Industry Feature, continued
Surtec, Inc. is one of the companies that supplies products to the cleaning industry and has relocated its operations and world headquarters in Tracy. Their products are known as The Surtec System. Surtec produces a vast array of maintenance chemicals and equipment to help solve the problem of keeping buildings looking good.
Surtec was founded in by Bill Fields and Don Fromm in 1975, and was located in Hayward, California until a decision was made to move the company east to Tracy. The decision to move was based on the need for Surtec to expand and utilize much more of their Hayward property. Hayward city officials were reluctant to let them to build into certain areas of their property and limited the expansion. Limited by their capacity to expand on their Hayward property, Bill and Don started looking for a larger property that would allow them to expand their business as needed. Don reports that they were fortunate to locate their current 87,000 square foot facility at 1880 N. MacArthur Drive, Tracy, CA.
Despite the lack of office space, their new facility is a showpiece of cleanliness and spaciousness. The building is well organized with a service area for having cleaning machines repaired or serviced, a retail sales area that is open to the public for buying Surtec products, and an area of the building for chemical mixing and production. One section of the building is empty and awaiting the construction of their corporate offices. While awaiting the construction of their new offices inside the building, they are operating out of a cramped portable building located behind their new building.
I met Bill Fields a few months ago at a Tracy Chamber of Commerce mixer and we spoke at length about a variety of topics ranging from the Tracy business climate to the training of horses. Bill was comfortable discussing almost any topic, but it was clear that he is a great proponent of the Surtec Adopt-a-family program where volunteers help provide a happier Christmas for the children of families that are down on their luck. The volunteers help by providing extra large boxes of food and personally wrapped gifts for each child. He is very proud of the success of this program that has helped brighten the lives of children since he created the program in 1991.
Bill and Don selected the San Joaquin county area because of its friendliness toward businesses. Bill said very little about the difficulties of working with local government in the bay area, but he was complimentary about the people of Tracy and San Joaquin county and the business organizations.
Chemicals are mixed in large stainless steel tanks in the new chemical mixing room. The room is separated by a proper structural partition to allow a variety of different chemical operations. After an appropriate amount of mixing, the concentrates are pumped into another system that automatically fills plastic bottles with solution and the proper labels are affixed to each container. The products are then stored in either cardboard shipping containers or pallets.
I was recently invited to Surtec's open house and trade show. This was my first opportunity to meet many of the people who keep the company operating. I was impressed with the attitude of friendliness, cooperation, and general enthusiasm for their jobs. I wondered if the staff had been on their best behavior until I walked into the plant recently and saw the same friendliness, cooperation, and enthusiasm when they didn't know they were being watched. I have worked with many companies as a business consultant and watched employees working together and interacting during the time I was waiting to be escorted through the facility. I was impressed by the professional demeanor of all employees.
I watched as forklifts carefully moved pallets of chemicals around the plant and people worked at various jobs. Nobody changed their methods or behaviors when president of the company walked through the plant. That is one of the greatest compliments I can give to any company as it clearly shows there is genuine and mutual respect among the team.
It didn't matter if I was looking at a row of pallets, excess office materials, equipment waiting to be repaired, or raw materials being readied for mixing, everything was neat and well organized. When people removed something from a specific location, they returned it back to where they got it. Everything in the plant was an indication of a very well organized and managed operation.
I didn't have an opportunity to spend time speaking with either Bill or Don about the early days of the company's operations. Bill is president of the company and tends to be outgoing and very comfortable making friends and telling the story of Surtec to those he meets. Don is the vice president and seems to be the more reserved and quiet graduate chemist who seems to be the technically oriented side of the company. In doing personality assessment training, I have found that many successful companies have similar dynamics in their management teams.
After visiting Surtec and getting to know many of the people, I will not hesitate to pay their retail showroom a visit to get some expert advice on any cleaning problem I might encounter. I literally returned home after the visit and considered driving back and picking up some of their commercial grade carpet restoring materials for my living room or some concrete sealer for the garage.
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| The west corner of Surtec's new facility at 87,000 square foot facility at 1880 N. MacArthur Drive | The large mixing tanks where the raw chemicals are brought together and mixed into commercial cleaning products. | The bottling machine where finished solution will be poured into the foreground bottles, labels attached, and product shipped to customers. | The new service area on the south side of the building where commercial cleaning equipment is maintained, repaired, or reconditioned. |
Keith Chiles