Dedicated Leadership, Employee & Vendor Strengths Help Nassco Reach Greater Heights

By Harrell Kerkhoff, Maintenance Sales News Editor

Shown, left to right, are Nassco President Kurt Melzer and CEO Mark Melzer. (Photo by Harrell Kerkhoff, Maintenance Sales News Magazine)

The main objectives to achieving longevity in jan/san, packaging and related distribution fields are simple to write down — but often challenging to implement. Such objectives often involve building a business foundation that revolves around strong relationships, communication, leadership, and accountability. During that process, it’s also essential to help customers succeed and adapt to ever-changing times.

In business since 1955, Nassco, Inc., a third-generation, family-owned distributorship headquartered in New Berlin, WI, has successfully met such objectives for customers located throughout Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, northern Illinois and beyond.

“Essentially, 50 percent of our business involves jan/san and 50 percent involves packaging. The market segments that we sell to include manufacturing and industrial, K-12 and higher education, long-term healthcare, building service contractor and property management,” Nassco President Kurt Melzer explained. “From a service and repair perspective, we support the same businesses involving packaging, janitorial, laundry and warewash equipment and systems. We have available both in-house and on-the-road service teams.”

Kurt Melzer’s brother, Nassco CEO Mark Melzer, is quick to point out that a major reason the distributorship has flourished since the mid-1950s centers around the abilities and strong dedication of the company’s employees.

“Our people have developed solid relationships and industry knowledge over the years to help Nassco thrive. That involves all our employees — from those working in customer service and sales, to service technicians, warehouse associates, and drivers,” Mark Melzer said. “Their sales and service capabilities and dedication have helped Nassco create a strong network of longtime customers. We like to think that our company culture has — and continues — to play a key role in helping Nassco provide value within the various industry segments.”

Kurt Melzer pointed to four areas of “commitment” that have helped Nassco representatives separate the distributorship’s products and services from the competition. They are:

• Commitment To Partnerships: “It goes two ways, involving both our employees and vendor representatives who help support Nassco’s various customer partnerships.”
• Commitment To After-Sales Support: “That involves our different service technicians and programs, helping us support customers after the sale. The result is building stronger relationships with such customers. Keeping equipment up and running at customer locations is critical.”
• Commitment To Personal Service: “Nassco is in a nice ‘sweet spot’ when it comes to proper service. We are small enough to care, yet large enough to be very capable.”
• Commitment To Industry Expertise: “Nassco’s salespeople are experts in specific fields. As a distributor, if your people are ‘generalists,’ then they are going to be just like everybody else. It’s important to stand out from the crowd through expertise. In our case, that involves employing experts who know all about such segments as jan/san, packaging, and laundry/warewash.”

Success Over 3 Generations

As is common with many multigenerational family businesses, Nassco started as a small operation looking to find its spot in distribution. Mark and Kurt Melzer’s grandfather, Oscar Melzer, started the company in 1955 out of his Milwaukee, WI, home. He had worked 20 years prior as a sales manager and had a passion to start his own organization. The business specialized in packaging supplies and was known as the National Shippers & Sanitary Supply Company. Oscar’s wife, Laura Melzer, was the bookkeeper.

Gene Melzer, son of Oscar and father of Mark and Kurt, came aboard in 1968 and became president of Nassco with Oscar’s retirement in 1977. Gene Melzer ran the growing distributorship with much success that included numerous acquisitions and facility expansions. He retired in 2012. That foundation of success was put in place for the benefit of third-generation Melzer family leadership.

“I have been with the company full time for 30 years, while Kurt has been here on a regular basis for 16 years,” Mark Melzer said. “Of course, being a family business, we both started working at Nassco on a part-time basis much earlier in life. We unloaded trucks, picked orders, and made deliveries through our college years. I joined the company full time after college, while Kurt took a slightly different route, working outside of the business for eight years before joining Nassco on a permanent basis.

“We have both had different leadership roles and responsibilities at Nassco until we reached our current titles. That background has included sales and purchasing.”

From its humble beginnings nearly 70 years ago, Nassco has grown in both customers, sales and facilities. It currently has four distribution centers located in New Berlin; Wausau, WI; Cedar Falls, IA; and Mundelein, IL. It also has a location in Mason City, IA, and a presence in Madison, WI.

Nassco moved to its current headquarters in New Berlin, a suburb of Milwaukee, during the fall of 2021. It’s just a few blocks from the company’s prior location. The current facility has 32 delivery docks and 200,000-plus square feet of warehouse space. The large facility had served as a distribution center for another company prior to Nassco’s move. Combined, Nassco now has approximately 300,000 square feet of warehousing space among its various locations.

“We believe in the highest service levels to best support our customers. It involves next-day delivery to many geographies from our New Berlin location,” Mark Melzer said. “That type of service has been a good selling point for us over the years. Our next-day deliveries from New Berlin extend all the way to Green Bay and Madison. Scheduled deliveries are more the norm at our other locations.”

Kurt Melzer added: “Daily transfers between our branches also take place, ensuring all Nassco’s facilities have the inventory they need. We rely on our own fleet of trucks and drivers to make that happen.”

Nassco’s service region is large both in physical size and population, and includes such cities as Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison and Green Bay.

“We are in a part of the country that has served us very well over Nassco’s history,” Kurt Melzer said. “I believe one reason is that relationships still matter in the Midwest. There are many people in the Midwest who like to do business with local companies. It’s also a good area to find great people to hire.”

Currently, Nassco has approximately 180 employees, which includes roughly 45 salespeople.

“As we continue to grow as a company, and as longtime salespeople retire, the need for new hires remains constant,” Kurt Melzer said. “First and foremost, we’re looking for people with the right DNA when it comes to sales. We will teach the rest, and realize that it can take some time to become an expert when selling within the jan/san and other industries that we are involved in. That is where good training comes into play.

“We rely on our suppliers to support us with such training. There are other resources available as well, such as through ISSA and Network Distribution. We are members of both organizations. In many ways, however, the best way to learn in sales is through hands-on experience.”

He added the need for experienced salespeople, as well as other employees, can be viewed as both a challenge and an opportunity. Therefore, properly training new hires is expected to remain a high priority at Nassco for the foreseeable future.

When it comes to distribution, properly training customers is also vital. That is especially true in today’s environment where customers in charge of keeping facilities clean and safe continue to face high employee turnover rates. The process of training such new employees can often be constant, and thus remains a key focus at Nassco. Such effort includes both one-on-one and group-focused training.

“For example, we just completed a training program for a large school district in Wisconsin,” Kurt Melzer said. “It involved formalized classroom training. It varies across the board as to what type of training will help our customers the most.”

Mark Melzer added: “As a distributorship, our training capabilities help us reinforce our focus of being experts in the field, which helps customers through their daily challenges.”

Another way Nassco helps customers with their labor shortages is introducing new equipment and technology focused on “doing more with less.”

“Autonomous floor machinery and automation that involves dispensing systems, for instance, have helped many customers become more efficient even as their employee turnover rates remain high,” Kurt Melzer said. “The use of modern equipment and technology helps our customers work smarter, not harder.”

Another focus among many distributors is providing products and systems that are considered friendlier toward the environment and/or more sustainable.

“We have found for certain segments, such as downtown office buildings, it’s really important to find sustainable options for customers,” Kurt Melzer said. “The good news is many products we sell today automatically come with a green/sustainable platform. We are aligned with manufacturers that provide such options.

“Ultimately, it depends on each customer as to their desire for green/sustainable products and systems. We work to meet their needs.”

It helps that Nassco has many solid working relationships in place with valued vendors. Many such relationships have spanned for years.

“We’re fortunate to have so many valuable suppliers who have helped us build a strong product portfolio over the years. They are true experts within different business segments,” Mark Melzer said. “Those suppliers are also valuable partners when it comes to working with our customers. That includes participating in joint sales calls and helping with various forms of customer training.”

Problem Solvers Extraordinaire

Today’s changes in business — brought about by modern technology and growing competition — can leave some distribution professionals questioning what their roles will be in the future. Although such challenges are of concern, the need for true problem solvers is as great as ever.

Mark and Kurt Melzer see a bright future ahead for Nassco and other distributorships that put customer service ahead of everything else.

“Currently, business overall is strong and healthy,” Kurt Melzer said. “However, there is more pressure from customers today as it pertains to the cost of items. That is opposed to what it was like during the COVID pandemic. Back then, people were willing to purchase as much as they could and not worry so much about price.”

“I would say, as a company, our future is very positive,” Mark Melzer added. “At Nassco, our objective is to continue providing value-added service. It helps that we have a good company culture in place, allowing us to provide expertise for customers involved in jan/san and packaging.”

He added the way many of today’s customers want to interact with distributors is changing. The sales funnel has changed in many respects. For some customers, gone are the days when they required constant visits and other interaction from distributor sales reps. Today, such people would rather conduct product research themselves, and then engage with a sales rep later — if they feel such action is warranted.

“The question for a distributor is, ‘How do we adapt to the changing buying process?’” Kurt Melzer asked. “In response, I feel it’s important to make all our key resources available to customers. That includes modernizing our website.

“The objective is to show our expertise, as a distributor, when the customer is ready to interact and/or needs specific guidance. Our equipment service department also helps reach customers. That involves service and repair of janitorial equipment, laundry and warewash systems, and packaging equipment. Such service has been bolstered over the years at Nassco through past company acquisitions.”

Perhaps no time in recent memory was the true value of a quality distributorship put on display than during the COVID pandemic. Mark and Kurt Melzer discussed that experience and expressed their views on lessons learned during such an unprecedented time.

“The real pressure point came in the spring and summer of 2020, as we had staff working remotely and the world seemed to have been turned upside down. The one key word that best describes what we had to become during the pandemic is ‘nimble.’ It took a lot of creativity to serve our customers and to work within the strained supply chain,” Mark Melzer said. “It was not easy, and there were times we had to pivot on a week-by-week basis.”

If COVID was not challenging enough, Nassco also underwent an ERP conversion and moved to its current facility in 2021.

“Surviving those events was made possible due to the culture we had, and continue to have, at this company. Our people came together and worked as a team to make it all happen,” Kurt Melzer said. “Our sales team, for example, became extreme problem solvers during the pandemic. They were able to figure out a lot of stuff on the fly.

“We also learned, during the pandemic, which suppliers were nimble like us. It’s important to work with companies that can support you in a crunch.”

Although challenges are always present, both Mark and Kurt Melzer said jan/san and packaging distribution provides a good career for people who are willing to work hard and take care of customers.

“Helping people with their various problems is extremely rewarding,” Kurt Melzer said. “I have heard our salespeople speak multiple times about their joy of truly helping customers succeed. That is the true value of a distributorship. It’s much more than just selling a product.”

Mark Melzer agreed, adding, “Next year (2025) will be our company’s 70^th anniversary. We are proud of that history and look forward to the future. Our objective is to remain a great business partner with our customers and vendors. We are also very grateful for everyone who has been, and continues to be, employed at Nassco. It’s very rewarding to be supported by such wonderful people.”

Visit nasscoinc.com.