Get to know Harly Savage, Manufacturer’s Representative at Coast Industrial Sales. Check out the video or transcript below to hear why he’s passionate about the industry and get his insights on new tech, M&A, and the future of the industrial supply channel.
About Coast Industrial Sales
Olivia Grimmer, ISA: “Hey Harly. Thanks for meeting with me today. Why don’t we just jump right in and have you tell me a little bit about Coast Industrial Sales and what it is that you do?”
Harly Savage, Coast Industrial Sales: “So Coast Industrial Sales, we are an IMR firm, so an independent manufacturers representative firm, and it was started in 1982 by Bob Snell and Mary Breckenridge, both who are actively still active with the company. And then Erick Erickson was a key piece of that as well. He retired when I joined the company. But we cover California, Arizona, Nevada, and primarily our areas of focus are cutting tools, cutting fluids, work holding, tool holders, and measurement equipment. So we’re very focused in the lines that we carry.
We have a team of 10 based out of Anaheim, CA. The headquarters and warehouse are in Anaheim, CA, but that team makes up of inside sales, outside sales, we have a field service technician, and then our admin roles that we have as well. So we have a gentleman that covers Northern California for us. He lives in that market and another that covers Arizona who lives local within that market.
So some differentiators from Coast. You know, we like to think that the fact that we do have offices and warehouses and the bricks and mortar, it gives some stability. We get a lot of walk-ins, we get a lot of will calls, we get people coming with different literatures to meet with us. They use our conference room to hang out and you know, do some work when they’re out on the road and everything else. But the biggest thing would be the stability that Coast has been able to develop over the last 40-plus years, and some of our principal relationships actually go back to 1982. So we don’t turn our lines very often. They’re long-term consistent relationships and we don’t have too many lines. We try to stay very limited and focused on the lines that we represent so that we can add the most value.
And I personally joined the company in 2017 after being in the industry since the year 2000 and I came up from a family manufacturing business Hassy Savage Broach company that my grandfather started in 1968, and Coast Industrial Sales were our reps on the West Coast. So we were based in Massachusetts. I’m an East Coast guy and that’s how I got to know the people here at Coast.”
Why do you love the work that you do and the industry that you’re in?
Olivia Grimmer, ISA: “So jumping into my next question, which is somewhat piggybacking off of my last one. Why do you love the work that you do and the industry that you’re in?”
Harly Savage, Coast Industrial Sales: “Yeah, a few reasons, you know. And the first and foremost is the people. And when I say the people, it starts with the team here at Coast, you know, Bob and Mary, they built this company based on family foundations and family principles and that’s extremely important to us. When Bob and I started talking about me joining the team, I had a one year old and we had another child on the way. So it was very important for me to express that, you know, family was going to be first. I started having children a little bit later in life and wasn’t going to miss their activities.
So the entire team, the ten of us, you know, we are a tight-knit family, it’s a tight-knit group. We rely on each other very heavily. We have patience and empathy for each other when it’s needed and there’s nothing that trumps family here at Coast. And it’s our immediate families as well as our Coast team. You know many of the other employees have young children some have older children and there’s more on the horizon. So we’re trying to keep that intact. It’s very important to what we do here you know.
But then also, you know I did talk about Hassay Savage you know our family business started in 1968. So I mean it was dinner table talk for me. It was this business and everything else. So dealing with the people that I’ve grown up with so to speak and now helping them with their sales, their challenges, whatever they may have in the field, you know, it’s important and it’s nice to be able to give back to the industry too. You know this is what my family was built around and now being able to still be involved and give back to it through the ISA as well as just our day-to-day. You know, that’s why I’m heavily involved with the IMR Committee and ISA and everything else. It’s important to us.
So the people are one thing, but then it gets really exciting when you think about everything that we’re touching every day. You know, we’re part of making that stuff. Whether it’s airplanes that we spend time on, medical equipment and devices, or automotive. We’re involved with off-road, mainstream automotive, food and beverage products. We get into firearms and defense things. And rockets, you know a good example, Tallen and I, last year he was five I think at the time, He and I joined a bunch of the SpaceX team members, went up to Vanderberg base and watched the launch. And to be part of that process and the products that go into those things and watching it with your 5-year-old with this big smile on his face, you know.
So he hears about SpaceX, he hears about Tesla and he’s like, yeah, my daddy works with them. You know, we, we worked on those things, and the whole coast team. Being involved with these things, the things we touch every day. It’s awesome to be a part of that and you don’t realize how far it extends. I mean, literally the pens that you’re holding in your hand, the different things on the table when you go to restaurants. I mean those are all coming from this industry that we serve, you know, it’s really neat to be a part of that.
And then the customers. Our customers are internal here at Coast, our manufacturing partners, our channel partners, the distributors, and obviously the end users. Streamlining their processes, being part of improving what they’re doing every day, and making it easier for them, eliminating their challenges. You know, it comes down to them and adding the most value for all of our customers. It’s important to us, but that’s what we like about the business, that’s what I like. And I think I speak for the coast team when I bring up a lot of those points.”
Where do you see the industry heading in the coming years?
Olivia Grimmer, ISA: “So my next question for you Harly is somewhat future-focused, which is where do you see the industry heading in the next year, two years, and even beyond that?”
Harly Savage, Coast Industrial Sales: “Yeah, this is the interesting one because as we know, the one constant is change. And it seems like as the years go on and as technology advances, the changes come faster and faster and there seems to be more and more of the unexpected. We all experienced that with COVID and just the various things that go on with, you know, the international business landscape and the politics, whatever else it can be, we have to be ready to pivot at any moment.
But some of the big changes are the mergers and acquisitions that are going on. It’s happening at the end user level where there are large conglomerates buying up smaller shops and merging and picking up different things. But also in the distribution channel, you know, you’ve got some of these larger parent public-owned companies that are buying up a lot of the independent distributors around the country and it changes the landscape. That’s where you really have to rely on your tight-knit relationships with these people to be able to protect the existing business you have that some of these mergers may compromise. But also you have to be open to the opportunity that the other side of the merger or acquisition may have as well. So it really comes back to a lot of that. ISA actually really helps Coast anyway and our team to stay up on these things and these things to watch out for in the market and the changes.
But mergers and acquisitions are definitely one, but the technological advances are ginormous right now. You know, it’s insane to see what’s happening with machinery. What’s happening with the accessories, whether it be the cutting tools, the work holding, the tool holders, the measurement devices, software, and IT. The software that people are using not only to run their business but in the manufacturing side of things as well. You know, it’s just changing so quickly and the way they’re implementing things and being able to leverage technology to make their jobs easier.
Web stores and e-commerce are changing the way people are buying, the way people are getting in touch with distributers and the manufacturers and it’s actually putting a lot of reliance on us as IMRs because when you do have manufacturers that are global and these end users that are local that are reaching right out or they’re getting information from these manufacturers, they also need quick and efficient and effective local support. So we need to be ready to jump and support these people on site when they could just be reaching out to somebody over in Europe or Asia through a website. When they’re seeing somebody two hours later, you know, they’re like, wow, this actually works. It’s giving us a lot of opportunities to jump on that.
Automation and robotics within manufacturing are changing the landscape. You know, people are talking about repurposing. You know, some people are concerned about robots replacing people, but it’s allowing people to move into different roles and add more value and generate more revenue out of limited workspace. So that’s big. We’ve got a company out here in the South Bay in Southern California, their name is Hadrian, and what they are doing is they are trying to do the most high-tech manufacturing possible. They’re using robots, they’re using artificial intelligence, so AI technology within the machine, that is allowing them to inspect, manufacture, make offsets, and do different things without anybody needing to watch it. And I mean it’s scary fun to be a part of that as well.
And one other thing, additive manufacturing, 3D manufacturing, it’s changing the way people are making this stuff and making these parts. They’re printing now versus using castings or forgings or billet-type material. So there are lots of changes. You know, it’s a lot to grasp. One thing we work on at Coast is being open to that, embracing the change because it’s going to happen and in order for us to stay relevant, we need to embrace it and we’re challenging ourselves to do that. You know what’s come easy to us for several years could be changing based on technology and we have to be open to that in order to add value to our manufacturing partners, our channel partners, and our end users. We have to embrace that change and be a part of it. So it’s a lot of fun.”
What do you like to do outside of work for fun?
Olivia Grimmer, ISA: “So moving on to my last question for you Harly, which is somewhat personal. What do you like to do outside of work for fun? I know you mentioned you have a family if you want to talk about them.”
Harly Savage, Coast Industrial Sales: “Yeah, my wife, Cee, you know, thank you to her. She’s a big part of the success we have here at Coast. She’s a full-time high school art teacher in Los Angeles. She’s been there 17 years now in the same school and it’s incredible to watch. You know, those kids will challenge her the first few weeks of school but then they learn about the respect that she gives to them and eventually they give it back. And it’s neat watching that evolution every year she has to go through that. You know, the kids love her by the end of it. And a huge shout out to all teachers. What a tough job. And thank you for everything you do for whoever might see this, read this, hear this.
But I also work full time and having two active and involved 5-year-old and 6-year-old children. It keeps us busy. So between sports and dance and school activities and birthday parties, there was a moment last year when I was cutting out of work early or coming in a little later to take care of something for the kids. And I would feel a little guilty about it. But I realized how quickly this time is going by with the kids and I raised the white flag.
I said, you know what – and for the rest of our team members here at Coast – it’s all in with the family. Embrace this time with the kids. That’s why we work as hard as we do every day is to be able to support our family, spend time with our family and enjoy our family. And that really is our free time. But some of the things we like to do is we travel a lot. My wife is originally from Thailand, so being a teacher and having the summers off, they spend the entire summer in Thailand, but I go over for a couple of weeks every year and we spend time there with her family in Thailand, and travel around the country.
Growing up on the East Coast, you know, Boston go Red Sox, I’m a big sports fans out there. We take the kids back there for the amazing seafood, to visit with family, and get to Fenway Park and see some of the ball parks. The kids took up skiing last year. So we recently had a ski trip this year. That was a lot of fun watching two young children zip around the mountain at five and six years old. I mean, talk about a proud parenting moment and a fun time, you know? So I wish I could say there was more exercise and more me time and stuff on the calendar but it’s really about family for us with our free time and I think that’s similar for the other team members on our team.
You know before we do wrap up I do just want to give a huge thank you to the Coast team. You know the families that we have with us, they’re all supporting us day in and day out and allowing us to do what we do. And you know our team works hard, and we provide a lot of value for our partners. We take pride in that. And I just, I really appreciate the team and everything everybody does.”
