Whitmire and Micro-Gen, two highly regarded suppliers of products, equipment and training to the pest control industry, have been united under the auspices of S.C. Johnson.
In business, as in many other walks of life, there are mergers and there are mergers. Some of these combinations are peculiar, awkward, unwieldy; they make you wonder how the parties involved could ever hit it off. At the other extreme lie the hand-in-glove corporate marriages, the ones for which questions about compatibility never even arise, the ones that seem perfect and obvious. Often, of course, it takes time and the clear light of hindsight to illuminate the affinity that the players in a merger have for one another.
The whispers began floating around the pest control industry last spring: There was romance in the air, romance of the corporate acquisition variety. S.C. Johnson, the Racine, Wisconsin-based consumer household products behemoth, was wooing Whitmire Research Laboratories. Founded by Homer Whitmire in St. Louis in 1934, the venerable insecticide manufacturer had built a strong reputation in professional pest control circles based on its innovative products, delivery systems and training programs, to the point that its name had become virtually synonymous with "crack and crevice" and "IPM."
And Whitmire, according to the rumors, was batting its eyelashes right back at Johnson. But of course, many in the pest control industry said at this point the deep-pocketed S.C. Johnson already has a subsidiary serving the U.S. structural pest control market: Micro-Gen Equipment Corporation of San Antonio, Texas. And Micro-Gen, like Whitmire, has built a strong reputation based on its IPM-style products and equipment and its outstanding customer service.
Synergy. Symbiosis. Bingo.
So the date was announced, the rings were presented, and the Whitmire Micro-Gen wedding bells tolled. That was nine months ago. So now, one might reasonably ask: How's the marriage going? Of course it's still early this particular union is still in its infancy. Thus far, though, according to the principals involved, it's flourishing.
A COMMON GOAL. To gain a sense of the essence of the new animal known as Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Laboratories, PCT recently interviewed Rick Noland, who was appointed president of the company in December. Noland, whose background is in marketing, holds a bachelor's degree from Hamilton (New York) College and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati. He has worked for Procter and Gamble and Eastern Gas and Fuel, and has spent most of his career in the consumer marketplace. Noland had been with S.C. Johnson since 1993, when Johnson acquired The Drackett Company, for which he was working at the time.
Noland, who developed WMG's business plan last year when he served as the fledgling company's interim president, told PCT he feels the newly merged creature retains plenty of the character and flavor of both of its namesakes.
"We've preserved the sense of mission and business philosophy that was apparent in both organizations," Noland said. "It's been an evolutionary process. What we learned after examining the two operations is that they were a lot more alike than they were different. Micro-Gen was built on a commitment to customer service, technical support, and overall business excellence, as well as `partnering' with customers. That's a good description of Whitmire Research Laboratories as well.
"Both companies have people who share a common goal of an improved pest control industry," Noland added. "The Whitmire and Micro-Gen business philosophies have been melded together."
ON A MISSION. Whitmire Micro-Gen's mission statement reads thus:
"To be the leader in innovations that deliver positive results for our customers, suppliers and employees."
WMG's management team created this statement of purpose shortly after the merger. In so doing, the company followed a strategy recommended by Stephen Covey author of the much-praised time management bestsellers The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First to "begin with the end in mind."
"We met with the managers of the two organizations and asked them what, in their minds, they stood for as companies," Noland said. "What we discovered is that Whitmire and Micro-Gen stood for the same things, although they may have been going about accomplishing them somewhat differently. Both companies were committed to innovation; both were committed to excellence."
Once it had formulated and agreed upon its mission statement and business plan, the Whitmire Micro-Gen management team communicated its purpose and goals throughout its organization and shared them with its customers and distributors as well.
"In the middle of October we gathered everyone in our organization in St. Louis and walked them through our business plan," Noland said. "The first thing we shared with them was the mission statement. They welcomed and embraced it.
"Then we sat down with each of our large customers and our distributors at the NPCA Convention in Orlando and talked about what we hoped to do with our business plan. We shared all of this information, our mission and our business plan, both internally and externally."
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE. "So what's in this for us?" PCOs may logically ask at his point. "How will Whitmire Micro-Gen present itself to us to the industry as a whole and what will it offer that hasn't been available previously?"
According to Noland, among the "new looks" that PCOs can expect to see from WMG are a redoubled commitment to research and development; introductions of several new products and enhancements of existing products; a revamping of its marketing approach for its current product lines; and a fine-tuning of its already highly regarded training programs.
"You think about the keys to the future, and a lot of it has to do with innovation and R&D," the WMG president said. "We have firm plans in place to explore new products and improve existing products."
In the "improving existing products" category, WMG will soon unveil a new generation of water-based aerosol insecticides that will capitalize on what Whitmire has learned in the years since it began marketing aerosol products to the pest control industry.
"We changed our formulations because the industry demanded it," Noland said. "PCOs said they wanted a choice of solvent- and water-based systems. We listened and delivered. Then they said they liked some aspects of the old formulations and some aspects of the new. Again, we listened. A new generation of chemistry is now making its way through the EPA registration process. We're excited about it. It offers none of the performance disadvantages of the previous system, but all of the advantages."
The company's highly regarded biennial Whitmire Institute of Technology Symposium (recently renamed the Whitmire Micro-Gen Symposium; see story above) and its annual Skill Development Seminars will be modified to keep pace with the rapid-fire changes taking place in the industry. "Both of these educational programs are good, but we want to make them better," Noland said. "I expect us to improve. So we've been asking our customers who attend these programs, `What should we change? How can we make it better?'"
A noteworthy "product" WMG has slated for introduction this summer is an Internet home page. For computer-savvy PCOs who are plugged in to the Internet, this online service will offer an electronic means of accessing up-to-date information about the manufacturer's products and services.
The home page was a logical step for WMG. Whitmire has for years stood in the vanguard of efforts to computerize the business of managing pests. This fact is exemplified by its electronic self-training program, the Whitmire Information & Technology Transfer System. WITTS, as the system is commonly known, has been applauded by the industry for its versatility and ease of use.
The development of the Internet home page is being overseen by WMG Communications Manager June Van Klaveren and Regional Technical Specialist Mark Sargent, who pitched the idea to the WMG staff and Noland earlier this year. "They came to us and said, `As a company we have excellent insecticide products, training programs, print media communications vehicles, and so on, but we're not taking advantage of electronic media. So they presented the idea of establishing a home page and I approved it. We're moving ahead with it. We expect to be online in June or July."
The home page will provide downloadable product labels, material safety data sheets (MSDSs), information on WMG's educational symposiums and seminars--"in other words, pretty much everything that anybody in the industry would want to know about our organization and the products and services we offer," June Van Klaveren said.
VALUE PLUS. Another area in which WMG plans to concentrate its efforts is helping PCOs grow their businesses via value-added services and related avenues.
"We are developing strategies to help PCOs become more profitable," Noland said. "Think about today's consumer. How often are they willing to let a salesperson into their house? Not too often. But they'll let a PCO into their house if they're in need of pest control services. Once in the house, the PCO has a remarkable opportunity to provide value-added services. We have to define what those services will be and talk directly to residential consumers. We plan to design and test programs that will help the industry grow in this manner."
With a large percentage of S.C. Johnson's sales taking place overseas, Whitmire Micro-Gen is developing plans to follow SCJ into foreign markets. "But," Noland is quick to emphasize, "our priority right now is North America."
"Pest control is a huge part of our business," he said. "It's our core business, and we plan to pay very close attention to it. Our first priority is to make sure we're serving our customers in the U.S. and Canada in the best possible manner."
In some respects, it's already clear that the Whitmire Micro-Gen consolidation has been a successful merger. Certainly, it has been a "humane" merger. The downsizing that normally follows such a corporate combination has been avoided.
"Our philosophy was different," Noland said. "We didn't cut staff. We didn't fire anyone. We added people. We've gone out and hired the best of the best. We're proud of the fact that we haven't laid off anyone. In fact, we've added more than a dozen people and we're giving them the tools to grow."
NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. The power brokers at S.C. Johnson feel that in Whitmire they've acquired a company that occupies a strong, solid position in the structural pest control marketplace, according to Noland. Johnson therefore plans to take a relatively lighthanded approach in managing its newly merged subsidiary, to enable both partners to continue to do the things they've already done well for many years.
"The company has a good strategy in place," Noland said. "We rely on our distribution partners and we serve the end user with education and training programs. We produce innovative products that practically sell themselves. There's nothing magical about this.
"What we bought in Whitmire is a company that was excellent. We want to preserve that excellence and build upon it. Business isn't that difficult. It's basically knowing your customers, having clear strategies, and building upon your strengths. If it comes down to one word, it's 'Listen.'
"If you do your job well and listen to what people are telling you, then the rest of the job is relatively easy."
Dan Moreland is publisher, and Pete Fehrenbach is editor, of Pest Control Technology magazine.
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SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Laboratories Inc. has announced the inaugural session of the Whitmire Micro-Gen Symposium, formerly known as the Whitmire Institute of Technology Scientific Symposium and Management Conference, to be held September 8-12, 1996 at the St. Louis Marriott West. The scientific symposium provides a forum by which decision-makers in the pest control industry can learn firsthand about the scientific research being conducted for their industry. The management conference promotes sharing ideas that result in a superior system of urban pest management that will be effective, environmentally sound, valuable to customers, and attractive to a large market. The program is designed for owners, managers and technical directors of progressive pest control companies. Presenters will include major researchers in structural pest control, pest control company representatives, and speakers from outside the industry. According to symposium co-directors Gary Moneyham and June Van Klaveren, this year's symposium will provide an interactive, practical learning experience for attendees. "The theme we've selected, `Building Blocks For Better Profits,' will be reflected in all aspects of the program," said Moneyham, who serves as education and training manager for Whitmire Micro-Gen. The length of the conference will be the same as in previous years three and a half days but the format will be different, Van Klaveren said. "The scientific symposium will be broken up into several sections, rather than running all in one stretch over a day and a half to two days," she said. As the date of the symposium draws nearer, more details will be circulated to the industry via mailings, the company's Pest Management Quarterly, and industry trade journals, including PCT magazine. - Pete Fehrenbach |
