A textbook case for how to plot your company’s growth
Venerable tool maker SureWerx readies for business in digital age, writes Tony Wanless
A professional tool, equipment and safety products company, SureWerx may admit to having a long heritage — but it definitely is not old.
The wholesale distributor, recently named one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, has roots in three centuries.
But now, via various mergers, acquisitions and name changes, the Coquitlam, B.C.-based company is poised to be a contender in the North American industrial supply market.
SureWerx is a near-textbook case of how a company can mature from humble roots as supplier of basic industrial material to a provider of tools for 21st-century industry.
The company’s lineage dates to 1890 when Pioneer, one of its acquisitions, opened in Vancouver to supply outdoor gear to Klondike prospectors following the lure of gold. But its story didn’t really begin until the 1950s, when JET was launched in Seattle and Vancouver by a pair of brothers-in-law to import equipment from postwar Japan. It grew to become a major industrial equipment manufacturer.
When the in-laws went their separate ways, JET centred in Vancouver and continued to supply tools and equipment to oilfields, fisheries, construction and related industries throughout the West. It was near the end of the last century that the company realized it was more than a business supplying traditional equipment to one industry, and needed to expand into ancillary businesses. That set it on a growth path that continues today.
In 1997, it extended its reach in Western Canada by buying Strongarm, a 50-year-old firm that supplied hydraulic lifting and shop equipment to the Canadian automotive and heavy-duty marketplace. Three years later, it acquired 39-year-old American Forge and Foundry, which supplies heavy-duty and automotive service equipment. That purchase gave JET a foothold in the United States and readied the company for more expansion.
But, because acquisitions needed to fit with the existing business model, it was nine years before JET acquired Pioneer.
The JET group has become one of the largest suppliers of specialized work gear in Canada, primarily because it continues to add to its storehouse of products, including its purchase two years ago of Ontario-based PeakWorks.
That company creates safety gear for workers who operate at heights.
However, there was a twist in its growth trajectory: In 2012, JET group was acquired by Penfund, Canada’s oldest independent private equity firm.
The alliance was a natural fit: Penfund eschews market razzledazzle and concentrates on the middle market, which usually means “boring” industries such as auto aftermarket, food processing, waste management and industrial distribution.
With its new partner, JET bought Ranpro, a venerable East Coast manufacturer that has been producing personal protective wear for commercial fishing, agricultural and the oil, gas and utilities markets, since 1860. Most recently, it purchased Chicago-based Sellstrom, a 93-year-old maker of protective eye and face wear.
Then came a name change to SureWerx. It was more than just a branding exercise, said Chris Baby, the company’s president and CEO. JET was being used
We’re getting much more digitally engaged with employees, distributors and the professionals who use our products.
by another company, so the new name signalled his company was modernizing, while retaining the basic credo of its offering — safety, productivity and confidence.
While SureWerx serves traditional industries and has grown from an amalgamation of old companies, the change also was signalling a leap into modernity and the future.
That is evident by its push to integrate more digital processes.
“We’re getting much more digitally engaged with employees, distributors and the professionals who use our products,” Baby said.
“We studied a few of the big digital companies and are implementing some of what we learned to change the way we operate.”
As Baby pointed out, many companies in the industries SureWerx serves are still based on older processes and operational methods, but they recognize change is needed.
“We have an opportunity here to (help) close a 10- to 15-year gap in two or three years,” he said.