ABCO Cleaning Products: Meet the Team

Meet Carlos Albir Jr.: Operations Manager

In this edition of “Meet the Team,” Carlos Albir Jr, Operations Manager at ABCO Cleaning Products, discusses his time at ABCO as well as what it’s like working alongside his family. Carlos also shares about the company’s growth and the various roles he’s held at the company.

Please share your journey of working at ABCO.

I started working for ABCO part-time when I was 16 years old. I would come in during summer break and work in the warehouse. Once I graduated from college, I officially began working full-time in our customer service department. From there, I transitioned to a sales role which I did for 12 years. After that, I started getting into the operations department for the company which is currently where I’m the Vice President of Operations.

How has ABCO grown as a company during your time working there?

Since I first began working at ABCO, we’ve grown immensely. For example, we have tripled our textile product production and expanded manufacturing core competencies. A few years ago, we implemented plastic tool solutions which has helped a lot with injection molding. We have also recently expanded to a bigger facility in Honduras where we’re continuing to produce new mop buckets, brushes, brooms and much more that we can offer to our customers. We’ve also had a significant increase in offering our employees education programs as well as internal training, mentorship programs and rotating specialties.

Can you share more about the mission of ABCO and what the company’s goals are?

Our biggest goal is to be the most recognizable and prestigious tool manufacturer in our industry. As we continue to expand and build new product lines, we’re focused on doing it correctly, which means seeing how our footprint impacts local communities as well as our employees. ABCO finds it extremely important to give back to those areas where we’re manufacturing and taking care of our employees. This is evident when you visit our facilities. You’ll see a medical clinic on site which is always available for our employees and their families. We also have a food co-op on site where we subsidize roughly 55,000 meals each year for our employees and their families.

What sets ABCO apart from other sustainability-focused companies?

Transparency is very important to us. We focus on backing up what we say we’re doing by hosting customers and prospects at our plants to show them how our products are made. We want to be able to show them exactly what we’re doing, and by using the Green2Sustainable dashboard we’re able to relay the sustainability results in an easy way for our customers understand. Since ABCO is a family-owned company, please share more about what it is like working so closely with your father. It’s truly inspiring to see how my dad, Carlos Albir Sr., President of ABCO, and my uncle, Isacio Albir, General Manager of Honduras INHMESA and PTS, have grown the business since 1978. Now that I’m helping them to make business decisions, we’re always on the lookout for ways of improving and growing the business, whether we’re in the office or at home or somewhere else. There is constant communication between us, and I’m very fortunate that we work so well together, especially since it’s not always an easy thing for many family-owned companies.

Can you describe what the company culture is like at ABCO?

Overall, our culture at ABCO is to work together to be highly innovative. Our product line is not the simplest, so our team must always be reinventing new products and finding ways to be more efficient in manufacturing. Our tools aren’t available off the shelf either, which means we rely heavily on each other to get products sold and created. It takes a lot of collaboration to figure out what works best.

What are some of ABCO’s more recent accomplishments that you are most proud of?

We’re proud of the opening of our new plastic molding facility in Honduras. Also, there were more challenges and obstacles to overcome with COVID-19 supply chain delays, so to see it now fully operating is extremely rewarding.

Another thing would be our Green Seal Certification, especially since we are the only manufacturer amongst our peers with it.

Are there any certifications ABCO is hoping to obtain in 2023?

Looking ahead, we plan to add to the UL Validation for recycled content use. Moving forward, any new products we produce are focused on utilizing recycled materials.

Are there any upcoming product launches or projects ABCO is planning for 2023?

Yes, this summer we are launching a new cleaning cart, 44-gallon waste container, 23-gallon waste container and a 26-quart office can, which will be available in 3 colors. This will help our customers [insert explanation].