By Pierre Saint- Louis for PIJAC Canada
The Voice met Steve Schlichtmann, Vice President of Marketing and
Operations at Burgham Sales Ltd. to talk about the company and more
specifically the values that are at the heart of their success in the
Canadian pet industry. Starting off, Mr. Schlichtmann speaks of humanism and
the importance of putting people at the center of business activities. Indeed,
"It is the teamwork and community family values related to the effort
that allowed the company to cope with the many challenges it has faced
throughout its history” he says.
Burgham Sales Ltd. was founded in
Montreal in 1953 by Hans Schlichtmann Sr., grandfather of Steve. A third
generation company, it has experienced steady and consistent growth since its
inception. For a bit of history,
note that the original company
started in the family basement, and grew until it reached the sizeable state of the art facilities in Scarborough,
Ontario that serves the retail pet trade nationwide.
About the Founder, Steve tells us: "As far as I can remember, my
grandfather attached great importance to the value of things right down to the
smallest details. For him, a simple inexpensive product itself, was a link in a
great economic system, a link that you must learn to see with the same
attention as the other components. It was also the same for effort: he was a demanding
man and expected as much from his children and his staff. “Mr. Schlichmann
Sr.’s grandson goes on to tell us: "The values that he passed on were always
imbued with an acute awareness of the role of individuals working in the
business. We were a family and we all had to work as a family, it is also the
legacy that my father and uncle handed down to me. "
"My grandfather has also left us with an incredible sense of
entrepreneurship. He was a great visionary:
in the early days of the company, Burgham Sales distinguished itself by
developing its own product lines while sourcing abroad to introduce innovative
products to the Canadian market at the time". Steve then tells us:
"We were even ecological ...” he explains, "... we recycled
everything we could. But I must emphasize that it was mostly for economic reasons.
But if recycling in industry is now a standard, it must be said that Burgham
had already been doing it for a long time “he says with a smile!
Steve goes on to say, "More prosaically, this entrepreneurship was
manifested and still manifests itself within Burgham at all levels of
management: from operations to
management of human resources all the way through supply logistics, including
transportation to storage. This has prepared the company for today’s
competitive environment while still providing necessary, consistent service to
the retail pet trade through their very dedicated sales force across Canada.
When we ask Mr. Schlichtmann, specifically on the challenges facing the
company today, he continues on with the subject of competitiveness: “Currently,
we are in a phase of consolidation, in order to remain competitive in a
challenging economic environment. In our industry, if we cannot provide
ourselves with us a solid operational base, how can we deal with the issues
facing us while supporting our customers? “What is most important of all, we asked?”
The balance between small family pet stores and larger companies, of course! Without
the small stores, without any pet stores, what would happen to our industry? It
is important to understand ... “Mr. Schlichtmann says " ... it is within
these small family pet stores that have developed over time, a real expertise
about animals. Who else, other than the pet store owners and their employees,
can attract and educate consumers about the necessary care for their pets? Our
role at Burgham is to contribute to the success of our customers by allowing
them to have the necessary support and products so that their businesses can grow,
regardless of their size. It is our customers who have mastered the knowledge
essential to the viability of our industry."
To conclude, throughout our interview, Mr. Steve Schlichmann proved to be a
passionate and deeply human individual. This is why we ended this interview by
leaving the last word to him, revealing a family vision still relevant today:
"You know what fascinates me the most about my job? It is to see that,
even in a modern context where each day we use state-of-the-art computer
hardware at every stage of our operations, the fact remains that it is still
direct human contact with the customer that prevails!"
BURNABY, BC
