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<center><font size="2"><b>7286 Penn Drive Bath, PA 18014<br>
Phone: (610) 837-8792 Toll Free: (800) 292-RIMS
Fax: (610) 837-8967<br>
E-mail:<a href="wccemail.html">WheelCollisionCenter</a></b></font></center>
<font size="2"><br>
</font>
<center><font size="2"><font size="4">"Eastern Pennsylvania Business
Journal"<br>
</font><font size="-1">March, 1993</font><br>
</font></center>
<font size="2"><font size="4">Wheel venture runs on packaging</font><br>
<font size="3">Call 'em big wheels in a small market.</font></font>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3">Two years ago, Daryl Robbins and
George Herschman were two employeeswith one idea and a lot of
frustration. Working long hours for someone else inthe packaging
business had given them valuable skills and the conviction thatthey
could run the company more effectively -- if they owned it. Which
theydidn't.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3">Racing along the interstate on a
business trip to Minnesota,the two watched an endless line of cars and
light trucks whiz by with dented andscraped wheels and realized their
lives were following a parallel line. Theyshared the idea of starting
their own business to repair damaged wheels --high-tech aluminum and
alloy products on display in showrooms.</font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="4">Arriving at a plan</font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3">Robbins packed an MBA
from Harvard and Herschman owned 17 acres and a couple ofhorses in
Moorestown, north of Bethlehem, PA. They had done their
homework,visiting a similar business in Maryland and compiling
statistics that showed ahuge market waiting to be tapped. There are 187
million vehicles on the roadand 750 million wheels, notes Robbins, and
a ready supply of potholes.<br>
<br>
But this was the end of the '80s. The recession had put the brakes on
theeconomy in the Lehigh Valley and bankers wouldn't lend them start-up
money.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3">So they didn't borrow
from banks or relatives. Robbins used the income from hisconsulting in
the pharmaceutical industry and Herschman took a second mortgageon his
land. As 1990 drew to a close, they dipped into their savings
accounts,quit their jobs and hit the road -- or the hay, in this case.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"> The pairstarted by
doing what they had done for their employer, INPACO of Nazareth -- ina
hayloft. They made machines that make plastic packaging for the food
andpharmaceutical industries -- precision equipment that provides
high-integrityseals for medical and other supplies. Calling themselves
Advanced MachineSystems, they formed the equipment in Herschman's barn.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"> On the side,they took
in damaged wheels from mechanics and tire dealers who were
skepticalabout plans to automate wheel straightening but could not
refinish the productto perfection themselves.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"> With Herschman's
expertise in tooling andRobbins' knack for the market, the partners
soon traded the hayloft for a berthat the Airport Road Commercial Park
in Northampton County's East Allen Townshipand christened their
business the Wheel Collision Center. That was a year ago,and business
has been rolling in ever since.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="4">Reinventing
the Wheel</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">Daryl
Robbins can't reach his desk because just inside the door, four wheels
toa 1992 Corvette stand like guardrails - 18 inches of muscle-car alloy
shiningwith lacquer, the smell of clear-coating cutting the air.
Instead, he sits inHerschman's office behind a desk as sparse as the
walls, a blotter and pencilholder on the wooden top, with a half-dozen
framed certificates looking down. Robbins wears a dark gray sports coat
that hugs his trim figure, his hairfalling behind the collar of an
open-neck shirt.<br>
<br>
<i>"We bootstrapped it",</i> he says of the first two years,
talkingwith a thick pen between long fingers.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"> The
pair built a machine tostraighten the wheels, and others to polish and
paint the product. Herschmanused his experience in packaging machines
to develop one machine to work onwheels of any size. They dealt with
skeptics who thought the market niche wastoo small. They dealt with
auto dealers who had no paint code for the product,and had to develop
their own paint codes in the end.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"> But
they madeinroads. Executives from Allstate Insurance Co. were impressed
when Robbinsrestored a wheel to perfect condition -- it looked and
performed like new -- fora third of the $300 price of a new one. Now
the entrepreneurs have fivefull-time and several part-time employees.
Robbins won't divulge how much theWheel Collision Center grossed last
year but says business increased by 100percent from the first to the
third quarter of 1992.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="4">History Rolls On</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">Robbins
and Herschman weren't always wheeler-dealers. Robbins started
hisprofessional career as a project engineer with Shell Oil Co. after
earning aB.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and an
MBA from HarvardBusiness School. For three years he installed oil- and
gas-field facilities onthe Gulf of Mexico coast, and spent a year in
Houston coordinating ShellCalifornia's natural gas business. Robbins,
now 35, then went to work forINPACO, where he spent three years as
manager of business development, helpingthe Nazareth facility
manufacture packaging machines that would in turn makeliquid form, fill
and seal pouches for the pharmaceutical industry.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">After
that, Robbins went under the hood, founding Cornell Enterprises
Inc.,which operates EuroCal Wheels and Auto Accessories, an automobile
restyler inWest Chester.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"> For his
part, Herschman, 49, cut his teeth at AEI Corp.in Bethlehem, a contract
packager and manufacturer of portion packaging machinesfor liquid and
dry food products. During the next 17 years, he worked forINPACO as
manager of field service, design and engineering, and as director
ofmanufacturing and machine development. He won awards for his work and
securedpatents on heat sealing and plastic film control systems.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"> While
thetwo were at INPACO, they met after work and discussed their ideas
aboutimproving the system over a couple of beers.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><i>"We
didn't plot to start a business when we were there,we just had
philosophical differences with management," </i>says Robbins</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">Herschman
sits at a fiberboard table buried in blueprints, dressed in a
denimshirt, jeans and tooled boots. He looks up from a form he's
reading, slides offhis thick, black glasses and smiles at Robbins'
comment, his eyes alert, hisrugged face suddenly warm. Robbins glances
over and continues with the thought.</font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><i>In
many ways we're very different. I am good with finances so Ihandle the
business side. George is technically oriented, and he works on
themachines. But the way we are similar is we don't believe in politics
at work. We don't like friction in the organization.</i></font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="4">No way but up</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">With patents on the machines and contacts throughout the
country, the pair planto go nationwide this year, selling franchises
and opening up to 15company-owned shops near urban centers.</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"> What is the secret of theirMidas-like touch? Robbins says
it's being savvy enough to recognize a good ideaand act on it.</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"> Herschman is not as philosophical. <i>"The
packagingbusiness is too volatile the income unpredictable. You have to
have a cash flow. You have to have something coming in and going out"</i></font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">Or, in this case, <i>rolling in</i>.</font></font></font></font></font></p>
<p><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">- by <i>Jeff Widmer</i>, forEastern PA Business Journal </font></font></font></font></font></p>
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<h6><font size="2"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3"><font size="3">This page, and all contents, are Copyright (C) 1996 - 1999 by
Wheel CollisionCenter, Bath, PA, USA.</font></font></font></font></font></h6>
</center>
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