As the first Executive Director of the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC)—from the organization’s inception in 1977 until his retirement in 1985—charter member Burr Hupp was awarded Lifetime Member status in 1997. Although Hupp has since passed away, his peers shared their recollections of his contributions to the organization.

As one of the two “fathers of WERC” (the other being Lifetime Member Bob Angel), Lifetime Member Ken Ackerman, credits Hupp—a highly regarded warehousing management consultant—as the impetus for the transition of the organization from idea to reality.

“Over breakfast in the spring of 1977, I shared the idea of a new organization focused exclusively on warehousing education and research with two colleagues on The Ohio State University’s faculty to get their thoughts,” Ackerman recalls. “When I ran into Burr at a logistics conference later that year, I told him about that discussion.”

His reaction, chuckles Ackerman, was classic Hupp: “He punched me in the chest and said, ‘It’s never going to happen with three guys yacking over breakfast. Get on the telephone, set a date and get a few people to come talk about it.’ Burr was a very direct guy—he would have made a great general—he was very military, bald, and had a commanding presence. When he said something, you were supposed to say, ‘Yes, sir!’”

Ackerman indeed said “Yes, sir!” and set up a preliminary gathering of colleagues and peers to discuss the potential of forming a new association. Hupp also agreed to participate. As one of the founders of the organization now known as CSCMP, he’d been through this process before and wanted to share from his experience, continued Ackerman.

“We held the meeting at an airport hotel in Columbus so people could fly in, meet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., then fly back home—again, Burr’s suggestion,” he recounts. “Several people attended, including members of the boards of CSCMP and the group now known as IWLA. In the meeting, we emphasized that our objective was to create a complimentary organization, not a competitive one.”

When WERC was officially established in September 1977, Hupp—along with Ackerman—were two of the five signers of the articles of incorporation. He also served as the treasurer of the first Board of Directors, and agreed to take on the role of acting Executive Director, locating the headquarters in the offices of his Chicago-based firm.

Bruce Abels, WERC Lifetime Member and first WERC Board President (and the only person to serve in that role for three consecutive terms, from 1977 to 1980) likewise remembers Hupp as “one of the stars in the warehousing universe at that time.”

“Burr was a figure that everybody was just in awe of. He was very, very smart, but he wasn’t arrogant about it; he had a combination of dignity and reserve. There was a certain manner about him that said this is somebody who knows what he’s doing,” recalls Abels. “Burr liked to teach. He was helpful to younger people just establishing their careers in our industry, he was always a speaker at every warehousing and logistics conference, and his sessions were always well attended. He was just somebody you really looked up to.”

When Hupp retired to Sarasota, Florida—and as WERC’s membership steadily grew—the organization outsourced its operation to a third-party association management firm in 1979. But the arrangement didn’t work out, and Hupp agreed to resume his role as Executive Director from his new home, assisted by his wife Jan.

“Burr was extremely meticulous,” adds Abels. “In his personal appearance, there was never a hair out of place. In his professional management, there was never a hair out of place.”

After four years as Executive Director, Hupp wrote in the October 1984 WERCSheet: “When I started in April 1980, WERC had around 300 to 400 members. Having the WERC office in our home, and having Jan work with me, was an appropriate arrangement. Now, however, WERC has well over 1,000 members and is growing rapidly. It needs a strong, experienced executive director, supported by a highly qualified, full-time staff, with a well-equipped office that provides plenty of work area and storage facilities. In short, to serve an organization that may soon have 2,000 members, WERC needs a whole new management setup. At my age, I’d rather have someone else undertake that responsibility.”

Lifetime Member Thomas Sharpe succeeded Hupp as WERC Executive Director from 1985 to 2000. “My first week at WERC in early March of 1985 was spent in Sarasota being brought up to speed by the Hupps. Then, I established an office in Oak Brook, Illinois,” he recalls. “Burr and Jan were extremely gracious toward me and I never forgot it. The transition from the Hupp’s leadership to the new staff was seamless and couldn’t have been done more smoothly thanks to them.”

It was the entrepreneurial spirit of WERC’s volunteer leaders, Hupp among them, whom Sharpe credits as being a significant factor in the organization’s initial and ongoing success.

“Burr and his peers were all very successful in their respective businesses and wanted WERC to function entrepreneurially as well,” he concludes. “The association’s longevity and importance within the industry is truly a reflection of the founders’ initial vision and commitment.”

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As a charter member of the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC), Bob Angel was awarded Lifetime Member status in 1998. Although Angel has since passed away, his peers shared their recollections of his contributions to the organization.

In the late 1970s Angel was a logistics executive at Shell Chemical, recalls his fellow charter member Ken Ackerman, who also holds a Lifetime Membership.

“Bob was a customer of my consulting firm, and in 1977 he reached out to me to express his frustration with a warehousing association that would not allow him to participate in their annual conference sessions because he wasn’t a member of their group,” Ackerman says. “He was told, ‘you're welcome to come and play golf, use the swimming pool and have a drink with our members, but you can't come to our sessions because they’re secret.’”

Ackerman and Angel agreed the situation was strange. They also agreed that their profession lacked an organization focused solely on disseminating information about different techniques, trends and resources exclusively about warehousing.

The two—who have since come to be known as “the fathers of WERC”—spread the word among their peers, and 17 of them met that August to discuss a solution. A few weeks later, at a second meeting, WERC was officially incorporated, with Angel taking on the role of secretary in the first Board of Directors. Later, in 1980, Angel served as Chair of the Annual Conference, themed “The Warehouse: The Vital Link.”

Charter member Bruce Abels—elected as the first WERC Board President (and the only person to hold in that role for three consecutive terms, from 1977 to 1980) and who also holds a Lifetime Membership—served with Angel on the WERC Board.

He remembers, “Bob was very much down to earth, not flashy at all, but very genuine—and I suspect he was a lot smarter than he let on. We worked together well on the Board.”

Having observed Angel, Ackerman and Abels as they collaborated tirelessly on the WERC board and repeatedly demonstrated their dedication to the organization, Thomas Sharpe, WERC Lifetime Member and WERC Executive Director from 1985 to 2000, says he often thought of the trio as “The Dynamic A’s.”

“I did not know Bob Angel very well, but I do know he was very active and supportive of WERC in the early days of its existence,” Sharpe adds. “Along with other early WERC participants, he did much to ensure WERC’s growth and evolution over a very long time span.”

Concludes Ackerman: “All of us who were involved in the creation of the organization—including Bob—shared a vision of what WERC could be and it’s very gratifying to see that it’s still around after 40 years.”

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Bruce Abels
President
Fairfield Logistics Advisors

Bruce Abels has the dual distinction of being the Warehouse Education and Research Council’s (WERC) first president, and the only person to serve in that role for three consecutive terms—from 1977 to 1980. At the conclusion of that service, Abels continued his involvement as a frequent speaker and lifetime member of WERC, which is currently celebrating its 40^th Anniversary.

“I was young and innocent, and because my name started with the first letter of the alphabet I was asked to chair WERC’S first organizational meeting,” Abels recalls. “When it came time to elect officers, someone in the back of the room said, ‘You’ve done a good job running this meeting; I nominate you.’ I was ‘railroaded’ into the job.”

Although Abels, who was Director of Distribution Operations of the disposables division of American Can Company at the time, politely declined, the motion was rapidly seconded. There were no other nominations, and he was quickly elected. In addition to that role on WERC’s Board, (shared with many of warehousing’s most respected leaders, he notes) Abels chaired the first WERC Annual Conference and led WERC for two more years.

At the time of WERC’s founding in 1977, warehouse operations had become a professional discipline. Yet, no organization existed to support the professional development of warehouse practitioners, both seasoned management veterans and those new to the industry.

“There was a desire to make resources available for people who tackled day-to-day, practical, hands-on warehousing ‘stuff,’” Abels continues. “Those of us who founded WERC felt a need to focus on warehouse operations and strategy and its role in supply chain. As the role of the warehouse has changed dramatically over the last 40 years—with the emergence of real-time fulfillment, sophisticated hardware and software technologies and third-party logistics service providers—WERC has evolved as well.”

Today, as the President of Fairfield Logistics Advisors, Abels is still an active member of WERC, attending Conferences, networking and sharing his expertise with other members.

“People turn to WERC for knowledge, skills, networking and educational resources. In my own client base I see people who can learn a lot from WERC,” he adds. “I often encourage clients, particularly when they make a critical new hire, to send that person to WERC’s educational events, publications and Annual Conference to get better educated and more quickly up to speed on our industry.”

Abels cites WERC’s networking opportunities and educational offerings as being the most valuable to him while navigating his own supply chain career over 40 years.

“I was so young and had so much to learn when I became WERC’s first President. I have always been very grateful to those professionals who were wiser and more experienced than I, who were willing to share all they had to offer to me as a friend and colleague,” he notes. “And, I have always loved WERC’s ‘hands on’ focus, delivering usable information and skills to everyday practitioners, like me.”

After 40 years, it’s safe to say that WERC has likewise been impacted just as positively from Abels’ leadership, notes Michael Mikitka, WERC CEO.

“Bruce has had a profound influence on WERC’s growth and development in the past four decades,” Mikitka says. “His leadership and guidance is something that I personally have come to rely on many times since I joined the organization in 2001.”

To hear more about Bruce Abels’ 40-year journey with WERC, click here for a video interview conducted at WERC Conference 2016.

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