Solving What’s Next: A Career Built on Curiosity and Innovation
Takeaways
- Steve Hoffman’s nearly 30-year Dematic career has centered on explaining automation clearly and helping customers gain confidence in their technology investments.
- For Steve, innovation means practical improvement — greater reliability, predictability, and performance — while mentoring the next generation.
- Steve is currently in charge of the new Dematic Solutions Center in Grand Rapids, which provides customers with a hands-on environment to test automation, validate ideas, train teams, and collaborate with experts.
Inside the Dematic Solutions Center in Grand Rapids, customers do more than see automation in action. They test products, validate ideas, train their teams, and work alongside Dematic experts to solve real operational challenges.
For Steve Hoffman, Head of Solutions Center Operations, that is exactly the point.
“We haven’t solved all the problems,” Steve says. “There are still interesting problems to solve.”
That conviction has guided Steve throughout nearly 30 years at Dematic, from his early days as a software engineer to a career helping customers understand complex automation and, today, bringing innovation to life at the Solutions Center.
A career built around problem-solving
Steve’s connection to Dematic begins in Grand Rapids, the community where he grew up.
He remembers when the company was known locally as Rapistan and manufactured conveyor equipment. Established in Grand Rapids in 1939, Rapistan (The Rapid Standard Company) had a long history in material handling and holds plenty of nostalgia for Steve.
“There used to be this giant neon sign on top of our main building that said Rapistan in Magneto font,” he recalls. “It was like our “Hollywood sign” — everybody driving into Grand Rapids could see that sign from the highway.”
Steve joined the company in his mid-30s after working in the telecommunications industry. The opportunity appealed to a lifelong interest of his: working with large, complex machines. When working with Michigan Bell and the other Ameritech companies, everyone answered their landline telephone by announcing their last name followed by “here”. The habit remained when joining Rapistan, and “Hoffman here” become something of an unregistered trademark.
He started as a software engineer supporting smaller, fast-turnaround projects for field sales teams across the United States. Working with a close-knit team, Steve moved quickly from one challenge to the next, building both technical expertise and a deeper understanding of customer operations.
His colleagues soon recognized another strength. Steve could explain complex technology in a way that connected with customers.
“They told me, ‘we have people who are better coders than you,’ which was a little insulting because I still consider myself a fine coder,” Steve says with a laugh. “But they thought my skills were better suited for a team working with customers.”
That realization opened the door to technical sales. Since then, Steve has supported Dematic sales teams to help customers understand how automation, software, and operational systems work together.
His role has been to go beyond simply explaining the technology to demystifying the challenges and anticipating the integration needs so customers feel confident about investing in large-scale automation.
His enthusiasm for the work comes in part from seeing how distribution networks are integral to everyday life. Whether goods are headed to stores, businesses, or directly to consumers, they all must be received, stored, picked, packed, and shipped. Automation makes that faster and more efficient.
“Connecting producers with consumers is a great business to be in,” Steve says. “There are so many opportunities to make a difference.”
Where innovation comes to life
Today, connecting with customers continues to be central to Steve’s work at the Solutions Center.
The facility brings Dematic equipment, software, and expertise together in a working environment. Customers can see how individual technologies operate as part of a complete system. Dematic can also use the space to answer questions that cannot always be resolved in a presentation or specification document.
“Of course, the main goal of the Solutions Center is to fill our pipeline with new business,” Steve says, “But it has ramifications and influence far beyond that.”
The Solutions Center is a showroom as well as a place where customers and Dematic experts collaborate, learn, and reduce uncertainty. It provides the opportunity to test what is possible before bringing a solution into a live operating environment.
Innovation beyond the buzzwords
For Steve, innovation does not always need to be dramatic. Innovation can mean improving reliability, reducing maintenance requirements, or improving system capacity.
“Innovation produces reliability and predictability,” Steve says. “Sometimes it’s not a ‘gee-whiz’ thing. Sometimes it’s something mundane like a machine that can run for months without service interruptions.”
That practical approach delivers practical results: Technology creates value when it improves the customer operation.
The same philosophy shapes how Steve approaches problem-solving. He believes in moving quickly enough to learn, gather feedback, and course-correct rather than waiting for a perfect answer that may ultimately solve the wrong problem.
The next generation of problem-solvers
After nearly three decades at Dematic, Steve sees himself as a bridge between generations. He is grateful for the knowledge and mentorship he received and believes experienced employees have a responsibility to share what they have learned.
“You need to offer the same grace and mentoring that the generation before offered you,” he says. “It’s only fair to pay it forward to the next group so we all succeed.”
Steve is energized by the transition to a new generation of employees.
“I’m excited about the next group of co-workers,” he says. “I love being part of the energy and creativity they bring.”
His advice to people building their careers at Dematic is equally direct. Initiative matters. Take ownership and commit to excellence.
“Wherever your career goes, own your work,” Steve says. “There are great opportunities here at Dematic, but it’s your responsibility to take the wheel and drive.”
He also believes expertise is something people can actively choose to develop.
“You can make yourself an expert at whatever you want,” he says.
Still pursuing what’s next
For Steve, innovation also makes the future tangible. The technologies may change and the challenges may evolve, but the opportunity remains the same: Bring curious people together, get to work solving the problem, and keep working until the solution comes to life.
That’s innovation in action. And that’s Steve — innovation in action.
Inspired by Steve’s story? Learn more about Careers at Dematic and discover where your curiosity, skills and ideas could take you.