Tribute Customer of the Quarter: Jerry Brothers Industries, Inc.
by Mike Barker, VP
Jerry Brothers Industries
Jerry Brothers Industries (JBI) was founded by the Jerry family in the early 1900s in Richmond, VA. Originally JBI sold leather drive belting to a wide variety of manufacturing plants. The Jerry family maintained ownership of the company until the late 1970s. By that time JBI had started to diversify into the tobacco industry. Ted Lushch purchased the small tobacco-oriented company in the 1980s and started to transform it into a full-service conveyor belting company. As the company grew into the 1990s, he formed a partnership with Mike Barker and opened a second manufacturing facility in Charlotte, NC.
JBI now distributes conveyor and power transmission belting for all of the top belting manufacturers, including Habasit and Ameraal, representing them in many different industries. We have a large presence in the following industries: bakeries, cookie and cracker, meat and poultry, printing, paper and box manufacturing. If a belt is moving a product, forming a product, or driving a machine, then JBI sells it. Our belting products range from thermoplastic and nylon core products, to metal and plastic modular belting, all to meet the ever-changing environment. It is our ability to sell solutions and to service those solutions that sets us apart from our competition. JBI is a member of NIBA (The Belting Association) and Ted Lushch served as president of the organization in 2005.
Over the years the lightweight conveyor belting industry has become highly competitive. In order to meet the challenges of this competitive market, JBI continues to invest in new equipment which allows us to respond quickly to our customer’s needs. This investment is not only in belt manufacturing equipment, but includes the Tribute Software System which we installed in 2009. Tribute has been a huge upgrade over our last system. The flexibility of Tribute has made the jobs of our CSR’s (customer service reps) easier by having information at their fingertips. This allows them to respond to our customer’s needs quickly. The ability to drill down in several different areas makes finding information easy, thus the accounting types are happy. I have found Tribute’s customer service to be excellent and they have been very easy to work with. With their help we are finding new applications and reports that help us manage our business better than ever.
Jerry Brothers Industries
Richmond, VA and Charlotte, NC
www.jerrybrothers.com
Tim Reynolds on Running a Business in a Recession
"Clear thinking and an open mind are critical to small-business success. Take a hard look at your business processes and compare them to the best standards in distribution. Trade organizations can help you determine how you stack up against the competition and offer excellent networking and training opportunities. Take the "blinders" off and streamline your business so you can be ready for the good times to come."
WarehouseTWO is an easy-to-deploy, easy-to-use and cost effective inventory-sharing tool created exclusively for manufacturers and their franchised distributor communities. WarehouseTWO has partnered with Tribute to make the inventory-sharing process as seamless as possible. Benefits include:
Tribute, Inc. has partnered with Rubber Tree Systems to offer the latest in sales mobilization and push technology. Investing in a Blackberry or Smartphone solution for your sales force can be a major decision. E-mail, calendar, and contacts are all important information for your sales people to have at their fingertips and with Tribute Mobile, you can now have access to your Tribute data as well. The latest activity on orders, quotes, and invoices are the lifeline to a successful salesperson.
