If you're in business in Wichita, there's a good chance you've heard...

The Wichita Eagle

March 15, 2008

If you're in business in Wichita, there's a good chance you've heard of Sheryl Wohlford. She's a past chamber chairwoman, and she is involved with numerous nonprofit and business organizations.

But few people probably have a true understanding of what she does for a living, and fewer still know her husband and business partner, Doug Wohlford.

They own Automation-Plus Inc., which manufactures systems that place identification marks on products such as wire or pipes, aerospace parts and vacuum-packed bags.

They met when Sheryl was a freshman at Wichita State University studying health care administration and Doug was a junior engineering student.

So you two didn't meet under the friendliest of circumstances, right?

Sheryl: 'My room was directly above his.'

Doug: 'She played basketball.'

Sheryl: 'We did dribble a basketball on his floor.'

Doug: 'There were footprints on my ceiling where we were actually pounding... our shoes there.'

Doug, who was two years ahead, graduated first?

Doug: 'I started at Vulcan Chemicals as a plant electrical engineer.... Then I went into a sales job with Stanion Wholesale Electric.

'That was back in the dark ages. There weren't many people buying high-tech equipment. Basically the only way we could sell it was to set it out and design it. We even wrote a lot of software.

'There was definitely a need for a company to do this.... I said, 'You know, I could probably get a business started this way.' '

So you started Spectrol Engineering, which grew into Automation-Plus, and learned a quick lesson?

Doug: 'I found out you can't start up a business in technology without some money backing you up.'

Sheryl: 'We wanted to grow and needed capital and so hooked up with a partner.'

Doug: 'He basically set me up in a partnership deal where I would buy him out over time.'

What were you doing then, Sheryl?

Sheryl: 'I had been at the Unisys Corp. and Koch Industries (in) project management for computer software.'

But the April 1991 tornado that hit Haysville and Andover -- and Automation-Plus -- led you to join the company, Sheryl?

Doug: 'We still had offices with my partner and a lot of the resources we were using were shared.... I had to build my own infrastructure, and I thought the easiest way to do that was to hire my wife.'

Sheryl: 'I believe it was a joint agreement.... It was an opportunity to join the company I was already highly invested in.'

But you don't necessarily work side by side, right?

Doug: 'We have offices on opposite sides of the building.'

Sheryl: 'While we talk every day, obviously, throughout the day we're both doing different things. It's really worked very well.'

Is there a quick and easy way you explain what your company does?

Sheryl: 'Look at the bottom of a pop can. See that date code? We sell equipment that does that.

'But obviously we do a lot of higher-tech (projects).'

You make systems to mark all kinds of products. But is there one area that's your specialty?

Sheryl: 'We have a niche in aerospace because we've developed all types of fixturing and software that allows the user to quickly...'

Doug:'... recall the data for the part mark and apply the part mark in a matter of seconds.'

The business has sometimes experienced tough times, right?

Sheryl: 'Of course, the most recent and the most difficult was after 9/11. We were also at that time doing controls for baggage handling systems for airports. So between the airport side of the business and aerospace, it was a really difficult time because all of our customers were in jeopardy.'

Doug: 'We took the opportunity to develop a lot of new products in new areas.'

Such as?

Doug: 'It was environmental systems for printing in packing plants. Because it's so cold in that environment, the ink jet printers don't work well, so we developed... a heated enclosure so they could operate. And then we found out there are some places that are too hot to operate, so we kept on developing.'

Sheryl: 'We also kept strategizing what aerospace would need at the next level.... We wanted to have a variety of options and have the best system ready to roll.'

How are things now?

Sheryl: 'Things are very good. We have increased our work force 25 percent in the last six months.'

So now you have 18 employees?

Doug: 'We wouldn't be here without them.'

What are your future growth plans?

Doug: 'Our goal is to be a one-stop shop for any kind of product identification.'

And that includes doing more

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