Name change reflects company’s diversification, investment, customer service
Posted December 17, 2014
By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Through diversification, investment and continued customer service excellence, Standard Colors was able to survive the downturn of the U.S. textile industry, and today finds itself in an enviable position among suppliers of its kind, according to company leaders.
The family-owned company, founded in 1979, recently changed its name from Standard Dyes to reflect its expansion into other sectors and new product portfolios, including pigments and dispersions. The textile market remains a major part of its business and, over time, the company has continued to grow and mature as a supplier to the trade.
“We’ve added our own product lines and more technical services,” said Jack Humble, CEO. “And we have customer service that’s probably second to none in the industry. Our commitment has always been to be a full-service company.”
In addition to the name change, Standard Colors also added the tagline “The Chemistry of Color” – which intentionally evokes multiple connotations, Humble said.
“It’s all encompassing,” he said, “because we have a chemistry not only of color itself but all the attributes that help make up a color and help make a company successfully, especially if they work with us from a full-service approach. When you talk about chemistry, it can mean bottles of chemistry and it can mean the chemistry we have with our vendors, the chemistry we have with our customers or the chemistry we have with our employees. And our employees share in our success and are proud of where the company has been and where the company is going.”
Standard Colors leaders (L-R) Peter Kornicki, Jack Humble, David Picha and Tom Picha
Daphne Jeter, lab technician
CFO Amanda Picha Coles and her brother, President Tom Picha
Standard Colors leaders (L-R) Peter Kornicki, Jack Humble, David Picha and Tom Picha
STANDARD COLORS: STANDING TALL
To understand the full depth of Humble’s sentiments, especially around this full-service approach, a deep dive into the company’s history and how it arrived here, along with its leadership, atmosphere and philosophy is needed.
History
In the late 1970s, David Picha, with a degree in agriculture, was farming and living with his wife in Seattle – but they were seeking better climes. So they moved to North Carolina with the intention of ultimately return to farming. He initially took a job in a warehouse in High Point, N.C., where he worked about a few months before being approached by his brother-in-law, Tom Parham, who operated dye producer RITE Industries – which, incidentally, was founded by Picha’s father-in-law Bud Parham. “Let’s start a business,” Tom Parham told Picha, who, without hesitation or knowledge of the industry, took a leap of faith and said yes. That decision would turn into a career.
So in 1979, they launched Classic Dyestuffs, whose sole purposes was to buy surplus and obsolete dyes, test and process them and resell them to trade dealers.
“The one real building block that resulted in that is we had an excellent laboratory,” Picha said, who recently retired as company president and continues to serve as chairman of the board. “We never hesitated to spend money in the lab. We had really good equipment, good technicians and graduates in textile chemistry. It gave us a great foundation for how to test dyes and what to look for – and, not to mention, virtually every dye that had been made by any producer over the years.”
Together, they ran a successful business for 17 years. As textile manufacturing became more global, the company leaders realized they needed to rethink their strategy, although “it was a great business model for many years,” Picha said. In 1996, after Rite was sold, Parham decided to sell his share of the Classic business to Picha.
Now with sole ownership, Picha changed the company’s business model and name. The new Standard Dyes aimed to source dyes from overseas producers and sell it.
“We already knew the dyes,” he said. “We had a great lab and a great warehouse. So we had the foundation and the facility – all we needed was a customer base.”
So he hired a salesman, Gary Greene, who brought a rich background in dyestuffs and remains with the company to this day. “We did well right out of the gate,” Picha said. As business grew, a couple of more salesmen were hired.
After a few years, Picha said he realized he was good in certain areas but not particularly good in marketing. So in 2001, he hired Humble as company president, a position he held until becoming CEO after Picha’s retirement early this year. Humble was hired from Crompton & Knowles in Charlotte, N.C.
Humble led an effort to begin looking at trade names and more formalized ways of standardization, and those initiatives were successful. But the word “diversification” continued to rear its head, he said.
“Back in those days, we were looking at the textile industry by itself and we were thinking, ‘OK, we are going to have to diversify and get into other areas,’ ” Humble said. “We knew we needed to find some people to help us move in that direction.”
Enter Peter Kornicki, a former colleague of Humble’s at Crompton & Knowles. With great experience in industrial products, Kornicki was hired as vice president of marketing to lead the company’s expansion efforts into other areas.
“We were fortunate to attract Pete and, in doing so, he has been instrumental in guiding us to diversify so we would not be totally textile dependent,” Humble said.
“Jack and Pete have both been instrumental in taking us to the next level,” Picha said.
For Standard, the “next level” meant expanding its offerings to include a number of specialty dyes, pigments and dispersions for such applications as antifreeze, candle wax, detergent, industrial coating, leather, paper, turf and agriculture and wood stain. The company also became a major distributor for a global chemical company, a testament to Standard’s strength and abilities, Humble said.
Also during that growth period, the Picha family bought an analytical group and their facility in Charlotte, N.C. that provides technical service such as testing, reverse engineering and product development. The company, Centricore, operates independently with three Ph.D. chemists and a technician on staff who are critical to Standard’s success, Picha said.
“We’re always looking to add innovative products,” Humble said. “Our technical group has been instrumental in developing new products to address customer needs.”
Full service
Being “full service” means making specialty products for customers and providing excellent technical and customer support, Humble said – and delivering product to them when they want it. And no order is too small, he said.
“Our service has really been one of the big keys to our success,” Picha said. “If someone calls at midnight, we’ll take them a drum of dye immediately, if that’s what they want.”
Added Kornicki: “We try to give the customer exactly what they want. If you order one pound of dye, we will pack that one pound for you. There aren’t many companies our size that would even consider doing that. That philosophy goes back to our beginnings. And if you order it by 2 o’clock, it will probably go out that day.”
On many occasions over the years, Picha – or anyone else on staff – has personally delivered product. In one instance a few years, Vice President of Operations Rodney Tharp was asked to make a “must-have” delivery to a customer in Winston-Salem, N.C. – but when he arrived, the gate was locked. So, knowing the customer had to have to dye to operate over the weekend, he scaled the fence to find someone to open the gate. “They were extremely grateful that I did that rather than turn around and come back,” said Tharp, who joined the company 28 years ago and has handled numerous jobs over the years.
Tharp, in fact, has his pilot’s license and has delivered drums of dye in his personal airplane several times.
Such responsiveness could not happen without having a large inventory on hand – and the company does a great job of managing inventory, Humble said.
“Our inventory turns are good,” he said. “But being a diverse company and a full-service company requires that we do carry a lot of SKUs and a good bit of inventory. It’s difficult to manage, but the supply chain group does a fantastic job with that.”
The company relies on sales history, forecasting and a good software system to manage inventory, he added. And customers are able to review inventory online.
Standard was able to improve its supply chain and inventory systems through the aid of Tom Picha – David’s son who now serves as company president. Tom Picha, who had worked at the company some during high school and college, joined the firm in the warehousing area in 2001. He learned the business by working in several areas before moving into sales and later supply chain. He was then named chief of operations, during which time he restructured the supply chain to increase its efficiencies.
And on the sales side, the level of knowledge and experience has been invaluable, Kornicki said. “Most of our sales people are very technical,” he said. “They can walk in and run any plant that they call on.”
Other differentiators
Standard Colors operates two facilities in High Point – a 40,000-square-foot facility that handles processing and manufacturing and a 60,000-square-foot facility a couple of miles down the road that houses certain corporate functions, warehousing and distribution. Five blenders operate in the manufacturing area blending millions of pounds of dyes per year.
But what really differentiates the company, Kornicki said, is the atmosphere the family has created, their confidence in their employees and their willingness to invest in the company.
“I’ve worked for other companies and this is a great place to be,” he said. “You have a nice family management and atmosphere. Everyone gets along well, and everyone has the same objective. Our people have been hand selected and fit into this company perfectly.
“The other thing is, if we want to get into a new business or a new product, all we have to do is ask and they have confidence enough in us to make it happen,” he continued. “Because we’re a private company and it’s up to the management, we can do things that public companies can’t do. We can turn on a dime. One of our hallmarks is David has continued to pump money back into the company. He has invested in the business, and as a result, this place has grown and grown.”
Underscoring the term “family business,” Tom Picha’s sister, Amanda Picha Coles, serves as chief financial officer of the company.
“This is a great company to work for,” said Tina Fowler, Standard’s controller, who joined the company in 1986. “It’s family oriented and they’ve made it easy to stay here.”
Added Humble: “This has been the most rewarding part of my career, without a doubt. And it’s rewarding mainly because we don’t always have to do things the ‘corporate way.’ This is a family business, and it’s a great way to work and a great way to approach the market.”
Standard’s growth spurt also has resulted in expanded employment. The company has grown from about 15 employees in 1996 to about 75 today. And turnover is low, with the average tenure being more than 10 years according to Tom Picha.
“When Dad was here, his door was always open,” Tom Picha said. “He always listened to everyone and was open to ideas and welcomed them. He brought that philosophy, which is still in place today.”
Darrell Spillman, the warehouse manager who has been with the company 21 years, agreed. ”You know you can talk to any of our management team at any time,” he said. “We’re all a family here.”
David Picha attributed the company’s success to its employees.
“Our people have been the driving force,” he said. “People came in with the same enthusiasm as our leadership and, often, brought skills and talents that we didn’t have. We’ve been able to build on that. It’s been a good ride. It’s been fun.”