Urged by client General Motors,
A-1 International Inc. opened its Michigan facility back in 1979. When Ronald Mandler joined the firm as regional sales manager 15 years ago, he had a prescient idea: to begin diversifying the logistics firm's client list.
It worked.
The company recently relocated from Ferndale to a larger warehouse facility in Troy. Since the move, five contract drivers have been added to bring the number to nearly 50, and Mandler estimates more will be added in the coming months as new clients come on-line.
The company employs another nine in dispatch and management roles.
A-1 has two core businesses. The first, which stems from their original manufacturing focus, is the delivery of critical repair parts in a timely fashion. "Our business model is that we are taking warehousing and delivery aspects away from our customers," says Mandler. "We can give them 100 percent focus on their core business."
The company grew into the warehousing aspect of its business. "Our push away from just automotive opened new avenues. Supply chain management of repair parts blossomed into quite a large business," says Mandler. "We started out as an office rather than as a warehouse -- a couple hundred square feet of repair parts," says Mandler. "Now we have a 60,000 square feet warehouse that is half-filled."
The second focus for A-1 is in the health care industry. They specialize in pharmaceutical and specimen pick-ups and deliveries. "We take full ownership of that aspect of their business," says Mandler. "This allows labs to focus on lab work and pharmaceuticals to get out of distribution all together."
A-1 also has locations in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Manhattan, but Mandler says the company is committed to maintaining its area presence. "I love Michigan," he says. "I never want to leave, so I've it got to make it work!"
Source: Ronald Mandler, A-1 International Inc.Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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