MBN USA
February 14, 2023
Inventech provides technical repair and support services to the food and beverage industry
By M.V. Greene
For Bennie Washington,
owner of Inventech Services LLC — a Fort Worth, Texas, company that provides
technical repair and support services to the food and beverage industry — the
customer is always the focus.
Washington, who founded
her company in 2006, has been making inroads her entire career in a
male-dominated business. She said any future success will be rooted in her
reverence for her customers.
“My customer service is
exceptional,” Washington said. “Even though I am not a big service center, I
treat all my customers with respect. I make sure they are well taken care of. I
go far and beyond what needs to be done.”
In food and beverage,
Inventech Services repairs and supports client equipment that includes
hand-held devices and terminals, barcode scanners and printers for route
drivers responsible for tracking inventory and fulfilling orders. Large
customers in the industry may have 10,000 to 15,000 mobile hand-held terminals
deployed at any given time, serving thousands of routes, Washington said.
As a woman and minority
business owner, Washington launched Inventech after working for more than 15
years in the field. A previous employer had sold the operations, and it was
time for her to strike out on her own.
Washington is prideful
about her positioning and experience in the field — a woman “working with all
men back then,” she said.
Washington said she was
intent on acquiring as much knowledge as she could about the nuts-and-bolts of
how the food and beverage repair industry operated. While actual repair of
equipment always has been her bailiwick, at one point during her earlier
career, Washington began working as a customer support specialist, travelling
extensively in a region that included Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New
Mexico. She also serviced clients in the Monterrey, Mexico, region and Canada.
“I learned how to do
everything and worked on everything. I learned shipping and receiving,
inventory control, telephone technical support and training other technicians.
Wherever help was needed, I helped,” she said.
As she builds Inventech
for what she expects to be an exciting future, Washington believes that the
diverse roles she assumed during her career will serve the business well. She
notes that as a woman and minority owner, she faces several challenges,
primarily getting prospective customers to realize her company can do the job.
“The biggest job is
getting to the customer and getting my name out there. Doing the work is not an
issue,” Washington said.
To raise her firm’s
profile, Washington is moving to more aggressive marketing, including social
media and the internet. She also is maintaining contact for networking and
educational opportunities with organizations that support diverse businesses,
such as the Dallas-based Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF), which seeks to
eliminate barriers that women face in the industry; the Regional Hispanic
Contractors Association, which addresses business and political concerns of its
members; and the Dallas Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council (DFW
MSDC), which certifies and advocates for minority-owned business enterprises.
Supply chain issues for
parts represent another challenge, Washington said, as many companies’
equipment is proprietary, making it difficult sometimes for a small shop like
hers to access needed parts.
Washington understands
there always will be impediments to doing business. Ultimately, her goal is to
assure potential clients that Inventech – and its base of contractors – have
the experience and knowledge to do the job.
“I want to grow. I want to
be one of the best minority-owned companies out there in this field. It is time
for me to open the door and come out of the closet. I have a lot to do, and I
am looking for that challenge,” Washington said.
To learn more about Inventech
Services LLC, Visit inventechtx.com.
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