Leaving behind a legacy of excellence: interview with Mike Romano
As he heads into retirement, Mike Romano looks back on his 40-year career in an industry that has risen from obscurity to widespread acclaim (and even made its debut on prime-time television).
David Maloney has been a journalist for more than 35 years and is currently the group editorial director for DC Velocity and Supply Chain Quarterly magazines. In this role, he is responsible for the editorial content of both brands of Agile Business Media. Dave joined DC Velocity in April of 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior editor for Modern Materials Handling magazine. Dave also has extensive experience as a broadcast journalist. Before writing for supply chain publications, he was a journalist, television producer and director in Pittsburgh. Dave combines a background of reporting on logistics with his video production experience to bring new opportunities to DC Velocity readers, including web videos highlighting top distribution and logistics facilities, webcasts and other cross-media projects. He continues to live and work in the Pittsburgh area.
Mike Romano has just retired. After more than 40 years in the material handling industry, he’s going out on top, departing with a wealth of knowledge and experience gleaned from just about every corner of the supply chain.
Up until his March 31 retirement, Romano served as president and CEO of Toyota Advanced Logistics North America (TALNA) as well as CEO of its subsidiary, Bastian Solutions, an Indianapolis-based systems integrator and supplier of automated material handling equipment. He had been with TALNA since it was formed in 2017 following Toyota’s acquisition of Bastian.
Prior to that, Romano was president and CEO of Associated, a provider of integrated supply chain solutions and distributor of Raymond equipment in Addison, Illinois. During his tenure, Associated grew its revenues to $250 million from $80 million. He also logged stints at Abel Womack,The Raymond Corp., and Dierckx Equipment Corp.
Since Mike Romano has given so much for so long, we couldn’t resist asking to pick his brain one more time before he heads off to retirement in the Arizona desert. He spoke recently with **{DC Velocity} Editorial Director David Maloney.
Q: You have worked in just about every aspect of the material handling industry during your career, including stints at a dealership, a manufacturing company, and a systems integrator. What have you learned about the industry and what changes have you seen in that time?
A: In over 40 years, I can assure you I have learned a lot. I have seen the industry through economic cycles and many different business transitions. When I first got involved in the industry, it was fairly invisible and lacked brand recognition, which led to an inverse relationship between price and value. We were a “cost,” and when people acquire things that are a cost, they try to reduce them. That was what we were always facing as an industry.
I have tried to work toward improving value recognition and building a brand for our industry, and, frankly, what better time to retire than when I see that that has finally happened? Everybody understands supply chain now, where they may not have before. Customers really place a very high value on us and what we bring to the table. The pandemic has only accelerated that. Customers view us differently now. They no longer see us as a kind of commodity, like paper towels.
Q: What technologies have had the biggest impact on the industry in the past 40 years?
A: It really all comes down to automation and all of the emerging technologies in that sector, with bots and autonomous vehicles, and robotic picking—actually, robotic pretty much everything. It is just taking automation to the next level. I think that is the biggest change where technology is concerned.
The other thing was when we elevated forklifts from very rudimentary vehicles to highly sophisticated machines through the addition of microprocessor-based, solid-state technology. That was a major change in our industry and a major change for our customers, who saw their productivity rise and downtime drop as a result. We got closer to automotive quality at that point.
Q: How much of an impact has the e-commerce boom had on distribution and the kinds of material handling systems people want now?
A: That is fundamental to the kind of change the pandemic has accelerated, if you think about how everybody is shopping online now. You see companies that don’t have a solid online platform going out of business, while the ones that do are thriving. We are certainly proud to be part of some of those success stories, like Dick’s Sporting Goods, which has been airing ads during Sunday night football games that show our system in the background. That just helps our industry, you know—displaying a warehouse system in a prime-time ad. Who would have imagined 20 years ago that this would someday happen?
When you’re distributing to traditional brick-and-mortar stores, more than likely you’re moving pallets. But with e-commerce, you’re shipping to one person at a time. It requires totally different storage and fulfillment systems to accomplish that effectively.
Q: What kind of an impact will microfulfillment have?
A: Large, because all of a sudden, companies have woken up to the reality that they have to deal with this last-mile issue. How do you do it? Do you do it with drones, with bots, or by using Uber to make those deliveries? Any way you look at it, it is very costly. So, what you do is you look at microfulfillment. You give customers the option of picking up their orders, and it just works. Even if you don’t offer customer pickups, microfulfillment puts you closer to the consumer so it’s easier to get that product to them. That is where it is all heading.
Q: You have long been involved with a number of industry associations. Why is that important to you?
A: I think it comes down to learning and helping others learn. Sharing best practices has been a big part of that. But primarily, I have tried to raise awareness of the industry.
As I mentioned, we were somewhat of an invisible industry 30 years ago, and it really affected our talent pool. Kids weren’t looking to work in the material handling industry when they graduated college, even though we offered the same kinds of career paths that other industries did. We just were not in colleges. We were not in front of kids and telling them about us.
That has changed quite a bit through the years. I really enjoyed my time with the CICMHE group—the College-Industry Council for Material Handling Education, which is a collaboration of professors with expertise in material handling-related fields. It started out as an engineering-only group, but we were able to expand its focus beyond engineering to include some of the more general business functions. That allowed us to attract the talent needed to make the industry better.
Q: What opportunities exist today for someone contemplating a supply chain career?
A: The opportunities are endless. It’s just a matter of how hard you’re willing to work, your commitment, and making the right decisions career-wise. Sometimes, that’s not so much about jumping from company to company as it is about investing in a company that will continue to invest in you. One piece of advice I often give students and even young employees is that the grass is not always greener. Sometimes, you just have to hang in there, build your reputation, and demonstrate your value to a company before an opportunity presents itself.
Q: Supply chain was a male-dominated industry when you began your career. That has since changed, with more women and minorities entering the field.
A: Yes, it is a really good thing for the industry. The solutions our consultants develop for a customer have to be innovative. They have to be precise. They have to be creative. They have to be perceptibly better than anything else that could be shown to this customer. Your best path to accomplishing that is through collaboration. The more diversity you have among your collaborators, the broader the perspectives you are going to bring to the development of your solution. That is why it is critically important.
Q: We continue to see consolidation within the material handling industry, with many companies expanding well beyond their core offerings. For instance, your company is now a part of Toyota, which traditionally made forklifts but now owns businesses that make other types of equipment and companies that offer design and integration services. How has that changed the industry?
A: I think the traditional forklift manufacturers—Kion,Toyota, and so forth—recognize where the industry is headed. I think from their perspective, they just want to be a more comprehensive supplier and be able to provide more value than they have before.
Of course, these acquisitions raise the stakes for the new partners, who now face the challenge of living up to the parent company’s reputation. When Toyota acquired Bastian, it was: The good news is that Toyota acquired you. The bad news is Toyota acquired you. What I mean is that Toyota is the number-one forklift manufacturer in the world, and it is not bad at making cars either. People look up to that brand, so there is a lot to live up to in being part of it.
Q: We’re in the midst of a worldwide recession because of the Covid-19 pandemic. What can the industry expect once the pandemic subsides? Do you foresee an explosion in sales caused by pent-up demand?
A: To your point about pent-up demand, our sector of the industry has almost more demand than we can satisfy currently. I think our part of the industry is somewhat inelastic to economic conditions. Customers recognize that if they don’t have a satisfactory e-commerce model, they had better get there, and they are going to find a way to invest in those systems. We see it all around us. Our order intake has never been higher, and other industry players report the same. Our sector of the industry will continue to flourish.
So why retire now when the market’s the hottest it has been in 40 years? Because I want to enjoy my time before it gets too late. I don’t want to retire and then not have any time left to do the things I want to do.
RJW Logistics Group, a logistics solutions provider (LSP) for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, has received a “strategic investment” from Boston-based private equity firm Berkshire partners, and now plans to drive future innovations and expand its geographic reach, the Woodridge, Illinois-based company said Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company said that CEO Kevin Williamson and other members of RJW management will continue to be “significant investors” in the company, while private equity firm Mason Wells, which invested in RJW in 2019, will maintain a minority investment position.
RJW is an asset-based transportation, logistics, and warehousing provider, operating more than 7.3 million square feet of consolidation warehouse space in the transportation hubs of Chicago and Dallas and employing 1,900 people. RJW says it partners with over 850 CPG brands and delivers to more than 180 retailers nationwide. According to the company, its retail logistics solutions save cost, improve visibility, and achieve industry-leading On-Time, In-Full (OTIF) performance. Those improvements drive increased in-stock rates and sales, benefiting both CPG brands and their retailer partners, the firm says.
"After several years of mitigating inflation, disruption, supply shocks, conflicts, and uncertainty, we are currently in a relative period of calm," John Paitek, vice president, GEP, said in a release. "But it is very much the calm before the coming storm. This report provides procurement and supply chain leaders with a prescriptive guide to weathering the gale force headwinds of protectionism, tariffs, trade wars, regulatory pressures, uncertainty, and the AI revolution that we will face in 2025."
A report from the company released today offers predictions and strategies for the upcoming year, organized into six major predictions in GEP’s “Outlook 2025: Procurement & Supply Chain” report.
Advanced AI agents will play a key role in demand forecasting, risk monitoring, and supply chain optimization, shifting procurement's mandate from tactical to strategic. Companies should invest in the technology now to to streamline processes and enhance decision-making.
Expanded value metrics will drive decisions, as success will be measured by resilience, sustainability, and compliance… not just cost efficiency. Companies should communicate value beyond cost savings to stakeholders, and develop new KPIs.
Increasing regulatory demands will necessitate heightened supply chain transparency and accountability. So companies should strengthen supplier audits, adopt ESG tracking tools, and integrate compliance into strategic procurement decisions.
Widening tariffs and trade restrictions will force companies to reassess total cost of ownership (TCO) metrics to include geopolitical and environmental risks, as nearshoring and friendshoring attempt to balance resilience with cost.
Rising energy costs and regulatory demands will accelerate the shift to sustainable operations, pushing companies to invest in renewable energy and redesign supply chains to align with ESG commitments.
New tariffs could drive prices higher, just as inflation has come under control and interest rates are returning to near-zero levels. That means companies must continue to secure cost savings as their primary responsibility.
Freight transportation sector analysts with US Bank say they expect change on the horizon in that market for 2025, due to possible tariffs imposed by a new White House administration, the return of East and Gulf coast port strikes, and expanding freight fraud.
“All three of these merit scrutiny, and that is our promise as we roll into the new year,” the company said in a statement today.
First, US Bank said a new administration will occupy the White House and will control the House and Senate for the first time since 2016. With an announced mandate on tariffs, taxes and trade from his electoral victory, President-Elect Trump’s anticipated actions are almost certain to impact the supply chain, the bank said.
Second, a strike by longshoreman at East Coast and Gulf ports was suspended in October, but the can was only kicked until mid-January. Shipper alarm bells are already ringing, and with peak season in full swing, the West coast ports are roaring, having absorbed containers bound for the East. However, that status may not be sustainable in the event of a prolonged strike in January, US Bank said.
And third, analyst are tracking the proliferation of freight fraud, and its reverberations across the supply chain. No longer the realm of petty criminals, freight fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated, and the financial toll of their activities in the loss of goods, and data, is expected to be in the billions, the bank estimates.
Specifically, 48% of respondents identified rising tariffs and trade barriers as their top concern, followed by supply chain disruptions at 45% and geopolitical instability at 41%. Moreover, tariffs and trade barriers ranked as the priority issue regardless of company size, as respondents at companies with less than 250 employees, 251-500, 501-1,000, 1,001-50,000 and 50,000+ employees all cited it as the most significant issue they are currently facing.
“Evolving tariffs and trade policies are one of a number of complex issues requiring organizations to build more resilience into their supply chains through compliance, technology and strategic planning,” Jackson Wood, Director, Industry Strategy at Descartes, said in a release. “With the potential for the incoming U.S. administration to impose new and additional tariffs on a wide variety of goods and countries of origin, U.S. importers may need to significantly re-engineer their sourcing strategies to mitigate potentially higher costs.”
A measure of business conditions for shippers improved in September due to lower fuel costs, looser trucking capacity, and lower freight rates, but the freight transportation forecasting firm FTR still expects readings to be weaker and closer to neutral through its two-year forecast period.
Bloomington, Indiana-based FTR is maintaining its stance that trucking conditions will improve, even though its Shippers Conditions Index (SCI) improved in September to 4.6 from a 2.9 reading in August, reaching its strongest level of the year.
“The fact that September’s index is the strongest since last December is not a sign that shippers’ market conditions are steadily improving,” Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, said in a release.
“September and May were modest outliers this year in a market that is at least becoming more balanced. We expect that trend to continue and for SCI readings to be mostly negative to neutral in 2025 and 2026. However, markets in transition tend to be volatile, so further outliers are likely and possibly in both directions. The supply chain implications of tariffs are a wild card for 2025 especially,” he said.
The SCI tracks the changes representing four major conditions in the U.S. full-load freight market: freight demand, freight rates, fleet capacity, and fuel price. Combined into a single index, a positive score represents good, optimistic conditions, while a negative score represents bad, pessimistic conditions.