Time Tunnel

Ask anyone about innovation in the cleaning industry and their first reaction may be that not much has changed. But get them talking about their careers as manufacturers, reps or distributor salespeople, and the janitorial supply profession’s gradual evolution becomes clear.

Each person you talk to has a slightly different view of the industry’s evolution, depending on their position in it. Manufacturers remember the slow build of state and federal regulations that dictated everything from ingredients to labeling to shipping.

“When you had to pay to register the same chemical on a state and federal level just to be able to sell it, it made you think twice about how many products you wanted to launch,” says Dix Jarden, retired owner of The Bullen Companies, Folcroft, Pa.

“Most users probably don’t even know the developments we’ve made in terms of raw materials and ingredients that make their equipment stronger, faster and more effective,” says Randy Haviland, president of Haviland Corp., Linn, Mo., and a former president of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA).

And not all memories are pleasant. For instance, many manufacturer reps can remember the slow decrease of their commissions over time.

“We just got squeezed out over the years because of the rising costs of raw materials and the pressure to not pass that cost on to customers,” says Jim Kenney, the retired founder of Kenney Marketing Associates.

And the distributors? They tend to remember the new products that were hot or the customer trends that impacted the way they sold.

“Portioning changed the way people used chemicals, helping them track productivity. Customer workloading changed the way they viewed their operations and how they evaluated products based on labor, not price,” says John Walker, an industry consultant who first worked for his family’s distribution firm Magic Chemical Co., and later served as education director for ISSA.

“OSHA’s Hazcom law was huge in the late 1980s when it was mandatory you had to provide MSDs rather than wait until someone requested them,” says Steve Spencer, formerly a salesperson for Vonachen, a Peoria, Ill.-based distributor now owned by Chicago-based AmSan. “And there were plenty of product updates and changes that made things more economical for customers.”

Better Business
Regardless of the individual recollections, one thing all members of the supply chain agree on is that professionalism has increased over the decades. While the industry still may have a few bad apples, the majority of jan/san suppliers have matured into savvy and strategically focused businesses. One source of improvement has been through increased participation in associations, locally and nationally, over the years. “The associations grew because of the members all coming together to help one another and to become more educated,” says Jack Ramaley, past executive director of ISSA and one who many veterans credit with boosting professionalism in the industry.

The advent of distributor groups such as Triple S, Afflink, Network Services and Pro-Link, to name a few, also helped distributors access more information, technology and good old-fashioned price breaks to stay competitive.

A significant example of increased professionalism is seen in the typical sales pitch. No longer do salespeople use premiums to sway customer purchasing as they did in the old days. In fact, more companies today train their sales staffs to educate customers rather than push products; explain the labor savings of items versus price-based selling; and discuss the health impact of cleaning, rather than just its effect on appearance.

Business automation and improved technology also have helped the industry become savvier over time. Everything from account management to inventory control now is computerized — employees no longer must work by hand in thick ledgers as some veterans might remember. Many manufacturers and distributors who relied on face-to-face contact as their only source of selling are now promoting their products and services online or handling customer questions with large call centers to supplement traditional techniques.

“I still remember when I got my first cell phone,” says Sid Berkman, a retired manufacturer’s rep and former president of the Southern California Sanitary Supply Association. “At one time I wanted to put a picture of a phone booth on our business cards and say, ‘We have offices everywhere,’ because that technology suddenly allowed us to communicate with our customers and our offices much easier and faster.”

Of course, not all technology had the lasting effect the industry expected it to, says Matt Schlag-Mendenhall, editor of Sanitary Maintenance during the dot-com boom of the ’90s. “When e-commerce took off, people were afraid that the traditional distributor would be replaced by a virtual supply chain, but many of the online distribution companies died out within a few years. They couldn’t offer the service and personal contact of a traditional firm, and they overestimated the Internet access of customers.”

Outside Influences
In addition to business technology and networking, the cleaning industry also has been affected by more targeted business trends. Consolidation is one influence that has touched the jan/san world more than once. First, in the 1970s companies such as Beatrice and Consolidated Foods stepped in to roll up what they saw as a fragmented and potentially high-profit industry. Many manufacturers sold to these groups only to discover that their formulas for success didn’t account for the unique dynamics of the industry. Before long, those same owners again would strike out on their own to start up companies.

“The big soapers came in and tried to buy up everybody in the industry, but later found out that this is a small business with a lot of close friendships that didn’t work the way they expected,” says Jarden, whose father sold to The Purex Corp. in the 1970s.

Many industry veterans felt a sense of déjà vu during the 1990s when groups such as UniSource and AmSan moved to roll up distribution in the same way as the manufacturers of the 1970s. One difference is that this time many first- or second-generation owners were ready to retire, so if they didn’t have someone to take over the business they welcomed the opportunity to sell, says Schlag-Mendenhall.

“Ownership in the industry definitely shifted with younger generations taking over and getting creative in their attempts to compete with the large nationals. For some, this shake-up in the industry was for the better and for others they found out that it was detrimental,” he says.

Another outside influence that has left a lasting impression on the cleaning industry is that of government regulations. There once was a day when a distributor or manufacturer could sell anything, to anyone, with any claims they pleased. Now, companies must follow strict regulations.

“The EPA probably helped more than anything else because it forced innovation,” says Kenney. “The reality is that no one would change unless they were legislated, so that’s where we are today. While we may not like it, the purpose was to protect people and no one can argue with that.”

Product Progress
While distributors and manufacturers have seen their industry mature, they’ve also seen scores of products come and go. Today, a distributor could face 1,500 or more new SKUs annually that he or she must sort through and determine how to sell to customers. Sixty years ago, a distributor had a small fraction of those products.

As wholesalers and master distributors entered the picture, that narrow focus expanded to allow firms to offer any product their customer requested without having to warehouse each item. Next, distributors began to cross over markets, offering food service supplies, paper products and cleaning systems under one roof. On-demand ordering, drop-shipping and other service capabilities increased the distributor’s ability to serve a variety of customers across a larger geographic territory and in multiple facility types. Before long, globalization would open new doors for distributors to carry products from around the world.

As customer preferences shifted over the years, so would the products on which suppliers focused. Machines replaced manual tasks; technology created even faster, lighter and more ergonomic machines. Tools evolved into systems and systems were paired with cleaning techniques such as team or day cleaning. Chemicals shifted from specialty items to all-purpose ones; at times synthetic ingredients, such a those in floor finish, increased effectiveness, while at other times, natural ingredients became popular.

The lesson learned from each industry veteran’s recollection of the past 60 years is that distributor flexibility is more important than any one industry innovation. The consensus is that jan/san has become a bigger, better and more effective field as a result of those reactions. And the task for current players in the industry is to pick up where their peers of the last 60 years have left off.

Dianna Bisswurm is owner of Clarity Point LLC, Milwaukee, a cleaning industry consulting firm. She can be reached at dianna@claritypoint.net.