Benicia company celebrates centennial
W.J. PUGH, below, founded the company that became Ralphs-Pugh Co., which is based in the Benicia Industrial Park. Courtesy photos
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter
One hundred years ago, William J. Pugh started a business to distribute rubber goods to agriculture and food processing companies.
Over the years, Pugh added his father-in-law, Isaac Ralphs, as a partner, and the company became incorporated, changed its product focus and moved from San Francisco to Benicia.
Now Ralphs-Pugh Co. is marking its 100th anniversary.
But though it has weathered the storms of many decades, Ralphs-Pugh may not be a familiar name to many residents, said Tom O’Brien, vice president of sales.
“I really don’t know that a lot of people in the business community are aware of us,” he said, poiting out that its current owner, Bill Pugh, is known by members of Benicia’s Rotary Club. “Some local businesses do have our product on a retrofit basis. But we’re not a household name.”
Yet Ralphs-Pugh is recognized internationally, well known to Federal Express, United Parcel Service and the United States Postal Service. “They’re our three biggest users,” O’Brien said. Ralphs-Pugh products are sold from Canada to Mexico, throughout the U.S. and to a smaller degree in Australia, Europe and South America.
ISAAC RALPHS. Courtesy photo
Back when it started in San Francisco, Ralphs-Pugh made custom conveyor belts and slitting machines, O’Brien said. The company spent its first half-century expanding its distribution into national and international industrial markets.
In 1959, it added a new product to its line. “They saw conveyor belting needed rollers,” O’Brien said. So Ralphs-Pugh started making rollers, at first from plastic using bushing-style bearings, and later from metal. When clients wanted quieter operations, the company turned out precision bearings in plastic housings.
Eventually, those rollers and their components became Ralphs-Pugh’s primary products, and the company closed its distribution and belt-slitter operations. It brought in more equipment and developed stainless steel rollers and bearings for the food and chemical industries.
The company also has added a “Green e-series” line of rollers that are more environmentally friendly. Those rollers can be used by many of the company’s customers.
Those customers are diverse, O’Brien said — clothiers such as Columbia Sportswear and Nordstrom; beverage companies including Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo and MillerCoors; and food processors including Seneca Foods and Dole.
The company even supplies to its competitors. “A lot of the people we compete with are big conveyor system manufacturers,” O’Brien explained, whereas Ralphs-Pugh specializes in rollers and their component parts — and because of that it can sell to those larger manufacturers. “We upsell. There are things we do (that) our competitors aren’t doing.”
For instance, the company isn’t afraid to consider customizing products for a client. “We entertain things that we don’t catalogue,” O’Brien said.
Courtesy photo
If a customer is having an issue that needs addressing, or comes to the company with a different application or materials need, “we work with them to find a solution,” he said. “One thing about being small, we’re flexible.”
Ralphs-Pugh has 50 employees at its Benicia plant. Its sales force is made up of manufacturer representatives who sell company parts as independent contractors rather than employees, receiving straight commission for their work.
Like many companies, Ralphs-Pugh has been impacted by the recession. In fact, O’Brien said, the recession has affected “the whole material-handling industry. Some people have had a tough go.” The local company, too, experienced a downturn, especially when its manufacturing clients began suffering.
But Ralphs-Pugh also sells replacement and repair parts, and when industries began delaying new equipment purchases they instead invested in maintaining their original equipment.
That market, O’Brien said, has remained “pretty steady.”
In fact, he said, “We rode out the recession — we kind of saw it coming.” That makes the company luckier than others. “Some people we know didn’t make it.”
Ralphs-Pugh, now at 3931 Oregon St., initially moved to Berkeley after leaving San Francisco, O’Brien said. When it shifted its operations to Benicia, it began renting space on Teal Court, where it spent “years,” O’Brien said.
Ralphs-Pugh’s next home was on Stone Road, where it stayed until it could buy the Oregon Street address about seven years ago.
The company and its current owner like being in this city, O’Brien said. “One reason we located here is it’s a convenient location close to a reliable labor pool,” he said.
“It’s an attractive place to be.”
He credits the company’s longevity to “the spirit of entrepreneurship and a commitment to work with people,” and the firm’s willingness to look at different market opportunities. “At one time we had a contract supplying clothing to the California Highway Patrol and other agencies. The family saw an opportunity and pursued it.”
He said Ralphs-Pugh “has one of the best reputations for customer service in the industry, because we’re small and responsive. Those are key components to longevity.
RALPHS-PUGH CO. Courtesy photo
