jan-2018

258 259 primary forklift brand isTotal Fleet Solutions (TFS); our primary industrial door and industrial door brand is Miner.TFSwas founded in 2000.The thought process was: there are 20,000 plusmaterial handling vendors in a fragmentedmarket that offer one territory,and one brand of equipment or one trade (forklifts,indus- trial doors,industrial docks are all trades).I didn’t want to be number 20,001 doing the same thing.So,we offered all brands,all territories,all trades. “We started out offering comprehensive consulting services as a better solution for managing those three assets.I was a one-person showat the time,and gave our first couple of customers good consulting informa- tion,they just didn’t implement the ideas.It dawned on me after 60 days,theydidn’t want ideas,theywanted fulfillment.So,I changed themodel to“here’s the ideas andwe’ll implement them.”It worked,because those clients were busydoing amillion other things that were core to their business. “Saya customer has five locations.One has 25 forklifts–five different brands with an average age of 15 years,because theyaccumulated themover time. Theydidn’t have good data tomake decisions onwhat assets they should have,or the quantity.So,we gave thema recommendation of what their fleet should look like,and a path to get to it over the next six months,by right-sizing the fleet from25 down to 20; moving over a couple years to amore consistent brand, or consistent specifications of assets,that wouldmake the operatorsmore effective.” BVM: Howdid you develop such a strong network in the industry? Parent: “We’re an outsourcemodel.When customers want to outsource the complete function–all brands, locations,aspects,and services required tomanage a fleet of forklifts,doors,and docks–you need to bewell rounded to do that.Mybackgroundwas a perfect fit.I MATERIAL HANDLING SERVICES worked for Dana Corporation for 11 years,and gained experience in finance,strategicplanning,purchasing, running a business unit,audits,acquisition.One of the last jobs I hadwas involvedwith buying all their fork- lifts,and I got to knowmanyplayers in the industry. “TFSwent on by itself until 2005.Then,Todd Roberts (one of the first people toworkwithme at TFS,and an owner and integral player today) and I sold part of the companyand brought in private resources from Southfield Capital.We grewand formalized the busi- ness,making big investments in people and technol- ogy.In 2011,we had grown enough that it was time for Southfield tomove on.We brought in our second private equity sponsor–C.I.Capital.We had donezero acquisitions in our 12-year history,and C.I.taught us and pushed us to do acquisitions that would com- plement either more trades,more territories,or more services along the asset life cycle. “Phil Miner,simultaneouslyand unrelated,was the founder of Miner Corporation in SanAntonio,Texas.He was working on a similar business as an independent manager andmaintenance provider for industrial doors and docks in theTexas area.I hadmet Phil,and we always thought it wouldmake a good combination. Wewere the forklift experts,theywere the door and dockpros.Phil was a little older thanme,and looking to give up full timework.So,MHS acquiredMiner Corp. in 2012.Since then,we’ve done 25 acquisitions-that’s where a lot of the brand names come in.” BVM: Where are your operations based? Parent: “MHS andTFS are headquartered in Par- rysburg,Ohio (a suburb of Toledo); Miner is based in Dallas,Texas.TFS andMiner are about the same size.