Birmingham Rubber & Gasket Co., a distributor of hose and accessories, made a name for itself selling to the heavy industrial businesses in Birmingham, Ala., in the 1970s. Since then, Birmingham, like other cities across the country, has seen the decline of industry and the rise of a service-based economy. For BRAG, as the company is known, the changing landscape has caused a ripple effect: when your customer base shifts, says company president Chris Wilder, you've got to make some changes yourself.

BRAG still sells to the steel mills and other large industrial customers that remain in the Birmingham area, but small and mid-sized manufacturers, job shops and service-oriented businesses such the medical industry, are a growing part of its customer base.

"We certainly sell to the largest companies in Birmingham, but there was a time years ago when our focus was on them and them alone," says Wilder. "Over the years, as competition has heated up over those folks, we've developed more of a philosophy of servicing the middle and smaller customers, because they really are the ones that dominate. If you put them all together, they make up a pretty significant portion of our marketplace these days."

BRAG is a niche business, and its focus remains on the hose and accessories market. Hose and gaskets each account for one-third of the company's business. The remaining third comes from the sale of personal protection equipment — clothing, boots and the like — and conveyor belting, both of which are growth areas for the company.

But no matter what a customer buys from BRAG, service is a large part of the equation. Solving an application problem, locating a hard-to-find item, fabricating hose and gaskets, and making last-minute deliveries are some of the routine services for which the company is known. And that, says Wilder, is something that won't change.

"Our real strength is helping to solve a problem," he explains. "[Customers] definitely can get a little more involvement and caring out of us. There are a lot of places that, if you don't have a part number — well, you can call back when you have a part number. That's not the case here."

Tony Fischer, maintenance supervisor at Specification Rubber in Alabaster, Ala., says service is the reason he's done business with BRAG for close to 14 years. Specification Rubber, a manufacturer of pipe gaskets and other rubber products, has bought from BRAG for more than 20 years.

"That's the reason we buy from them —because of their service," says Fischer, who buys gasket material, hose fittings and other items from BRAG. "I wish I had more vendors like that; it would make my life so much easier."

Fischer points to the down-to-earth nature of the BRAG staff. On more than one occasion, he says, Wilder himself has searched through bins and shelves for parts Specification Rubber needed for a job. If the part wasn't on the shelf, Wilder would take the time to track it down, he adds.

"The very guy at the top will go and pull an order for you, and that makes every difference in the world," he says. "[BRAG's] main theme is customer service, and that's what makes it all work."

BRAG has been a customer-focused company since its doors opened in 1972. Wilder's father, Geoff Wilder, started BRAG as part of the Rubber & Gasket Co., an affiliation of independently owned distributorships across the Southeast. Geoff Wilder had been working for the industrial hose division of the Uniroyal Tire & Rubber Co. in Lake Charles, La., when he was asked to start the Birmingham distributorship. The New York native had never been south of Ohio before Uniroyal moved him to Louisiana, but the South became his family's permanent home with the move to Birmingham.

Geoff Wilder died suddenly in 1994, leaving his wife, Susan, and son, Chris, to take over the company. Chris had been with BRAG full time since graduating from Auburn University in 1987. Susan Wilder became chairman — a title she retains today, although Chris runs the company as president and general manager. Susan is more involved with a separate family business — a manufacturing company with worldwide distribution.

BRAG's customer-first philosophy stems from its nature as a specialty distributor. Seventy percent of what the company sells is engineered or fabricated in some way —it's not just pulled off the shelf and shipped to the customer. Products are die cut, welded, sewn and otherwise manipulated into a customized solution. BRAG's people help convey the philosophy, as well. Outside salespeople also are known as field service reps, and use their years of experience — an average of 10 years — to help customers solve application problems.

"Some companies seem to just want to sell that niche of things that they have on the shelf," Wilder explains. "We want to do that, but it's just as important to us to help someone solve a problem with a product that's not on our shelf. …We'll get calls from folks who've tried company a, b and c and have had no luck, so we'll give it a try. It's not so much about tracking down the thing; it's about solving the problem for the customer."

These days, BRAG uses that problem-solving ability to build business with both old and new customers. Birmingham is becoming a regional distribution hub for many large retailers, and that's one reason for BRAG's recent interest in conveyor belting — a must-have product in a distribution center. The automotive industry is another growing business in the region. It started several years ago when Mercedes opened a manufacturing plant in Birmingham. Other automakers followed suit, and the OEMs that supply the auto industry, naturally, set up shop to serve them. The latter group has turned out to be one of BRAG's biggest sources of new business. BRAG sells molded rubber parts to those OEMs, another new product offering.

Finding new customers that can use your products isn't all that difficult, Wilder says. BRAG's reputation as a specialty distributor serving the Birmingham marketplace helps bring many of them to his door. Still, Wilder and his staff keep their eyes and ears open — attending Chamber of Commerce meetings and scouring the local newspaper for information on new projects going on around town. Listening carefully to what's happening in your community, he explains, can lead to many opportunities.

"We're constantly scouring for new business," says Wilder. "We're here [in Birmingham] every day and we've got our eyes and ears open."

The practice has paid off. BRAG started selling to Birmingham's growing auto industry just a few years ago, and it now accounts for 10 percent of company sales.

Wilder says BRAG will continue to expand its reach in the years ahead, although not geographically. The company's strength is in Central Alabama, a 60-mile radius of Birmingham. As a small distributor — with just one location and 21 employees — BRAG could not provide the same level of service to customers beyond those borders.

"What we do doesn't lend itself well to a large geographic area," says Wilder, referring to the investment in time and money that it takes to provide the engineering and fabricating services, as well as the personal touch employees provide. Essentially, what BRAG does, says Wilder, is become that extra employee on the shop floor — the employee most customers have lost due to downsizing in recent years.

"Customers are trying to do more with less," Wilder explains. "And they want us to be that extra guy in their office that they don't have anymore. And that's how we position ourselves."

To that end, BRAG also provides training programs and conducts safety audits of customers' plants.

Wilder and his staff will continue to search the Birmingham marketplace for new customers, add products that complement its hose and accessories offering, and provide the kind of service customers like Tony Fischer of Specification Rubber have come to expect. Doing so will take teamwork, another quality that is par for the course at Birmingham Rubber and Gasket. Wilder describes his employees — especially his outside salespeople — as "go-getters." They are anxious to build something, he says, and are always looking for ways to grow and improve BRAG's niche business.

The team approach to business is exemplified in BRAG's open-office concept. Customer service, outside salespeople and the president himself all sit in one big room, answering phone calls as they come in. Wilder, whose desk is in the middle of it all, estimates that he answers about 20 percent of calls that come into the office. Leading this small company is what he's always wanted to do, and it's something he says should be done by example. He learned about the company from the ground up, beginning at age eight.

"I started sweeping floors and cutting gaskets when I was a kid," he says. "I was always interested in the business, and nothing else ever took its place."

With any luck, nothing will ever have to. BRAG finished a tough 2002 with flat sales, and Wilder expects modest gains this year.

"We're very much holding our own," he says. "We're a very aggressive company that's hungry for business. And we really want to solve problems. If a customer calls here, we want to take care of it. That's our philosophy."