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Assistant Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW On Sept. 29, East Longmeadow-based Maybury Material Handling celebrated its 30th anniversary with an open house of its new building on Denslow Road and an industrial exposition, complete with a lift truck rodeo. The company, which began in 1976 in the Maybury family basement, sold racks, shelving and cabinets to companies in various industries. The father and son team of Tom and John Maybury soon expanded to become a company of 40 employees at their first corporate facility on Denslow Road. The elder Maybury eventually retired, and even with recent growth and a newly-constructed 42,000 square foot building, the business remains in the family with 74 employees and John Maybury at the helm. Maybury told The Reminder that, when considering a new building, it was important for Maybury Material Handling to stay in East Longmeadow. "I was born here, I have roots here, and I wanted to stay in the area," he said. "We also have really good people [as employees] and I wanted to maintain the workforce." That workforce is made up of sales people, engineers, metal fabricators, welders, repair and maintenence staff and truck operators. The company serves western Massachusetts and Worcester county and all of Connecticut. In addition to company growth, he said they have also entered the 21st Century with sales people carrying Blackberries and company vans equipped with laptop computers and Global Positioning Systems. Maybury said the technology allows the company to deliver better customer service than ever before, empowering customers to track shipments, service history and more at a much faster rate. Maybury added that, with continued growth, he would like to see the company extend its geographical reach. And whether it will stay in the family, he said, only time will tell. Maybury has two sons, ages 15 and 17. "I don't know if they're interested in the business," he said. What is Material Handling? There's a saying in the trucking industry: "Without trucks, America stops." But there's more to the supply chain than trucks. Actually, without businesses supplying products like those available from Maybury Material Handling, the trucks would have to be loaded and unloaded completely by hand, and storage would be limited to available floor space. Delivery to the consumer would be equally inefficient and challenging. In fact, the non-profit Material Handling Industry of America puts it their own way. They call themselves "the Industry that makes the supply chain work." Maybury explained to The Reminder that his company sells, installs, services and constructs equipment heavy duty shelving for warehouses, conveyor belts, truck dock door systems, industrial mezzanines, fork lifts, and vertical storage systems that is used by companies from the beginning to the end of the supply chain. He said it's easy to stop in the grocery store and pick up a bottle of ketchup and not think about how it arrived on the shelf. However, he said, material handling equipment was used at every level of processing that ketchup, from the farm, to the factory, to the distribution center, to the grocery store. "We're in the background, but we're helping companies [move their products] most efficiently," he said. | ||||||
