People to Know: Hiten Shah

By: Katy Smith,  Print editor-Columbus Business First, Oct 17, 2014

Hiten Shah: President, MES Inc.

How did you get into this industry? Customers had a need to buy products from India for cost reduction. We were able find good suppliers in India to produce the castings. Within a few months, we got an opportunity to source parts to good suppliers in China. Following that, customers requested that they would like for us to warehouse the parts and ship just-in-time to their plants. That forced us to have sourcing and quality engineers in India and China as well as develop warehousing and logistics resources in the U.S. In 2011, we made a decision to grow in Mexico to support two of our largest customers and started to develop logistics and customer service in Mexico.

What’s the most exciting thing happening in Ohio’s transportation and logistics scene? The most exciting thing is the availability of warehouse and supply chain resources in the area, due to the talent from L Brands, Cardinal the Defense Department and a host of other retailers in the industry. Another exciting thing is the growth of the supply chain program at Ohio State – undergraduate as well as MBA programs – which makes sharp talent available to support our growth.

What’s the greatest challenge Columbus faces in becoming a national shipping hub? The demise of OEMS and tier 1s who are moving their operations to Mexico and southern states is the big challenge. The growth in those areas forces tier 2 suppliers like us to step up our warehouses closer to them.

What’s Columbus’ greatest transportation and logistics asset? Location. It’s six hours to a majority of industrial activities in the U.S. However, this is getting smaller as more OEMs and tier 1s move down south and to Mexico.

In your opinion, what can be done to help alleviate the driver shortage? Our exposure to the driver shortage is somewhat limited. We are usually responsible for incoming goods only. Customers pay for shipping from our warehouse to their locations. However, difficulty in getting the loans from banks for their trucks, as well as quality of life away from family, continue to be a hindrance as they have been in the past. We are not close enough to offer any solutions in this area.