QYour career path is more than a little unique. So I
guess the question is, how did a nice person like
you end up in a business like this?
AI have asked myself that many times. My professional career has done kind of an about face over
time. I started in radio, and I really loved it. Then I went
into banking as a marketing director, and I loved banking. I left the banking world and started my own adver-tising/marketing agency. I was in Springfield, Tenn., at
the time, and a material handling company opened its
new corporate marketing offices there. The president of
the bank I had worked at told me about the company
and suggested I send them a résumé. The company was
Unarco Material Handling. I went to work there in 1989,
and that’s how I entered this wonderful world of supply
chain and logistics—in the rack and shelving business
under Unarco.
QSo the industry found you rather than your seeking it out?
AExactly. And when I got into the industry, it
seemed like it was about 99. 9 percent men! It was
quite interesting. I ended up taking over training for
Unarco, so I traveled the country training distributors
on storage racks and the applications of storage racks
and how to make your warehouse design more efficient
and more effective. I remember walking into these
meetings where there were 150 men sitting there. I’m
talking to them about buckling and structural rack
capacities. Somebody would raise his or her hand and
say, “Has anybody ever told you that you look like Bette
Midler?” I would be like, “OK, what does that have to do
with structural rack?”
QNot much. You do look a lot like Bette Midler,
though.
AI know, and I still get that a lot.
QNow, back to business. How did you like your
work training distributors?
AI loved the training part, but always talking about
racks got kind of boring over time. When I spent
time in distribution centers for clients, I could see that
the real pain point for the operations folks was order
picking. I became really intrigued with pick-to-light
technology. So then I became the pick-to-light lady. I
went across the country educating people on pick-to-light technology and how automation would help them.
I was at Real Time Solutions in that role for many years.
In 2000, they were bought out. I left and went to
Manhattan Associates. That’s when I realized that, OK;
material handling products can only be as good as the
technology running them. I later left Manhattan and
went to RedPrairie. After two whirlwind years at
RedPrairie, I opened up my own consulting company.
QYour unique background must serve you well in
that capacity. You not only understand the minutiae of rack specifications and so on and so forth, but you
also have the capability to step back and see how all the
parts interconnect. Would you agree?
AAbsolutely. I think that’s one of the things that
make me unique among consultants and actually,
unique in the industry. There are not very many people
who have the total material handling background coupled with an enabling software background and then the
customer service/marketing aspect of it. I can come into
a facility and see which pieces and parts are broken and
which pieces and parts need to be developed more. I see
my role in what I’m doing now as a valued, trusted adviser—someone who helps the client put together the right
pieces and parts to become more effective. That is what I
love doing.
QTell us more about Rider & Associates and the
services you bring to the market.
AOur clients range from the very small to the very
big. On the big side, Dollar General is a good example. They have been one of our clients for years. On the
other end of the spectrum, I am working right now with
a very small company that had a 30,000-square-foot
facility and no idea what a supply chain was supposed to
look like.
We do everything from handling, selection, and supplier connection (because sometimes clients don’t realize
what they need) to software selection and software program management. One thing that I really enjoy is doing
operational audits—going into a facility and walking
around, spending a day or two on all three shifts. I love
