Bridget Milot believes that big data and a bigger information technology department will position Protective Industrial Products to gain a larger share of the market for safety goggles, hard hats and gloves.
The vice president of administration and corporate counsel for the Latham, New York safety equipment supply company hired 15 employees over the past week and recruited Richard Hellar, the former head of information technology at Proximo Spirits, a subsidiary of tequila maker Jose Cuervo International.
"If we want to continue to grow and be a leader, we have to be nimble, we have to continue to make acquisitions and we have to be at the forefront of change," Milot said.
Protective Industrial Products doubled its revenue over the past five years to $250 million by making and supplying safety equipment to 2,500 distributors around the world.
The company, which was founded in 1984 by Bridget Milot's father Joe Milot, acquired Safety Works in Wexford, Pennsylvania in February. The deal, which adds $30 million in annual revenue, gave Protective Industrial Products a roster of customers who supply safety equipment to large retailers including Cintas, Amazon and Staples. Access to retailers gave Bridget Milot insight into how data and an expanded information technology department could make it faster and easier for customers to manage inventory, monitor invoices and track shipments.
"Retailers are pushing for that," Milot said.
That is why she spent months searching for talent to help expand her information technology department.
"We had strong people in their areas of expertise, but we needed to find someone to quarterback this whole thing," Milot said. "It was time to bring in people who had outside perspective. People who had been where we need to go."
Hellar, who had been working at Proximo Spirits headquarters in New Jersey, is the new chief information officer at Protective Industrial Products. Milot also hired four other employees with experience in cybersecurity, as well as managing software and operating databases for the distribution and retail industries.
Protective Industrial Products has U.S. offices in Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee and California as well as its headquarters in Latham and a manufacturing and distribution center in Guilderland.
The payroll has grown to 300, including 20 new positions that have been added this year at the Guilderland Center distribution and screen printing site. Those jobs were added to handle production that the company picked up through the acquisition of Safety Works, which previously had purchased safety equipment from Protective lndustrial's competitors.
About half of the company's workforce is based in the Albany region, including 90 people at the corporate headquarters in Latham and 60 people in Guilderland.
Milot said Protective Industrial is positioned to continue seeing double-digit revenue growth each year.
Investments in technology are part of the formula that will make that happen. The other factor will be the ongoing search for safety equipment companies that Protective Industrial can acquire.
"We are on a strong acquisition hunt," Milot said.
Joseph Milot III, director of product management, Protective Industrial Products Inc. (PIP), discusses eyewear and protective clothing trends for 2020. For protective clothing, there’s been an i…
READ MORENora Kirby, national account manager for Protective Industrial Products (PIP), weighs in on why switching to reusable PPE is a favorable alternative to using disposables amid the global pandemic. With disposable PPE in…
READ MOREProtective Industrial Products in Latham, New York, added 100 employees and expanded its presence in the food, drug and retail sectors when it acquired ear plug maker Hearos LLC of California last week. "We are a lea…
READ MOREApproximately 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise on the job every year, according to OSHA. Damaging noise can result in noise-induced hearing loss – something that OSHA no…
READ MOREProtective Industrial Products in Latham, New York has acquired Century Glove Inc. in Summerville, Georgia. It is the 20th acquisition for Joe Milot since 1984 when he had a disagreement with his bosse…
READ MOREBridget Milot remembers waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of invoices rolling across the fax machine when she was a little girl. She was 12 years old the first time her father, Joe Milot…
READ MOREHearing loss is preventable. Why, then, is it still so common? NIOSH notes that occupational hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses in the United States. And according to OSHA, ap…
READ MOREIn 2014, nearly 24,000 eye injuries involving days away from work occurred, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states. Workplace-related eye injuries can have lasting and devastating consequences. However, th…
READ MOREA rebound in the automotive and construction industries have helped Joe Milot's company double its revenue over the last five years.Milot is founder and president of Protective Industrial Products Inc., a …
READ MOREDuring the STAFDA 2015 Convention on Nov. 9 in Phoenix, AZ, the event's general session that morning included a "state of the industry" report on personal protective products from Robin Roberts, Vice Pr…
READ MOREFor workers who wear protective clothing, getting dressed for the workday is serious business. Take a construction worker performing night work, for example. High-visibility clothing can help him be se…
READ MOREThe Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Association recently announced the keynote speakers and theme for this year's 39th Annual STAFDA Convention and Trade Show, held Nov. 8-10 in Phoenix.STAFDA…
READ MOREProtective Industrial Products has named Sean Weil as the Latham, New York-based manufacturer's new chief financial officer.Protective Industrial supplies hard hats, work gloves, safety goggles and refl…
READ MOREA manufacturer in New York's Capital Region will take over the street-front offices at the headquarters of Plug Power Inc., the Latham, NY fuel-cell maker.By year's end, Protective Industrial Products…
READ MOREPIP was recently honored for outstanding achievement in winning the Affiliated Distributors 2012 Supplier of the Year - Performance Award. To be recognized as a top performer in this esteemed group of…
READ MOREPrivacy Policy | Contact Us | Full Site
© 2012-2024 Protective Industrial Products, Inc. All rights reserved.