Despite wide recognition of the Hikel name, the Hikel’s themselves would point to their long-tenured people for their success. In fact, the youngest of their three generations, Ryan, said at their 50-year celebration on July 24, “We’re not the Hikel family, we’re the Shelter family.” To all the acclaim earned by Shelter for its amazing 50 years, let me add my own.
Shelter became a consummate manufacturing powerhouse by never straying far from its roots near the docks on the industrial side of Baltimore, close to a famous national monument. That’s where Dwight Hikel (1938–2017) worked at a pioneering floor truss producer, Fort McHenry Lumber. In the summers, as a single father, he brought his son and future partner, Joe, to do odd jobs around the plant. He also gained his business and life partner by marrying Linda.
Not long after their marriage, Fort McHenry began supplying floor trusses to a job site in New Jersey, which brought Dwight in contact with Lenny Sylk, in a life-changing occurrence that led Dwight to partner with Lenny and Chris Ditzel in a new truss plant. Together they selected an ideal location less than an hour north, with easy access to the growing Baltimore suburbs and also less than an hour from the booming northern Viriginia suburbs. Most importantly, their Westminster, MD location was 20 miles from central Pennsylvania’s abundant supply of farm labor. Since several states would be served by this new entity, the name Allstate Components seemed appropriate.
Fortunately, along with the burgeoning demand for trusses and a plentiful supply of labor came the manufacturing expertise and systems from Lenny Sylk. While Lenny brought them the same machinery that was being used by most of Dwight’s competitors, Lenny’s team had modified it to maximize its throughput, and they also supplied Dwight with video training cassettes. This do-it-yourself approach on truss equipment would continue to resound to the present. And Dwight’s startup equipment is still in use today, although with further enhancements and much improved material handling.
Allstate grew quickly along with the housing growth nearby, as evidenced by the rapid expansion of the planned community of Columbia, MD midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., which attracted over 40,000 new residents during the 1970s and an additional 30,000 during the 1980s. Dwight acquired the world-record-holding Hydro-Air Glide-Away vertical truss press, which enabled Allstate to acquire major tract builders. However, several large builders started their own component plants, and the residential home sales slowed. That led Dwight to diversify sales, attempting wall panel fabrication and turnkey framing, none of which worked to Allstate’s strengths.
In 1979, two of Lenny Sylk’s initiatives accrued to the benefit of Allstate. First, he renamed his New Jersey plant, and his then three partner plants including Dwight’s, to the iconic and apt name Shelter Systems. He also brought his Forest Products truss design computer programs to all four plants. Initially, this expedited engineering turnaround and provided better optimization of truss designs. In the long run, it awakened Dwight and his team to the potential of using computer technology to manage all aspects of the business. In 1990, Lenny increased the productivity of all seven of his partner plants across the U.S. by installing On-Line Data’s truss software.
By then, Joe was managing the growing sales force and continuing to influence the direction of the business, and Linda was managing its finances. Linda became a tremendous resource to Dwight when he decided to break from Lenny and negotiate buying Lenny’s share of Shelter in Maryland, which nearly exhausted the business and personal resources of the Hikels. However, when that purchase was completed in May 1993, the industry was three years into a 17-year housing expansion that would soon enable the Hikels to refill the coffers of Shelter Systems Limited and enable the Hikels to increasingly exercise their entrepreneurial instincts.
By the year 2000, no one knew the business better than Joe, having worked for 25 years in nearly every facet of a component plant, and he began to focus on the future. That prompted him to make the sacrifices few leaders make in mid-career, especially while running business operations, and take on the rigors of earning his MBA. That included visiting businesses overseas, which awakened his grasp of what was possible. With degree in hand, he joined his father and management team in exploring how a brand-new Shelter Systems plant would look.
I have never witnessed a more thorough and rigorous search than the one conducted by the Shelter team exploring North America to uncover every possible approach to truss manufacturing. Once they realized that their current cutting and assembly equipment rivaled the productivity of alternatives, they worked on improving material handling. That crucial focus encouraged them to do what I have never seen a CM do, to redirect valuable plant floor space from manufacturing to lumber storage, and to develop from scratch, with MiTek’s help, an innovative lumber storage and retrieval system (LSR) like none other to feed their saws. Once they mapped out their complete manufacturing system, they designed a building around it and put Dwight in charge of the construction. When their 2006 grand opening coincided with the onset of the Great Recession, the Hikels found out that the substantially reduced cost structure of their new plant enabled them to survive that downturn.
The new facility launched Shelter on a course that would soon yield more than $50 Million in annual truss sales, dwarfing the reported $1.5 Million that they paid Lenny for his share of the business. Through the 2010s, Dwight and Joe accelerated their industry leadership, both earning the coveted SBCA Hall of Fame award as well as four other major industry awards. Unknown to most of us, but highlighted at this 50th celebration, was untold hours and dollars contributed to charitable and community-centered organizations too. Congratulations to the entire cast of Shelter Systems Limited for continuing their stellar record of responsible and successful entrepreneurship.