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Industry Beat - Special Member Profile W.W. Williams – Masters of Change Lessons from their first 100 years. By Joanne Costin Time and again during the first 100 years of the W.W. Williams Company, the winds of fortune shifted for the Columbus, Ohio-based distributor. Yet somehow management was always able to change course when needed. "Survival was a driving force for change," said current fourth generation Chairman and CEO Bill Williams. He credits his father, Chairman Emeritus Dave Williams and the Board for "reading the tea leaves" in 1980 and realizing that the path the company was on was not going to take them forward. This meant moving away from a $100 million construction equipment distribution business that was the heritage of the company and becoming a Detroit Diesel Allison distributor. "It wasn't a huge leap in terms of knowledge requirements, but mentally, culturally and historically it was really casting off the past." The move offered W.W. Williams a business model that was less prone to the booms and busts of the construction cycle. They also became more focused on driving service and parts revenue. Another major transition occurred in 1994 when Daimler bought Detroit Diesel, and other truck manufacturers no longer wanted to buy engines from what then became their competitor. As a result, W.W. Williams had to transition overnight from being a wholesaler of parts to dealers and focusing on warranty repairs to selling to and servicing retail customers. "We went from 70 percent warranty work to 70 percent customer work in the course of several years," said Williams. Here are six lessons to be learned from this highly successful AED member: Lesson 1: Perseverance and Self-Sacrifice Are Necessary In 1912, William Wallace Williams Sr. left his job as a factory-direct salesman of horse drawn motor graders and launched a Koehring dealership – when the concept of a local dealership wasn't even defined. But Williams' timing was good as the country demanded paved roads to accommodate a growing number of vehicles. Sales of Koehring concrete pavers and Sterling heavy trucks accelerated through World War I and the Roaring '20s, and branches were opened in Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo. Then came the stock market crash in 1928 followed by the Great Depression. Williams, the architect of the company's early success, died suddenly from a massive stroke in 1931. Catapulted suddenly into the family business, Willams' wife, Rose, discovered a company deep in debt. At the risk of losing everything, Rose Williams became Chairman of the Board, and faced the challenges head on with the help of her sons, J. Clare and William Wallace Jr. (Wally). In survival mode, she closed all locations except Columbus, rented her home out to generate cash for the company, and moved herself and her daughter into Wally's home. Often Rose and her sons went without pay to ensure the company would survive. Lesson Two: Diversify During the 2008 recession, Williams' management made the tough choices necessary for survival. Staff was reduced by 10 percent, as fewer on-highway trucks required repairs and copper prices plummeted, drastically reducing offhighway service revenue. However painful, earlier diversification efforts helped softened the blow of the recession. Williams Logistics, a new division focused on supporting the Army's remanufacturing of military vehicles, posted a 25 percent increase in sales in 2009, offsetting some of the sales decline for the year. The company continues to diversify through geographic expansion, acquisitions and incubator projects. They recently added business units to focus on converting vehicles to natural gas and servicing emergency fire vehicles. Lesson 3: Assemble a Strong Board When Dave Williams took over management of the company in 1963, he went out to raise money to build new facilities and to expand geographically. On the advice of his bankers, he gathered together a board to gain the respect of potential investors. The company went public in 1968 and was listed on NASDAQ. The Board focuses on long-term planning, acquisitions and business development. "They question direction, support direction and 18 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | July 2013 18_Beat_WW_Williams_Feature_KP.indd 18 6/27/13 3:12 PM