In The News...

December 2002

Good business alters to meet needs

Courtesy of the Texarkana Gazette
By LES MINOR Managing Editor

Two local businesses celebrated noteworthy milestones this month.

Murray, Thomas & Griffin Inc. marked 40 years in engineering enterprises. International Paper's Domino Mill observed its 30th anniversary.

These may not sound like significant spans. Forty years hardly counts as middle age anymore. And 30 years is still young in human terms. But in terms of business viability and survivability, these are more than modest accomplishments.

You can count on your fingers the number of companies that have called this place home for more than 100 years. Not many businesses are built to last; and those that are still here have to deal with shifting tides of time that create opportunity and obsolescence with equal indifference. The needs and desires of one generation often differ drastically from those of the next.

Consider the railroads. Texarkana was born of them, but most of them are gone now. Those that still exist are a shadow of what they once were.

As much as we try to convince ourselves that we can adapt, adjust and invigorate our endeavors to mesh with the changing times, most things just don't last very long. We've always been a fairly short-sighted species, even while extolling the virtues of long-term thinking.

To survive and thrive in business is no small feat.

Of course, there will always be a need for engineers in the world. Experts who can envision, build and design never fall out of favor. Longevity in their ranks, therefore, is based on the consistent quality of the work produced, a firm's ability to adapt to changing demands and technologies, and the desire to continue.

That last point should not be overlooked. Some businesses shut down not because they are forced to, but because they choose to. They have no interest in legacy.

Paper pushers, on the other hand, have a very different challenge. Engineers may have been around since Noah produced the Ark to specs, and brought it in under budget and on deadline. But paper making dates back less than 3,000 years in its most primitive form. It took another 2,600 years of refinement before any consistency was established in the craft. And it wasn't until about 200 years ago that machines were designed to mass produce large quantities of it. In the long view, this industry is in its infancy.

Yet, no more than a ship builder today could compete using the techniques and craftsmanship Noah employed, the paper-making industry has also had to evolve. The Domino Mill exists because International Paper knew it wasn't just in the paper manufacturing business, but because it decided it was in the forest products and packaging business.

IP began changing its focus back in the 1930s, and by the early 1970s the Domino Mill was built to harbor its bleached board business. By the end of the decade, it would become the largest producer of this product in the world and now makes 600,000 tons of the stuff annually.

Yet, never content, IP is placing increased emphasis on helping its customers develop innovative packaging solutions that dovetail with its product lines in creating folding cartons, cupstock, food service and liquid containers. It's not enough to have good paper products, their surfaces have to be capable of delivering attention-getting messages that will speak to customers in a highly competitive and visual marketplace.

This would have been hard to image when International Paper first cranked up its equipment, but creating advanced printing surfaces and developing marketing solutions is a significant part of what IP does today.

What it does in the tomorrows to come is an entirely different matter.

Many people thought the demand for paper would subside with the coming of the desktop computer at home and work. Some even envisioned a paperless society, when our intellectual wealth would be stored on memory chips. This hasn't happened, nor does it appear to be happening.

But what is known, for IP, for Murray, Thomas & Griffin Inc. and for any other business that wants to sample similar success, is they have to be willing to change and take care of their customers.

The philosophies of both firms are firmly rooted in meeting customer needs.

They make a point of listening to their customers. They make a point of acting on what they hear.

This is the secret of all business success. It doesn't have to be engineered. It doesn't have to be committed to paper. It's that simple.

These companies have thrived not because they are in the engineering or paper making business, but because they are in the customer service business. In the end, these companies don't base their success so much on what they do, but how they do it.

That's why there is every reason to believe these two organizations will continue to flourish in some form or fashion. It is also why company officials decades from today will likely look back and deem the observances held this month as rather minor anniversaries.