From Decommissioning to Global Imports: A Family Business Evolution

Welcome to Beyond Point to Point, the podcast where we go beyond pickup and delivery and dive deeper into the world of logistics, freight, and supply chain management. From industry trends to expert insights, we're here to help you navigate the complexities of modern shipping. Be sure to subscribe to Beyond Point to Point wherever you watch or listen to your favorite podcasts. And now here's your host, Joe Greek. Welcome back to Beyond Point to Point, the podcast where we explore the people, partnerships, and processes that move supply chains forward. In this episode, I'm joined by Tara Lauder from Systems Office Furniture Incorporated and I five Industries, a family owned office furniture company that's grown from local decommissioning projects to importing products from across the globe. We'll talk about how the company built a flexible logistics strategy from international forwarding to final delivery and how strong partnerships make it all possible. Tara, thank you for being on the show today. Yes, thank you for having me. So, as I understand, I five Industries has a deep family history. Could you maybe tell me about the beginnings of what is now today five and the evolution of the business? Sure. So it goes back to the eighties, way before even our parent company Systems Office Furniture was created. It started with an opportunity that was given to my grandmother, my dad's mom. We were in the Houston area at the time and she was approached by a company that needed to get office furniture out of a building. They were in a pinch and they pretty much told her, if you can get this out, we will give it to you. She saw the value in the furniture and she made it happen, they were able to turn a good profit on putting it out into the secondary market and so they saw this need for, you know, being able to go out and acquire furniture and then put it out into the secondary market, put it in to office furniture dealerships where they had customers that needed to be, you know, mindful of budget and things of that nature, couldn't always go for the new price tag. But in two thousand and one, he created Systems Office Furniture, he and my mom. At the time, we still joke about he would send out faxes. And so, you know, it was before the days of email, so they'd send out faxes of the inventories. They talk about when they had to FedEx the pictures of the inventories. And so it's a long process, but it it had a good return on it when you could sell two hundred, three hundred cubicles to either an end user or another furniture person who had a client that was in need. We realized, obviously, we've kinda gotta separate ourselves from systems office furniture because from there, we could sell other office furniture things. So I five was created. Our last name is Ishmael, and there's five of us, and so that's kind of how that came to be. So part of the transformation of the business, I believe, also took place during the pandemic. Correct? Yes. So Eastern Europe, where we were purchasing out of, they had not shut down at all. I think the factory only had one time where they had to shut down for ten days to quarantine. So we had just brought in all this product. We had inventory. No one else did. It definitely wasn't perfect. It wasn't as far as our packaging and things of that nature. It wasn't industry standard. We had a lot of areas we needed to pivot. But at that point, we were just trying to keep up with the orders. We grew exponentially. And so, you know, sometimes you hear, like, it's not good for a company to grow too fast. So that was my biggest concern while it was wonderful that you weren't having to check if money was coming in because, you know, we were just constantly trying to fill orders. We were managing back orders. We were sitting on six month lead times for the containers. And so that was really kind of the right place, right time that the pandemic truly put us in a position where we were able to probably what would have taken, you know, five years to get us out there kind of launched us. We were also we had just signed up working with Wayfair at the time and so when people were sent home, they were given budgets that they could spend and they were setting up home offices And so we started having sales on Wayfair and things of that nature. So it really just, you know, it was kind of a double edged sword, but it definitely kind of launched us in that time. Well, that's incredible. And I know the relationship with Averitt began out as primarily LTL. Yes. At what point did you decide to reach out to Averitt and explore the possibility of us handling your international forwarding? So, originally, all of the containers that we had been bringing in, the factory had been providing the shipping services. And as we started really honing in more on the data that we were collecting to make sure that, you know, when tariffs started happening and, you know, just the shipping shifts every time something's going on in a certain region. And so we really wanted to make sure that we were seeing all the transparency. So we kind of felt like we wanted to see that the items that we were paying for were in an invoice that we could see that cost and then the shipping, could see that cost and kind of track. Then now the tariffs as well. We wanted to, you know, have more business with Averitt. They've been very instrumental in the growth of I five and on the LTL side. So we felt like the service was gonna be, you know, the same, if not better, on the international side. Anytime you're changing something you've been doing for several years, you're waiting for hiccups, but those were smoothed out very quickly. And so it's really been a good transition for us. And, you know, we also felt like that is if we were doing all of our logistics with one company, then it would allow us to kind of have the best competitive pricing on the LTL side so that we could consistently, offer the best pricing to our customers because we have a dock to dock program where if they purchase a certain amount dependent on where they're at in the United States, they get free shipping based on what they purchase. So it's been really important. We use Averitt and all the direct lanes that you guys have just because we know the service that we're gonna get. So in twenty eighteen, I had mentioned this when I had spoke in Houston. It's kind of funny the way things happen. So in twenty eighteen, we I reached out to Averitt because Averitt had been showing up to our doc when we were purchasing from the other company that we were kind of filling the gaps with way before we brought in containers. So I just naturally was like, they're they're always here. They're always on time. Driver's great. And so I reached out, and they put me in contact with who's our rep. And she happened to be the rep for this other company that and she had just moved from Dallas. So she had all this knowledge. She knew how to ship the products. She knew how to ship the products with a very low damage rate. So it was just so funny that at that point in time where we were getting into this business, she had moved to Houston and was now in our region but was working with that other company and had been their rep. And so it's been just that relationship alone and obviously, you know, her management team. It's just been there there's a friendship that was born out of it. So it's it's been really great to work with her. And so I really think that that all happened for a reason and that timing. It does feel like the stars kind of aligned there. Well, you know, this has been the year of up and downs with tariffs. How has that been with I5? And do you get support from the Averitt team on keeping up to date with how that impacts customs clearance and things of that nature? Yes, absolutely. Even during COVID, at the time, I was handling it. And would Sandra had put me in contact with Cindy, who's in the Dallas office. And she just has a plethora of knowledge with international anything. So I could call her and pick her brain, find out what she thought about really anything, what they were seeing. And we still do. We still reach out. And so it's definitely it's been challenging trying to kind of get ahead of especially when there's been little time in between the tariff hitting and then when your product needs to be on the water for it to be something that is excluded from the tariff. But Averitt has definitely helped us navigate that. We were within a two day window of having over one hundred percent tariff. And so our invoice actually said that we weren't in it. We went back, and they were like, no, no, no. That's a mistake. And we got it fixed. And we all slept that night because we were like, oh my gosh, one hundred percent tariff on this product. It's not profitable anymore at all. And so they've really helped us navigate it as well as anyone can in this current economical climate. But yes, they've been very helpful. Well, it's good to have that kind of a responsive team. Yes. Are the majority of your products, are they imported through the Port of Houston? Yes. The Port of Houston is another thing that's very beneficial for us. We are about less than three hours from the port. So we bring in containers weekly. We have a two hour unload time. And then they go back to the port. So the cost is very low on bringing those in. They don't have to unhook or drop or anything like that. And the Port of Houston, even through the pandemic, they shut down one time. So that port has we did a port tour a couple months ago, And it was very interesting, all of the logistics around making sure that that port does not shut down for any amount of time. And then now Averitt having their location there at the port is also very beneficial for us too. Do you use Averitt for any of your port services? Yes. They recently just started hauling all of our containers to us. So yeah. So when we haul the containers to you, do we drop them off at your location, or do we transload them beforehand? Nope. So they go hook up directly to the chassis. They bring it to our dock. We unload it in two hours, and then they're back to the port, and they drop off the same day. So that's the benefit of us being not too far inland from the port. Yeah. So you can avoid any per diem and demarriage fees. Yes. Yes. Definitely. They can easily eat into a budget. Yes. Well, your business is unique because not only are you shipping to residences or to businesses, but you can have unique deliveries or pickups where maybe there's a decommissioning project. So what is the value in working with service provider that can be flexible to unique deliveries like that, especially when it comes to LTL sized freight? Yes. So we have utilized Averitt for dedicated loads. We do a lot of decommissions in the energy corridor area of Houston, but do a lot of things for companies like Chevron and Wells Fargo and things of that nature. They have very specific deadlines and when we can get in the building. So we did have one in Houston and called up, and we were kind of in a pinch. They needed us in sooner. We needed to get in after hours. And so we had a dedicated driver there at seven PM. He picked everything up, brought it in the morning, and it was really easy working with them. We deck trucks a lot to get chairs, office chairs. And so we were kind of in a pinch we needed to get decking back to the location for another load out. So our LTL driver let us load the decking on the truck. They took it to the terminal, gave it to the dedicated driver that night. Dedicated driver had it there for our team to, you know, start building the decking inside the truck as they loaded it. So it was just very seamless and easy for us. And so that was very helpful with Averitt. That's awesome. Well, I know i5 and Averitt are both family owned companies, and culture is at the heart of everything we do. What does culture mean to i5, and especially when building partnerships with your service providers? Yeah, so that was one of the things that immediately we have other carriers that we work with, but there's not that same friendship that we developed very organically with our reps and some of the people inside of their offices. We've done different outings with them. And it really they've kind of joined our families. They know our kids. They know everyone within our company. And that means a lot to us. Us, our people are very important to us. And we have all different people that work inside our organization. But we truly believe that, just like Averitt, we really want our customers to know that we have been on their side where you can't invoice a customer until you've received your product and you need it to show up there undamaged. And so we really understand that we are a part of that domino effect that can either be very successful or it can be a nightmare. And so Averitt kind of had that same philosophy, and they were an extension of our business. And so for us, and for me personally, I really like all of the outreach that Averitt does, even in our company, which obviously is no size compared to Averitt. But I've told people I really like working with Averitt because I know that kind of inadvertently our business is helping with St. Jude's or with the other things that they are doing. So for us being a smaller company, we're still very happy about the fact that we can contribute in that way just by working with a company that, one, is very aligned with our values, but then, two, they're giving back. Because I think that's what it's about when you're successful and you're able to do the things that you're able to do in your industry, but then giving back for some of the people that aren't able to. That's that's a big deal. And even for our employees to know that we work with companies like that, that means a lot to them as well. So our warehouse employees, our office staff, We are all kind of a big family. We're a work family because we realize they're there with us more than they are with their families throughout the day. So it's important to us that our people are important. And our drivers that come with Averitt, they know everyone in our warehouse. So it's just it's been kind of a cool experience to have two businesses come together like we have. And I had mentioned when I had spoke to some customers in Houston that I guess a lot of people take for granted the low damage rate. But that was something that we really appreciated as well is just how much Averitt cared about the products and that our product was getting there undamaged. And I had someone tell me, I didn't even think about that. I haven't filed one damage claim. And I was like, yeah, because it's just a standard that you've come accustomed to with the way that they run their business and the way that we run ours. Well, that's a great point. So as a logistics professional, how do you balance cost versus service? Because if you go for lower rates, you ultimately probably lead yourself to higher damages. So how do you balance that? Yeah, I think there's a balance between you get what you pay for, but then there's also an expectation to know that things are going to happen. It's kind of how someone handles it at that point when something does happen. But I tell our team that when they're our orders department, they set up all the LTLs, they kind of have a percentage to stick within. But even when Averitt comes in a little bit over the other person, I always tell him to go with it because I think you're going to get what you pay for. And if you walk it back and the potential for something to happen with the less expensive option, by the time you've potentially filed a claim, you've reshipped product, it just became much more expensive. So we kind of like to stick with what we know. Well, Tara, I really appreciate your time today. And also, thank you for allowing Averitt to be a part of the i5 family and vice versa. Yes, thank you. To learn more about how Averitt helps companies like Systems Office Furniture Incorporated and I five Industries manage global shipments and streamline their supply chains end to end, visit Averitt dot com slash international, and be sure to subscribe for more conversations like this one.