Mincron acquired, new leadership unveils strategy

BY MARY JO MARTIN

Editorial director

In late December, Briarcliff Solutions Group llc announced its acquisition of Mincron SBC Corp. 

A leading provider of distribution and warehouse software solutions, Mincron will remain an independent business based in Houston. BSG’s goal is to build on recent trends of strong revenue growth at Mincron and aggressively invest in software product development to attain an even higher level of client satisfaction.

Paul Lightfoot, who founded BSG in early 2007, is the new CEO of Mincron. BSG also is the parent of al Systems, which provides integrated software solutions to help improve the flow of merchandise through distribution centers. With a solid background in business and software development. Lightfoot is very optimistic about the future of Mincron and its ability to service its customers.

Mincron actually marks Lightfoot’s third leadership position with a software provider. After beginning his career as an attorney, Lightfoot took a leap and began working with a firm that provided software to the restaurant industry. He then joined al Systems, and later led the purchase of al Systems through BSG’s investors.

“My goal is to lead people to build a client-centric organization that is driven by values and focused on profitable growth,” Lightfoot said. “I want to focus on software solutions that improve the profitability of clients. We have a stated set of core values and beliefs that puts the clients’ needs as top priority, employees as second priority and our shareholders as third priority.

“While I don’t personally have a background in hard goods distribution, the roster of people I’m working with at Mincron has extraordinary experience. That really offsets the things that are new to me and gives us a reservoir of depth and strength.”

This confidence in Mincron’s existing management and staff was a major reason that Lightfoot was interested in making the acquisition -- along with a number of other attributes.

“Mincron is an organization that matched up well with our values,” he explained. “Its software system is outstanding. Mincron has very strong and stable roster of clients. These factors give me comfort in the stability of the organization.

“But it’s not just that Mincron has great software products; it’s that our clients are doing very well with our software products. I only think about technology as a means to an end, which is how it impacts our clients’ businesses. Software is meaningless in the abstract but is very important if it helps our clients make money or save money. Mincron has a fabulous track record of clients that have increased profitability, which has led to the company having a very strong market presence in its defined market.”

While certain functions -- human resources, sales, finance, etc. -- will be managed at the BSG level, Mincron’s operations -- product development, implementations, project management, etc. -- will continue to be managed independently. Mincron will also retain its vertically integrated focus on the distribution industry.

“We’re not going outside into other industries,” Lightfoot said. “We’re very focused because that makes us more effective. Our software generally addresses all areas of our clients’ operations. This is one of our strengths. It gives us a richness and depth on which clients can depend for their entire business.

“My biggest concern is that our clients are having their needs met. We want to make sure that they are achieving the highest level of cost reduction and increased efficiency possible.”

The U.S. housing slump and concerns over the economy -- which invariably have bled into phcp distribution -- did not give Lightfoot pause in making the acquisition at this time.

“We don’t have a window in which we need to get a return on our investment,” he explained. “We can weather cycles. To date the downturn has not affected Mincron; we’ve just had two very successful years. However, it does sound like some of our clients have been impacted when it comes to sales volume. Generally speaking, when times are tough it becomes more difficult to sell new applications. Sometimes people are afraid to make big investments in change. But when you work with existing clients like Mincron does, they trust you. Our systems help clients increase revenues and decrease costs. So during tough times, smart companies will circle the wagons to be more efficient, and we can help them do that to our mutual benefit.

“A couple of examples come to mind.  This is a good time for distributors to be thinking about adding sophisticated pricing functionality to ensure they charge the optimal price during each and every transaction. This will dramatically improve a company’s margins.  In addition, this is a good time to build the tools to do turn/earn analyses and to better manage inventory to squeeze cash off the balance sheet to make it available for other uses.”

Lightfoot noted that with BSG’s input, Mincron will become even stronger in terms of product development, with functionality driven by a more aggressive time frame designed to meet clients’ needs more quickly. And when it comes to product development, Mincron will continue to rely heavily on customer input -- a philosophy that Lightfoot wholeheartedly endorses.

“We are always in the process of making decisions on how our software should evolve or change,” Lightfoot noted. “But no idea needs to come from within this organization; they should come from our clients. Having events such as our User Conference is a formal and fabulous way to listen to our clients. We do a lot of pre-polling to plan in advance. We also do a lot of small group discussion and one-on-one discussion with clients to get feedback. That’s part of what makes us successful. I plan to continue this emphasis. I’m very listening-driven, and will personally be going out and meeting with -- and listening to -- our clients, which will drive what Mincron does going forward.”

For additional information about Mincron and its software solutions, visit www.mincron.com.