Institute for Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial Education Partner
The Libman Company. It's been a mainstay in the Arcola community for over 75 years, but do you really understand what they do?
Yes, they made, and continue to make, brooms. Yes, they make other brushes and mops. But, what they really do is... innovate.
Jon Franklin, Director of Manufacturing, and Beau Acton, Logistics Manager, walked us through the miles (yes, miles; 1.8 million square feet, in fact) of The Libman Company plant in Arcola, and explained the key concepts that have made the family-run business so successful and positioned for future growth.
"The Libman Way" is to make sure they have what the customer wants. So, stocking and quickly recalling warehoused inventory is of paramount importance. Since we toured last year, The Libman Company has innovated even the, seemingly simple, task of pulling inventory for orders, through the use of automated rack robots with laser eyes to pull from the tens of thousands of pallets of finished goods.
Through vertical integration, The Libman Company controls everything - from production to shipping. At any given time, there is roughly $60 million of goods ready to ship out across the nation, and even internationally.
Quality control and product development are key in the manufacturing process. When working through a product design "How is it going to fail is almost as important as how it's going to function," says Franklin.
Forward thinking, constant automation and innovation have allowed The Libman Company to grow in a space where other factories closed up shop decades ago.
That forward thinking starts at the top, with Robert Libman. At 81 years old, he's still in the factory everyday. His grandfather started the factory in Chicago in 1896, but moved to Central Illinois in the 1940s, first to Tuscola, then to Arcola.
Andrew Libman, Robert's son, worked elsewhere before coming back to the family business. "It seemed like a simple business to me," Andrew says. "I could understand it."
Andrew joined us at the end of our tour to talk about his experience, and to find out more about our CEO program. We also talked a little EBITDA, cash flow, balance sheets, and other financial terms we'll circle back to later this year.
Andrew Libman's philosophy gets to the heart of why The Libman Company has innovated its way to success in a crowded space: "If I'm going to show up everyday, I'm going to give it my best."
Thank you to Andrew Libman, Jonathan Franklin and Beau Acton of The Libman Company for taking time to show us around the complex plant and share the Libman story with us.
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