Mark Bondurant, CEO of Twin Oaks Technologies, discusses the challenge of digitizing warehouse management– especially in a pandemic-affected world. Danny: Alright, so thank you so much for joining me today on our IndustrialSage Executive Series. I am joined by Mark Bondurant, who is the CEO of Twin Oaks Technology. Mark, thank you so much for joining me today. Mark: Thank you for inviting me. I appreciate the opportunity to spend some time with you today. Danny: I'm excited to do the same. So before we jump into everything, and for those who aren't familiar, tell me about Twin Oaks Technology. What do you guys do? Mark: Sure, Twin Oaks Technology offers a variety of services. Predominantly what we focus on in the industrial warehouse industry is a warehouse management system. So over 30 years ago, I started in warehouse and distribution and had the opportunity to work with different companies in different industries which has led me to open up Twin Oaks Technology. In 2012, I started out with one office and four employees, and here we are, eight years later. I have two offices, and we have 14 employees, part-time employees, and I'm still on the hunt, trying to hire more people. Danny: Oh, excellent, very good. So I want to know a little bit more about you as a person. So take me back. How did you get into this space before Twin Oaks and everything? Mark: Sure, so 30 years ago I did start working for a very large wholesale distribution company. It was a 400,000 square foot facility. And that exposed me to a lot in the warehousing industry. My background and degree was actually computer science and accounting directly out of college, but I landed a job there, started out as a programmer, ended up rising to the IT manager, eventually to the VP of IT and operations over the facility. Eventually, ultimately, that company was sold to a much larger company, a publicly-traded company, that was a holding company, and it allowed me to have exposure and work with a lot of other companies, distribution facilities, and serve on a technology steering committee for the publicly-traded company. So I really appreciated… that really helped me advance my career. I got to learn a lot about different warehouses, operations, different people. And they opened up a lot of doors for me personally to travel to see other operations in China, India, several countries in Europe, Mexico, and Canada. So that was pretty valuable to me. Danny: That's great. So how did you, what's the story behind starting your company? Mark: Sure, so I was with the company for a number of years, and I love working on solutions. That's one of the things that I really strive to do. And in 2012, it was just the right time. It was an opportunity to come along, and I wanted to open up my own business. So we took a leap of faith and did that. Danny: So tell me, what was that moment when you made up your mind? Typically you wrestle with it. Well, maybe I should do this. Well, no, go back, pros and cons and all this stuff. But what was that moment when you said, "You know what? I'm doing this, and I'm moving forward"? What was that like? Mark: It's a little bit exciting and scary at the same time when you make that. When you have a steady paycheck from a good company and you love working with people that are there, it is definitely a little frightening, but at the same time super exciting. And I knew that with the skill sets that we had to offer, technology we had to offer, there was a lot of value proposition, and I just really enjoyed working with a lot of different companies and people. So it was the right time to do that. Danny: That's awesome.