Exclusive Interview with Scott Englert of the North Carolina Office
For thirty years, Material Handling Technologies has provided first-class manufacturing and distribution systems and equipment. In this blog, MHT Vice President and co-founder, Scott Englert, highlights the beginning of MHT, provides a day-in-the-life snapshot and more.
30-Year Interview
Q: When did you start your business and where did you get the idea for it?
A: We started the business back in 1992. I was already in the industry, working for a company that didn’t have the best ethical practices. I decided it would be best to go out and do it independently.
Q: How did you come up with the business name?
A: I wanted our name to reflect the kind of work that we perform. The most important term to me was “Material Handling” because that’s the primary term for what we do. I drew our logo on a napkin and wanted to make sure it incorporated conveyor rollers, as well as the colors: red, white and blue!
Q: What inspired you to become a business owner?
A: I have always wanted to be in charge of my destiny and provide for my family.
Q: What does your typical workday look like?
A: I wouldn’t say that I have a typical workday. I can bounce around from estimating projects to engineering concepts on a daily basis. I like to keep tabs on almost everything that’s going on around me. I like to be a “preventer”— I like to catch potential problems before they can happen.
Q: How has your business evolved over the years?
A: We shifted gears as a company once we started manufacturing our own brand of 24vDC conveyor—we call this StealthZone. Until 2002, we were better known as a systems integrator with a small fabrication shop. We were more accustomed to implementing AC drive systems involving belt conveyors, belt-driven live rollers and chain conveyors.
Now, we produce 24vDC pallets and case conveyors and have expanded our fabrication shop. We’ve grown to about 50,000 sq ft of production space, allowing us to take on larger projects and provide our customers with the custom solutions they need.
Q: How have you expanded your company base?
A: As I mentioned before, we started out as a systems integrator and the products we were implementing were mainly on the manufacturing side of our customer’s operations. Once we started producing the 24vDC StealthZone conveyor, it opened up the door for us to provide solutions for the distribution side. This change allowed us to pursue other customers and created stability for our company. Through thirty years of business, we’ve been able to keep a good reputation with our customers. For example, when we provide a turn-key system, we’ve had customers continue to work with us in other areas of their working space to improve their operations.
Q: What sets MHT apart from others in the industry?
A: We’re different in that we can provide special design and turn-key solutions. Not to mention, we can handle almost everything in-house. We prefer to meet with our potential customers to listen to their needs and provide feedback. Once the customer approves, our engineering team puts together a concept, while our fabrication shop builds the necessary components. We also have the ability to implement these projects with our mechanical and electrical groups.
After completion of a system, our response time for parts and/or service sets us apart from our competition. We have the ability to respond ASAP for service and can build nearly any added component our customers may require.
