Posted July 29, 2015

 

By Devin Steele

 

PENDERGRASS, Ga. – In his first week on the job at Seydel-Woolley & Co., Steve Adams admitted to putting his head on his desk – and crying.

 

That was in 1986, when Adams had left a “comfortable” job as vice president of Sales and R&D at a large chemical company to join the much smaller textile chemistry firm, which had recruited him as a partner and president.

 

“I had just left the best job in the industry and was wondering if I had made the right decision,” he told eTC Monday.

 

Turns out, it would be the right decision, he said. Under the leadership of Adams and co-partner Scott Seydel the past three decades, Seydel-Woolley and its 113-year-old parent, The Seydel Companies, Inc., have diversified and grown into a broader multinational company that now serves several industries, the textile sector being its core business.

 

As he reflected on his career with the company, Adams said he never envisioned the paths Seydel would take to reach this level of success. But he knew from the beginning that opportunities lay before him.

 

“The chance to have ownership in a company and to build a business from the experiences I had gained in my career were enticing,” said Adams, 70, president of Seydel-Woolley, Inc. and vice president of The Seydel Companies. “It looked like it would be fun, but challenging. And it has been.”

 

Like many textile industry suppliers and producers, Seydel’s journey in recent years has not come without some angst. But the company overcame the hurdles of globalization and is now positioned for a bright future – thanks to diversification; its willingness to invest in R&D and in the best equipment, processes and people; and, in many respects, its corporate culture.

 

Company growth

 

In 1985, the Seydel Companies was offered the opportunity to buy back AZS Corporation, a textile chemical business that was founded by Seydel in 1972 and sold to Toyo Soda of Japan in 1980. Adams was asked to join a group of nine investors to buy AZS, which would be renamed Seydel-Woolley & Co., operating under The Seydel Companies.

 

Today, the company is owned by Scott Seydel, great-grandson of one of the co-founders, who serves as principal owner; Adams, a minority owner; and employees through an ESOP.

 

After the purchase, Scott Seydel designed and commissioned one of the first “green specialty chemical production plants,” which was named for his father John R. Seydel and is now referred to as the JRS Manufacturing Plant. The company’s headquarters remain in Pendergrass at this location, which has been expanded twice as business grew.

 

Its primary business at the time of purchase was chemistry for textile weaving, mostly sizing, but it moved into the textile finishing area about a decade later. Meanwhile, it invested in state-of-the-art laboratories, which Adams said is “probably equal or better than any in the world.”

 

“We were constantly diversifying on the weaving side,” Adams said. “We had arrangements with major fiber producers to send us their new yarns, which we would test with various chemicals. These yarns were coming in from all over the world. That gave us a head start on everybody else because we invested in the best equipment. And that’s what separated us from everybody else.”

 

Seydel also added four silos, then six more, then two more to be used in conjunction with a railroad line that ran up to the plant. That eliminated the need to bring in raw materials in 50-pound bags on 1,000-pound pallets, which would have to be stored, opened and disposed of properly.

 

“We were able to bring in materials on rail, which was economical, and it sped up our process,” Adams said. “Those 12 silos helped make us super competitive.”

 

Later, in 1999, Adams started a trucking company, ZKR Express (named after his grandchildren’s initials), to improve Seydel’s efficiencies and customer service as well as improve Just-In-Time deliveries.

 

Seydel also had “toll manufacturing” arrangements with other companies to process raw materials, a business it continues today.

 

Plus, the company entered the garment laundering area with chemistries for denim finishing in the 1990s.

 

Diversification continued in 1996, when The Seydel Companies acquired Chemol Company, Inc., a processor of hydrogenated animal fats, acid esters and other specialty oleochemicals. The move broadened the firm’s product line, further strengthening its position in the textile/apparel and other industries while creating new opportunities in other sectors such as personal care products, agriculture and metalworking.

 

The company sets high standards for quality, reliability and performance, Adams said. As such, it has earned ISO 9001:2008 certification; has implemented GMP (good manufacturing practices); and it works within the European Union’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) guidelines, he said.

 

Additionally, Seydel is committed to protecting and serving the environment, Adams said. The company designs its products with an emphasis on conservation and waste elimination, both during the production process and through all stages of the product lifecycle, he said. The company has received numerous awards for its environmental stewardship, displayed on the company’s “Wall of Fame” here.

 

Today, the company operates four business units – Seydel-Woolley & Co., Seydel International, JRS Manufacturing and Chemol Co.

 

Downturn ‘rocked our boat’

 

For the first 15 years under Adams and Scott Seydel, performance improved every month over the previous month, Adams said. But the decline of the textile industry was soon in full force, and many of Seydel-Woolley’s customers were beginning to fall by the wayside.

 

“That rocked our boat,” he said. “We lost a ton of money as a lot of 100-year-old companies and longtime customers didn’t make it. And much of the business went away. We tried to follow the business globally, but it’s difficult with all the trade barriers.”

 

During that time, Adams said he wrote personal letters of guarantee to creditors, some of whom provided extended credit terms.

 

“The ones who were loyal to us, we have been loyal to them,” Adams said. “The ones who weren’t are now having to earn the right to do business with us again.”

 

Alternately, Seydel offered extended lines of credit to its customers who were in trouble, he said. “Our goal in life was to stay in business and to keep our customers and business,” he said.

 

And, beyond loyalty, respect plays a major role in Seydel’s business practices, he added.

 

“You can pay for loyalty, but that doesn’t mean someone respects you,” he said. “But if you have mutual respect, you have no problem. At this company, we have mutual respect for each other – and with our customers and our competitors. I built my whole career on respect. I give it and I get it. That's how we stay in business. It's not complicated. The good Lord gave me a wealth of common sense and I use it.”

 

Sizing up the future

 

In the world of textile sizing, Seydel wrote the book – literally. Dr. Paul V. Seydel, along with Dr. James R. Hunt, authored “Textile Warp Sizing,” a renowned industry textbook that has been re-published since its original publication in the 1930s.

 

“We have a textile warp sizing for every type of loom and every type of yarn in the world,” Adams said.

 

The company’s long list of sizing blends is paralleled only by its textile finishing and garment washing chemistry products. Of note is a product that keeps jeans pockets white after multiple washes, which also serves to produce a more pronounced stitching and twill line.

 

“That’s the difference in a pair of $8 jeans and a pair of $200 jeans,” Adams said. “We have our own laundry that we use for development.”

 

Denim, in fact, is the largest segment of Seydel-Woolley’s business, he said. It has supplied some of its denim customers for 100 years or more, he added.

 

The company’s vast array of products has been used in materials found in NASA spaceships, NFL footballs, military uniforms and armor, automotive tires and airbags, as well as computer ribbons and sailboats.

 

Actress Reese Witherspoon has a line of clothing called Draper James, with its jeans being manufactured at a company in Georgia using, yes, various products from Seydel.

 

Seydel’s facilities have equipment for dry processing or liquid processing. The plant features dry blenders in 2,000- to 8,000-pound capacities, grinders, reactors and homogenizers.

 

“We’re like Betty Crocker,” Adams said. “We will average about eight raw materials in one of our blends. We became experts in blending early on and that’s how we grew our business.”

 

Seydel is working on various new development projects with universities, government and customers, Adams said. Some of those technologies are being developed around the “wax denim” look and feel, water repellency and fire retardation, he said.

 

“We are a resource to vendors, customers and to each other here,” he said.

 

Working with the aforementioned entities has made Seydel a better company, Adams said. “We’ve learned a lot from them,” he said.

 

And Adams has certainly learned a lot about guiding a company through changing times – which gives him plenty reason to get up and go to work each morning, he said.

 

“Are we perfect?” he asked. “Heck no. But we want to be the best we can be every day. And we want to do it in an honorable, humble manner.

 

“At the end of the day, all we have left is our integrity,” he continued. “We can't compromise that.”