Poblocki Signs’ McGushin Reflects on Company’s 80-Year History

Ben Poblocki founded Poblocki Sign Co. as a one-man operation in 1932. Since then, it’s blossomed into a national sign company. In honor of its achievement of reaching octogenarian status, Terry McGushin, Poblocki’s president, sat down and answered these questions.

Besides technology, how has the culture of the sign industry changed in 80 years? If Ben Poblocki could walk into your shop today, what would be familiar, and what would be strange?
In today’s industry, customers are savvy and able to educate themselves much more about signage with the Internet. People are able to research signage online and come to a better understanding of what they want. But, there are many things we, Poblocki, can offer them that they can’t find on a website. There is considerably more that goes into the development of signage than you can find on a website: ADA compliance, zoning regulations, maintenance concerns, safety and environmental issues. It’s great that information exists to help customers educate themselves about signage and get ideas, but we still want to be involved in the conversation early in the production process so we’re able to deliver solutions that meet their unique needs.
Manufacturing tools and techniques will always evolve, and we’ll continue to push that progress. But personal relationships with our customers, especially those who are new to working with a sign company, will always remain important.

Did a particular client or project help put Poblocki “on the map?”
We were fortunate to be there in the early days of McDonald’s, Ford and GM, and we provided sign solutions that grew with them. Performing quality work kept them coming back as they opened more locations. Theatre marquees were a big part of our early work, but adaptability and dependability have been key parts of what’s made us successful. Any company that has survived a Great Depression, a World War, a couple of recessions, and significant changes in the marketplace can say the same thing. We see that when we look at our history, and how Ben Poblocki built a company that did what it had to do, and served where it had to serve, to survive and then build success.

How has the company managed to adapt and gain market position?
In recent years, we’ve looked at where the construction market has been most likely to bounce back. That’s led to our expansion into the Southeast and our manufacturing facility in Raleigh, NC. In doing so, we upgraded our entire organization there. We upgraded all of our machinery, and ensured that we were able to bring what makes us successful where we started, to a place where we were able to grow and diversify our offerings.

How much has the development of social media impacted your marketing efforts? What social-media facets have been most beneficial?
Social media is definitely playing a growing role in our marketing efforts, particularly as we look to connect with the industries and customers with which we work, in a way that demonstrates our capabilities. We have people on our team with considerable experience and expertise that improves our entire staff. With the development of the Internet, social media and related online tools, the time is right for us to make them a part of our conversation about signage.
So much of what we do – working with designers, architects and other folks responsible for deciding how a space will come to life – is governed by imagination, ours and those who come to us and say, “help us build this.” That’s what we do. It’s what we’ve always done. And it’s what we excel at – finding a solution for a unique need or a unique design. Social media gives us a chance to get on a one-on-one level and meet people where they are. Today, that’s online. To do that, we launched the Sign Lab on our new website. It’s a forum where we’re sharing the news we think can drive future trends. We want them to know they can come to the Sign Lab, not just for news they can apply to their projects, but for conversation and ideas they can put into practice for their customers. Or for ideas they can turn around and challenge us with. Topics we’ve recently addressed include ISA’s research of lap-splice-connection failures on single, pole-sign structures, and how recently enacted ADA standards will influence sign design and production.

How large is your current facility in Milwaukee? How many people work there now, and how many work in production? Are there specific types of signs or production fabricated at the remote facilities?
Our 120,000-sq.-ft. facility in Milwaukee is built on 6.9 acres and houses approximately 200 employees. We have another 25,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing capacity that we’ve built at satellite facilities. One was completed in Omaha in 2009, and another in Raleigh in 2010. We’re able to rely on any one of our manufacturing facilities to produce any product required for any customer in any location. This help immensely with meeting budgets and deadlines.

Does Poblocki handle most of its projects as full design/builds, or is it more common for you to partner with an EGD provider? Has this significantly changed in recent years?
We’re capable of completing full design-build projects, but we prefer working with EGD firms. We believe EGD firms are good strategic partners that understand our common clients’ goals as we do, and they push the limits of our design and fabrication abilities. We enjoy our relationships with several EGD firms. And we’re able to offer many capabilities, such as value engineering and improving design concepts, when manufacturing methods require an end result reflective of the original intent.

What recent software and technological advances have most changed your production process?
We have started using a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) operating system, which integrates external and internal management information across all of our departments, which helps our staff communicate more effectively with one another. It’s greatly helped how efficiently we can serve our customers.
We’ve also started using more and more recycled materials, particularly metals and rigid plastics, if at
all possible, during our manufacturing process. This is important, not only to reduce waste and create a greater level of basic sustainability, but because it makes business sense to be efficient.

How do you see your shop evolving over the next 10 years? Do you see a broad migration into electronic signage? How do you think signage will integrate into people’s portable electronic devices?
So much could change through mobile technology. Curiosity and imagination will pave the way for future innovations. Mobile technology could lead to eliminating large video displays and allow people to interact with the signage through their smartphones. Of course, when it comes to wayfinding, if it’s done correctly, you won’t need a mobile phone app to find your way through a facility.
Mobile technology can also play a significant part in inventory management. We’ve been building tracking systems for our customers. If they have thousands of signs spread across dozens of campuses, they want an easy way to track and order new signage. In our eyes, technological advances don’t solely encompass new signage. We find it can also provide tremendous benefits for customer service.
The key is that we’ve prepared ourselves to grow our product lines and manufacturing capability, attain a level of fiscal stability, and make sure that we’ve remained true to the values that have generated our company’s success. Eighty years ago, we began making our mark with theater marquees. Forty years ago, the expansion of fast-food restaurants and auto dealerships represented a large segment of our business’ growth. Today, our business is more diverse than ever – signage and wayfinding for healthcare, higher-education, financial, hospitality and retail clients are all vital cogs to our business. It’s a complex industry, with demanding clients and a moving target of sign codes and regulatory issues, but the fundamentals of paying attention to detail and valuing relationships are a constant.