Adobe Equipment Houston mainly serves a customer base of the large-scale general contractors in the area, as well as a substantial number of individual sub-
contractors. While Adobe has remained quite localized geographically, its scope is by no means limited.

Its established business history and solid reputation among local consumers dates back to the 1950s. Jeff Donaldson, Vice President at Adobe Equipment, explains
how the company’s primary forklift operation began as a part of Houston’s Mustang Forklift dealership. ”Adobe has been around in the Houston market in one form or
fashion, or another, for over 50 years,” he reflects.

Adobe built its success by supplying products to meet the needs of material handling professionals. The bulk of its business has historically been supported by sectors such as warehousing, storage, material transportation, large materials movement & shipping, etc. Adobe aims to help its customers to save money and increase profits by controlling their costs for material handling.

In addition to sales, company operations cover equipment rentals, maintaining
a rental fleet of between 750 and 900 pieces of equipment (also available on
long-term rental or rent-to-own basis); an expansive inventory of parts and
complementary products; and "in-house" or "on the road" Repair Service offered for
all brands, including competitive.

OPERATIONS:

Adobe’s dealership locations maintain a full inventory of equipment models, new as
well as used or reconditioned. Its offerings range from construction equipment to a
wide selection of lift trucks & forklifts, and heavy-haul trailers. Adobe partners with
several prestigious brands, and offers employees specialized training through many
of its well-respected manufacturers. “We try to work with the best-of-the-best in
terms of our manufacturers,” says Donaldson.

Adobe attributes much of its success to its salesmen’s ability to custom-design
equipment for customers’ unique applications. Long after the sale, its reliable
service and the selection of reliable parts in-stock is what brings customers back to

Adobe year after year.

SERVICE ADVANTAGE:

According to Donaldson, the company’s overall operations volume proves difficult
to measure, since so much of it comes from service side of the business. He
points out, “We can sell you a part, but so can anybody else out there. The main
way we differentiate ourselves is [therefore] through our service.” In light of the
recent recession, represents a significant advantage, says Donaldson: “Of course,
since capital expenditures are the first thing to go in a recession, we find most
people more willing to invest in repairing the equipment they already have.”

Adobe's service group consists of nearly 100 highly qualified, factory-trained
technicians, with its team of field-service staff numbering 52 technicians, spread
across several strategic locations. Donaldson says Adobe knows the value of its
technicians, and realizes that their performance is essential. “They are the face of
the company...and they are the ones who ultimately make sure that our customers
are receiving the results we’ve promised,” he explains, “It’s important to us to keep
our employees happy.”

As a means of technological support, GPS systems are in-place for all field-service
technicians, getting them expediently & efficiently out to customers’ service calls.
In conjunction with Adobe’s several strategically-located service branches, this
approach results in far less downtime for the customer.

SUSTAINABILITY:

Adobe participates extensively in TERP (Texas Emissions Reduction Program),
which encourages consumers to trade-in their old equipment by supplying them
with a government grant for retiring their old equipment and replacing it with
newer, lower-emissions and more fuel-efficient models (www.terpgrants.org).
Adobe also says it is seeing its manufacturers continually improve in terms of
optimizing the environmental quality of their machines. It believes that everyone
in the industry is taking the need for emissions-reductions efforts very seriously.

GROWTH:

After the recent consolidation of its Cat and Nissan forklift divisions, Adobe’s
executives are now working to effectively establish a group identity that
incorporates all of its major brands under a single banner of Adobe Equipment
Houston. This has required that they first formulate and then implement a new,
unified marketing strategy, which continues to present a significant challenge. It
will require the company’s active and sustained efforts to shift the public’s present
perception of its divisions as being four separate businesses, since each formerly
operated under a separate name.

Over the past five years, Adobe has seen some astounding growth, along with an
overall revenue increase from $20 million to about $60 million per year. According
to company executives, organic growth has certainly been a key component of
their success. In late 2008, Adobe expanded to include the construction equipment

division, which is currently the only full-line dealer of JCB, Inc. construction
equipment in the region. It also offers rentals and repair service for JCB, as well as
other brands of construction equipment.

Having acquired the (JCB) construction equipment division less than two years back,
it currently accounts for a smaller portion of Adobe’s overall sales. While dealing in
construction equipment, specifically, is relatively new for the company, (which does
not currently consider itself on-par as a major construction dealership), Donaldson
does suggest a certain optimism: “We’re not a big player yet, but we will be looking
to grow substantially in that area over the next three to five years.”

With a lot of growth now being fuelled by the market, Adobe experienced
stabilization during the past year, but has still more hope of seeing substantial
recovery in early 2011. As to any future plans, “There is currently a lot of expansion
already going on in and around Houston,” Donaldson says, “We are happy to stay
here”.