TQM is based on putting customers first and kaizen, Japanese for “continuous improvement” or “change for the better.” Streamlining operations results not only in improved processes flow, but eliminating waste, just-in-time delivery, and maximizing equipment efficiencies, which ensures customer satisfaction, and greater profits.

Known internationally for its highly efficient manufacturing, the company’s Toyota Production System (TPS) was officially described almost 30 years ago. Along with incorporating what company officials saw when touring auto plants, they were inspired by the way American supermarkets were set up, in particular by the constant restocking of items on shelves.

This principle was transposed to Toyota factories, with workers being minimally – but reliably – supplied with only enough parts they needed at any one time, reducing waste and unnecessary expenditure.

Investopedia defines QC as “a process through which a business seeks to ensure that product quality is maintained or improved.” This is achieved through staff training, establishing quality benchmarks, testing products, and creating “an environment in which both management and employees strive for perfection.”

Products coming from nature, such as meat, must pass inspections and quality control tests to prevent food-borne illnesses that become more and more rigorous yearly. These include evolving checks for chemical residues.

These and other food products are scrutinized by the likes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Other agencies, like the Canadian Beef Grading Agency (CBGA), grade beef, veal and bison.

While most consumers will ask their butcher for “their best steaks,” many are unaware there are 13 grades of beef and five yield classes in Canada. Many factors, including age of the animal, muscling, marbling, and fat color and texture are taken into consideration.

Quality control exists in virtually every service, and every sector, of today’s economy. From the tap water we drink to the highways we drive on to the life-saving medicines we use and the beverages we consume, all are governed by quality control guidelines. More importantly than ever before, we place a great deal of trust in manufacturers that the products they make are held to exacting quality and safety standards.

And as advanced manufacturing techniques evolve and manufacturing processes are streamlined thanks to automation, more of this work is being taken out of the hands of humans, and our faith is actually being placed in machines.

Today, nearly every industry has its own sets of quality standards. In the pharmaceutical industry for example, many procedures are in place to assure quality and consistency, including strict laboratory procedures, staff training, testing, calibrating and maintaining laboratory equipment, cleaning, storage, and labeling.

Then there are standards set to comply with requirements established by the European Union (EU), United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), British Pharmacopoeia (BP), and others. Without updated quality standards manuals (QSMs) and laboratory procedures, the entire system would fall apart.

For businesses of all sorts, QC represents care and integrity. Consider its absence: If a manufacturer promotes and sells a stepladder with a stated maximum weight capacity of 300 pounds (136 kg) and the ladder snaps at just 200 pounds (90 kg), word will quickly get out that the company is deceitful, and sells products that are likely to be dangerous.

The term for this concept is ‘cost of poor quality’ (COPQ), and it can put a company out of business quicker than almost anything.

Establishing and following quality standards benefits everyone. It encourages consumer confidence and profitability for the manufacturer. International standards set under the International Organization for Standardization – better known simply as ISO – provide manufacturers with yet another badge of pride in craftsmanship, and reassure the public they are following well-developed standards.

As of 2019, ISO has published over 21,584 standards under ISO 9000 – Quality Management; ISO/IEC 27000 – Information Security Management Systems; ISO 14000 – Environmental management; and many others covering risk management, social responsibility, and other areas.

Quality control is not static. As more and better technology is developed, it keeps evolving to ensure the items we buy are safe, well-made, and free from defects. From raw materials to finished products, testing must be performed at different stages of manufacturing to make sure, for instance, that the medicines we buy help to heal rather than harm, and that the vehicles we own are reliable.

With proper QC measures in place, brand loyalty is encouraged, and customer satisfaction is far improved. If purchasers know with some certainty what they are getting every time, they are more likely to keep coming back.

For manufacturers, properly applied QC can lower manufacturing costs and ensure consistency, making items less expensive to make. Internally, quality control often buoys morale, since every employee likes to know that he or she is part of a team dedicated to making the best products on the market.

And with each satisfied purchaser referring others to a great product through word-of-mouth, guaranteeing quality is the ultimate in free advertising.

The post Changing for the Better<p class="company">The Importance of Quality Control</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.