Open Operator is a series where Glimpse sits down with industry leaders across moving, warehouse, and logistics. Not for the polished pitch, but for the real conversation. This episode: Scott Luedke, President & CEO of Buehler Companies, operating across Denver, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, and Fort Worth. 33 years in the industry. One clear direction: forward.
MOVING INDUSTRY
CO, NM & TX
YEAR OF INNOVATION
Before Scott Luedke talks about operations, margins, or technology, he talks about culture. It’s not a detour. It’s the foundation. Every Buehler employee reads The Energy Bus when they come aboard. The lesson: you choose how you show up. You can drain the people around you, or you can lift them.
“We just don’t allow energy vampires in our company,” Scott says. “If you don’t fit our culture, that’s fine. It might not be for everybody. But we do have a caring culture and people look out for one another.”
The proof: a truck driver walked into Scott’s office this week to ask if the company could throw a crew breakfast for Edgar, a seven-year coworker who’s leaving to start a new chapter. “He said, he’s like my little brother.” That’s not an HR policy. That’s a culture.
Scott is hands-deep in his operation, not performatively, but practically. He walks the warehouse. He asks questions. He looks for how the story of the floor holds together, and where it doesn’t.
During a recent walk-through, items were staged in the middle of the floor ahead of an auction. He didn’t override the call. He asked one question: If the client needs open space, are you ready to move these?
“Sometimes the easy place isn’t the best place,” he says. “Sometimes you have to think a step ahead.”
“Always evolving, never quitting. If you can get every employee thinking: how could I do this better? What a wonderful place to work.”SCOTT LUEDKEPRESIDENT & CEO, BUEHLER COMPANIES
Profitability means everybody wins. Vendor, client, end user, everyone at the table, everyone with a reason to say yes. Be part of the solution.”SCOTT LUEDKEPRESIDENT & CEO, BUEHLER COMPANIES
Ask Scott what creates exceptional warehouses and he doesn’t go to process first. He goes to listening. When a client came in with new product and used inventory from three locations, no plan, no room assignments. Buehler stepped in using Glimpse to inventory everything on-site before it touched the floor. Photographs, specs, item numbers. Designers logged in remotely, reviewed everything, and assigned each piece to a specific room number without ever entering the facility.
“They didn’t know they needed that,” Scott says. “But if we wouldn’t have done that inventory from the front end, they would have had no idea how to get it taken care of.”
Scott is direct about where operational breakdowns originate: communication. Not intent, not effort. Communication. The gap between the first customer conversation and the moment work begins is where things fall apart.
His answer is systems that structure the conversation. When Glimpse is used to set up a customer, the process dictates the handoff. The warehouse team knows the workflow. The client sees what’s happening. The gaps close.
“Sometimes the client doesn’t know what they need. So sometimes it’s your own experience that’ll bring it out for them.”
That’s what 33 years looks like in practice.
Scott has watched the same shift Rick Hosea at OneRelo described: customers who expect Amazon speed from every vendor. His response was direct: Buehler implemented AI-powered call handling so no inquiry goes unanswered for more than minutes.
“If you’re not the instant gratification, they will find it somewhere else. If you can’t get back to them within 10, 15, 20 minutes, and they already have somebody by the time you call.”
On AI more broadly, he sees structural change on the horizon: “We’re on the verge of massive change in our infrastructure and technology. As a leader, you have to think outside the box. How am I going to manage our data? Because those are my choices. They’re no one else’s.”
Asked what single piece of advice he’d give someone taking over a warehouse tomorrow, Scott didn’t hesitate.
“I’d use Glimpse.”
Then he walked the floor to show why: every item carries a label. Order number, arrival date, item number, scannable from a phone, right next to the piece. Full chain of custody, instantly accessible.
“They listen, they learn, and they act,” he says. “Open dialogue. They could be part of the solution. I don’t know of anyone else that can do that right now.”
“To have somebody work with you, have access to talk about problems, and look at how they could be part of the solution. That’s what makes it different.”SCOTT LUEDKEBUEHLER COMPANIES
“The future of moving and storage belongs to operators who innovate. Without a doubt. Build processes that will outlast you, and leaders that will surpass you. That is key.”SCOTT LUEDKEPRESIDENT & CEO, BUEHLER COMPANIES