Getting it right the first time

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 7/1/2000

When American Building Maintenance branch manager Richard Hughes recalls the day the Bala Cynwyd, Pa. office started cleaning 16 far-flung bank branches, he remembers how well distributor Philip Rosenau Co., Inc. smoothed the transition.

The contract began on an odd day of the week, Hughes says, so Philip Rosenau's president John Rosenau personally delivered some supplies. Hughes says he's worked with Rosenau for a decade, except for two years when his company's West Coast brass struck a deal with other suppliers. Looking back, Hughes refers to that time as the worst two years of his professional life.

"It was horrible," Hughes says. "The other guys couldn't get supplies delivered on time and couldn't find the supplies. With John, our orders are 99 percent filled each month."

A high fill rate is so important to Rosenau that he recently put off accepting a $50,000-per-month account for 90 days because the prior distributor delayed giving the customer a usage report. Rosenau's staff eventually analyzed six months worth of the client's back purchase orders to create the right product delivery schedule.

"We wanted to make sure we got off to a good start and that we were fulfilling all their needs," Rosenau says. "We do a lot of business with contract cleaners. We know that when they order it, they need it."

The commitment to customers is the backbone of the Hatboro, Pa.-based distributor of sanitary maintenance supplies and equipment for the janitorial industry. Founded in 1957, the company now has 3 branches serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Rosenau says the private company can be classified as a mid-sized company with annual sales revenues between $10 million and $50 million.

Beyond providing the right products at the right time, Philip Rosenau also trains customers on correct usage. Other types of classes cover management issues and educating cleaning staff on health concerns like blood-borne pathogens.

Hughes says his supervisors have benefited from the management classes and workers have learned special skills, such as marble maintenance. Al Greenough, the operator of the Philadelphia Independent School Purchasing Consortium for 40 independent schools, says a Philip Rosenau sales rep went the extra mile by teaching the outsourced housekeepers staff at one school how to properly maintain a chapel floor.

Philip Rosenau's training programs are particularly attractive to Kris Kealey, a customer service manager at the University of Pennsylvania, because the school maintains an around-the-clock cleaning staff.

"If we introduce a new product they come out and do a training and demo," Kealey says. "They've come during all three of our shifts."

Kealey says the university has used Philip Rosenau for about 20 years. Before last year's contract was signed, the company dropped off the products at a designated warehouse. Now Philip Rosenau delivers directly to 125 buildings across campus.

University staff members place orders on Philip Rosenau's Web page, using a transaction method that has become increasingly lucrative for the distributor. Rosenau says about 14 percent of the company's sales come from the online catalog, e-mail and EDI.m