 Jeff Bublitz, Duncan Murphy and Pete Womack |
Bublitz Material Handling (BMH) of North Kansas City has entered into a partnership with Riekes Equipment Co of Omaha, Nebraska. Both are Yale dealerships.
The separate corporations with some common ownership will be managed as separate companies but use synergy from the alliance "where it makes sense".
Duncan Murphy, Riekes Equipment president, adds duties as BMH president. "Our Yale territories have a common border, making the sharing of resources easy for us and Yale," says Murphy. Riekes and BMH "have worked together on projects for years".
Effective from 1 January, the arrangement combines the capital and strength of Riekes Equipment with "the excellent reputation of BMH and an outstanding team led by Jeff Bublitz to support the Kansas City marketplace", the firms say in a 6 May announcement. BMH, which has won numerous industry awards, is undertaking best practices and Riekes-oriented initiatives in strategic planning, financial modeling and fleet management.
For BMH, Bublitz is now chief executive officer of operations and Pete Womack is chief operating officer for sales and marketing. Bublitz is the grandson of the business's 1927 founder, Walter J Bublitz. Womack joins BMH after five years managing the Sioux Falls, South Dakota branch of Riekes.
On formation of the partnership, BMH had 40 employees including 20 technicians, and Riekes had 95 employees including 50 technicians.
Creating the venture took several months. "When Jeff Bublitz realised he needed a capital infusion to allow Bublitz to grow, he called me ... to meet and discuss merging our interests," Murphy says. "Papers were signed on March 1, 2010 effective January 1, 2010, the delay caused in part by the failure of the bank supporting Bublitz." Prior to 1 March, the business operated as Bublitz Machinery Co, which remains in existence as a holding company for the real estate and vehicle fleet.
"We wanted to continue using the Bublitz good name in Kansas City but make the statement about our product and service offerings extending into all materials handling," he notes.
Murphy, 57, will remain active with Riekes on a day-to-day basis, "financially managing Bublitz from 180 miles (288 km) away and making frequent visits to reinforce the Riekes culture for both companies", he says. "Jeff and Pete will handle day-to-day operations in Kansas City."
In addition to handling the Yale line since 1953 in the Kansas City metropolitan area, north eastern Kansas and western Missouri, BMH represents Landoll Bendi and Drexel forklifts, Advance floor cleaning equipment, Tymco street sweepers, boom construction cranes and storage systems. A BMH branch is located in Sedalia, Missouri.
Riekes Equipment has operated in the materials handling industry for more than 75 years and, in addition to Yale, represents and supports hoist, crane and other lift devices, warehouse logistics and storage products, fleet management services and parts and service. Other than Omaha and Sioux Falls, Riekes has locations in Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska and Sioux Falls, Iowa.
Both Murphy and Bublitz have served as president during different terms on both the central region and national Yale dealer advisory boards.
Murphy was 2009 president of the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association.