Logistics 101: Langham Logistics coordinates the transportation of products across the country and around the globe.

• Author: Hromadka, Erik
• Position: Company overview

CATHY LANGHAM DIDN'T set out to become a cheerleader for Indiana's growing logistics industry. In fact, she attended Indiana University with the intention of becoming a retail buyer for a major department store but took a sales job with a trucking company that set her on course to create one of the state's leading logistics companies.

As president of Langham Logistics, Cathy Langham is a vocal supporter of the state's transportation, distribution and logistics industries and she uses her experience and enthusiasm for logistics as an industry spokesperson, meeting with city, state and national leaders to address its future in Indiana.

Langham's entrepreneurial spirit took over shortly after she graduated from college and saw a national freight carrier advertising franchises, at that time a new concept in the trucking business. Although she didn't have any experience or family history in the industry, Langham jumped at the chance and found herself owning a small terminal with drivers who made local deliveries. "Basically I was 25 and had nothing to lose," she recalls.

A year later, that business added air cargo and was starting to grow. However, national consolidation in freight companies was changing the nature of the industry and the franchise concept didn't last. So when her franchise was purchased by its parent company, Langham decided to venture out on her own.

Langham started a new family business in 1988, with ownership equally divided among Cathy, her sister Margaret, who serves as vice president of operations, and her brother John, who serves as vice president of finance and administration.

Today the company has 80 employees and serves customers around the country from its headquarters on the northwest side of Indianapolis. It utilizes modern technology to link shipments on trucks, aircraft and ships to the warehouse and then makes that available online to customers in real time.

"We are considered a third-party logistics company and we do three basic things: transportation, warehousing and managing inbound freight," Cathy Langham says.

Margaret Langham oversees day-to-day operations and has used advances in technology such as bar coding and online tracking to leverage what the company can do.

"Our annual investments in technology have been rewarded by giving us the opportunity to compete for business that we would not have to manpower to handle," she says. "We are also able to give our customers increased visibility to their supply...