Vice President of Sales, Bob Pluta, joined IWS in 2000. Like founder Brian Reaves, Bob's previous 21+ years experience in the forklift, racking, and industrial battery sales; where his efforts earned him top national rankings; affords him a unique expertise in the design, re-design and installation of material handling products.
“Racking is like football – it's truly a game of inches,” says Bob. “A company cannot store and maintain its goods or supplies if the forklifts can't maneuver between the racks, if the rack system isn't integrated into the overall process of moving product in and out of the warehouse. And if the rack system is off by literally four inches, it's useless.”
He met founder Brian Reaves when the two were friendly competitors –both in forklift sales – and when Reaves decided to establish IWS, he called on Bob to head up sales and develop business for the new company.
Bob Pluta's customers include those who have been with IWS since its founding in 1999. As the customers have expended or relocated, IWS has grown with them. Some starting out in as small as 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse and eventually growing up to 500,000 sq. ft. in a 10 year period, with some customers having over 1,000,000 sq. ft. Bob and the IWS team direct every move and expansion so that the right rack and storage systems are quickly and seamlessly integrated into the workflow.
Bob has lived all his life in the Chicagoland area. He and his wife Gloria live in Woodridge and have three grown daughters. He is known as the “Clark Griswold of Woodridge” after the main character from National Lampoon's “Vacation” movies, for his traffic-stopping, brilliantly illuminated Christmas yard decor with a moving material handling-related display.
