Uninterrupted Supply: The Principals Behind 40 Years at Altech’s Helm

“My father’s first job was with a company called AEG Telefunken, which was back then a contemporary to Siemens,” recalled Meise. “Unfortunately, now it’s a defunct company, other than when it pertains to appliances in Germany. They used to build power stations, transformer stations, all sorts of different things.”

Tired of corporate life, Heinz Meise ventured into his own startup. Supported by his wife, Estela Meise, he anchored his company headquarters in Flemington, N.J. because of the proximity to major highways, major airports and major ports. 

“Somewhere between Germany, Texas and New Jersey, that’s where I came to be,” mused Meise. “I must have been in my mid to early teens, but I remember my dad asking me in his study, ‘I'm going to start my own company, what should we name it?’”

That early memory of involvement in decision-making provides a perspicuous glimpse into generational leadership and the unique dynamics that involve family ties, succession planning and being considerate of the viewpoints of different generations. 

Meise was 27 when he was entrusted with the responsibility of running the company. “I literally grew up with the business,” he said. “I've done every job in the company. I’ve put together assemblies, I’ve picked up freight from the airport, I’ve taken orders to the airport late at night, no matter what. We started with spare parts, essentially.”

Meise’s son, Taylor Meise, is on the call, too. “I became the warehouse manager in April 2020,” said Taylor, whose transition to a full-time role in the company follows a conspicuously similar pattern. Like his father, Taylor honed his skill set from the ground up, first by helping to label packages in the warehouse and performing odd jobs, and later to doing anything from packing, shipping and receiving to making assemblies, taking pallets to distributors and driving scrap to the scrapyard.

Leading Through Difficult Times

Out of 33.2 million small businesses in the United States, few can report of not being challenged to adapt their supply chains to the ebb and flow of the market. And even though economic cycles move from expansion to contraction and back again, leaders can only confirm their organizations are truly resilient when they face adversity and overcome challenges.

Altech is no different. For Mario, there are two standout events: The Great Recession and the COVID pandemic.

“We survived 2008; everybody did,” Meise said. “Interestingly enough, we did very well during COVID.”

The manufacturing sector suffered severe consequences from the 2008 recession. Even though the recession ended in June 2009, economic weakness persisted. From peak to trough, US GDP fell by 4.3%. Economic historians typify it as the “deepest recession since World War II.” Globally, the speed of orders dried up and production was cut back.

Amidst the uncertain demand environment, firms following just-in-time inventory practices were hit hard. Despite the headwinds, Altech was able to bounce back, Meise intimated.

When the COVID pandemic hit in March 2020, it brought a whole new set of challenges. Lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders and travel restrictions triggered unprecedented disruption to production and supply chains and left some businesses unable to cope.

Even though Altech was deemed an essential business, its operations were not immune to the knock-on effects, pointed out Taylor, who has since been promoted to product manager.

“The infrastructure that was already in place was designed for just-in-time inventory,” said Taylor. “The second you stuck a wrench into years of just-in-time delivery and logistics, it was like a train crash. It really made people question where their raw materials and product come from and how it gets here.”

The Importance of Empathy in Leadership

Researchers who study crisis and leadership observe that during times of uncertainty, human instinct may cause leaders to downplay an ambiguous threat until the situation becomes clearer and thereby delay action. It takes a unique style of leadership, they note, to ignore this natural tendency to downplay and delay.

That was not the case for Taylor.

That Taylor could take on more responsibility just as the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 viral disease a pandemic on March 11, 2020, was opportune. The pandemic triggered unprecedented disruption to production and supply chains and left many businesses unable to cope.

“[The pandemic], quite frankly, was one of the hardest challenges I had faced to that point,” said Taylor. “There were a lot of unknowns at the time, which added to the fear and civic concern. No one really knew what was going on.” 

He recalled watching New York’s then-governor, Andrew Cuomo, share daily briefs during the early days of the pandemic and witnessing the supply chain effects firsthand, as small ships were coming into New York City.

Altech responded without delay with accommodation for employees. “We made some major changes, specifically in how we treat our employees and how we pay them,” said Taylor. Altech paid for their gasoline and wear-and-tear on vehicles, as well as increased employee’s sick leave. Moreover, Altech started profit sharing to increase employees’ compensation.

The biggest accomplishment, stressed Taylor, was reassuring employees that the company had their backs. “I think they really appreciated it,” he said. “And it really gave me an appreciation for the things that matter when it comes to running an operation.”

Right-sizing Against Short-term Strains and Long-Term Vulnerability

Arguably, the main factor that determines a business’s inventory positioning strategy is the type of supply chain it relies on. At the strategic level, Meise looks at the big picture for meaning. He understands firsthand the value of preparing as early as possible for difficult times. Altech’s position all along has been to “carry a lot of inventory to serve our customers better,” said Meise. By posturing for variability and reacting decisively to safeguard internal and external supply chains, it is possible to maintain business as usual while issues are sorted out.

“COVID taught everybody the virtue of patience,” said Meise. “Everybody was in the same boat. Everybody had a hard time getting things. So, everybody relaxed and wasn’t pushing so hard.” The result of this was that people were more understanding of lead times and product availability, reflected Meise.

“Still, no matter how much inventory you carry, there is always one customer, one distributor, one client, who won’t be satisfied because they need it yesterday,” Meise added.

There’s a fine line between holding more stock and overstocking, and Meise remains solidified in his approach to expanding the business based on the best execution fit for Altech. “I’ve always been one for incremental growth,” he said. “We built this building in 1992, added to it in 1994 and we’ve been the same size ever since. Only during COVID did we bump up against the limits of our warehouse space. And we had to get creative to generate more space within this space. That said, we don’t try to bite off more than we can chew. But we’ll have to expand the building at some point.”

Adaptability While Maintaining Course

These days, persistent supply chain issues are buoyed by international conflicts, sustainability issues, labor shortages and financial downturns.

“With recent supply chain issues coming up, we had been expediting nicely but placing double inventory because nobody knew when or how they would get inventory they needed to finish a project,” Meise said. “This has resulted in the supply chain getting very full.”

Meise pointed out that interest rates have increased in certain economic hubs. “When interest rates go up, projects become more expensive, projects get postponed, the cost of manufacturing becomes expensive and the cost of goods gets more expensive as well,” he explained. “So, demand goes down and we have a state where everybody has a lot of inventory, followed by a decline in business—to the point where clients are not taking the inventory.”

He has also observed that the level of patience he witnessed through the pandemic (“where everybody is trying to help each other”) is starting to wane. “The past few years really shone a light on how fragile this global economy really is,” said Meise. “And it’s leading a lot of countries, a lot of companies to onshore a lot of [components and materials] they had offshored over the past 40 years.”

Figuring Out an Optimal Strategy

Times of adversity and recovery from major events ultimately influence the decision-making approach that leaders must take. To this end, the pandemic has been a big stress test for Altech. Current disruptions—trade embargoes, geopolitics, a rise in regulations, ESG and labor shortages—signal a new set of risks.

Meise is listening carefully to what the market needs him to do. Fortunately, Altech’s small footprint enables the company to react quickly, he said.

Strengthening the business from within by investing in people and processes is just one tactic to hedge against risk. For instance, adhering to standards and complying with certifications, including ISO programs, provides a framework for upholding world-class practices. Meise contends that the ISO certification itself is as much about the structure it provides internally as it is about the prestige that comes with certification. For one, it simplifies tasks because the process is already established. “We document what we do, we do what we document,” he said. “We already have traditions in place.”

At weekly stand-up meetings, project managers now extend conversations to supply chain threats. “Employees dealing internationally with our suppliers are aware of what’s happening with each other’s suppliers,” he said. Collecting, analyzing and disseminating intelligence will help his team understand how events relate, why they are meaningful to the organization and help them identify ways to address vulnerabilities early on.

Finding Value in Giving Recognition

Conscious leaders engage in the natural disorder of the market and don’t recoil; they know that the backdrop of economic chaos is not their story alone, but in a sense, the narrative arc that most small businesses live through. Today was Altech’s turn to tell the story of how it pivots as necessary—and to give hope.

For Meise, that means staying humble and taking care of staff to foster resilience. He still banks on his mother, Estela Meise, who is Altech’s CFO, and his daughter, Naomie Meise, is being mentored in the marketing department.

“The most important knowledge base is the knowledge your people hold,” he said. 

Taylor echoed his father’s sentiment. “Knowing when to listen, using the information properly and being willing to take risks and follow your gut in this regard,” he reflected. “There’s a whole network of people that are affected by everything that we do. And we owe it to them, not only to run a sound business, but we owe it to them because this is how they make a living.”

Both principals agree there’s much to be said about maintaining foundational values. And for Meise, the task at hand is to press on with a purposeful refrain: “Being steadfast is important, holding on to certain traditions are important, and still being open to change—listening to your staff, listening to your son’s thoughts, supporting and having your staff’s back. My door here is always open.”