Business View - December 2014 105
“Back in those days, we sold stuff,” said Daryle Og-
burn, an employee since 1978 and now the compa-
ny’s president. “We sold casters, wheels, hand trucks,
shelving and we did some small systems work, putting
in conveyor systems, mezzanines and picking systems.
“We do complete systems work now. People can buy
the things from catalog houses, they can buy it right
from the Internet, or wherever, and it doesn’t seem
like the average customer cares as much about those
things being exactly right. They’re willing to take them
fast and willing to get what they get for it. That sort
of disqualified us, even with shelving or casters, we
made sure they were right for the application, so we’ve
evolved into a solutions-type company.”
Ogburn’s relationship with the business actually be-
gan while he was employed elsewhere as an engineer
and was a long-term sales customer of Abernathy’s at
Advanced Equipment. The two men talked intermit-
tently about career opportunities, and Ogburn, who’d
consistently balked at the idea, eventually agreed to
make a visit to Charlotte to get a first-hand look at how
things were done.
Upon arrival, he discovered that a single “application
specialist” was responsible for establishing contact
with would-be customers, and that the same person
would do project engineering tasks on any work sub-
sequently done with that client – rather than simply
concentrating on sales.
LOGISTICS
