60 Seconds with Gary Steen, Sales Manager at Hannibal Industries

Gary Steen

Hannibal Industries

Title: Sales manager

Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

Experience: More than 30 years in the materials handling industry

Modern: You’ve hit a milestone in your career: Retirement. How does that feel?

Steen: Well, it feels great. I was so used to getting up at 4:30 in the morning for the nearly 25 years I spent at Hannibal Industries that it’s nice to sleep in until 6:30 a.m. I feel blessed and grateful that back in 2008 our senior management created an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that I was able to participate in. Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to retire at 64.

Modern: You’ve been with Hannibal Industries since 1997. Back track and tell us how you got started in the industry and what kept you in it all these years?

Steen: I started my materials handling career with Crown Lift Trucks. At the time, I was in the restaurant industry, and the wife of Crown’s sales manager worked for me. He hired me.

To be honest, I wasn’t very good at selling lift trucks, but from the sales manager, I learned to look beyond the truck and create a relationship with customers. He also introduced me to the owner of a company called Rack and Roll. We became good friends, he saw my potential and hired me right about the time he sold the company to Hannibal, and I was there the rest of my career.

Modern: I often think of rack and shelving as the unsung heroes of our industry: You can’t run a warehouse without them, but you don’t think about them unless something goes wrong. Talk about the evolution in the industry during your career.

Steen: When I started, it was a lot simpler. You were converting a warehouse from floor storage to single-deep selective rack. Over the years, we saw the introduction of drive in and pushback rack. Then, with the development of narrow-aisle lift trucks, the racks started getting taller.

Now, we’ve seen a steady increase in automation over the last 15 years. It’s not just automated pallet storage, but case storage and picking, too. Integrating with automation means we have to be a lot more aware of the tolerances than in the past. That’s led to more precise manufacturing processes. For instance, at Hannibal, we implemented automated frame tables where robots weld the frames.

Modern: What’s driving those changes?

Steen: Automation is being driven by the need to meet customer expectations and the cost of the workforce required to do that. You bring in robotics and automation, they’re going to do the same job as five or more employees and they can run 24 hours a day.

Modern: When you think of the future of the rack industry, what excites you?

Steen: Without a doubt, it’s watching the advancements in automation, and the role rack plays in that. You look at the robotic automation in an Amazon warehouse, where we’ve supplied rack for years, or everything that goes into a very highly automated grocery warehouse, and it’s incredible.

Modern: Finally, you’re retiring: What’s next on your personal agenda?

Steen: My wife is also retired, so, we’re both able to spend more time doing things together. We have six grandchildren, and we’ve been able to travel to see them. And, we have some personal trips planned. Also, I want to stay in contact with the friends I’ve made in the industry over the years. We’ve had a lot of fun, and I’ve been blessed to work with a great group of people.