U.S. Safety manufactures and distributes personal protective equipment, including safety eyewear, face shields, respirators and welding helmets.

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For more than 70 years, U.S. Safety has dedicated itself to protecting employees from workplace hazards. Based in Lenexa, Kan., the operating division of Parmelee Industries Inc. manufactures and distributes personal protective equipment, including prescription and non-prescription safety eyewear, face shields, respirators and welding helmets.

Alfred F. Parmelee, a safety engineer and consultant, founded Parmelee Industries Inc. in 1935. Among its earliest innovations were the first one-piece plastic goggle called the “Saf-I-Shield” and the “expendable” salt tablet dispenser, which was used throughout the industry to prevent dehydration.

This was the beginning in a series of safety industry firsts that helped the company grow and form United States Safety Service Co. The company now does business as U.S. Safety. Its headquarters in Lenexa houses its corporate offices, central distribution center, warehouse facility and prescription eyewear laboratory. It also has manufacturing operations that reside in Windsor, Mo. The company also serves the United Kingdom with manufacturing, distribution and sales operations in Birmingham, England.

U.S. Safety’s clients consist of small and large companies in a variety of industries, including a range of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Customers include Ford Motor Co., Exelon Corp., Norfolk Southern Railroad and Verizon. A.F. Parmelee’s grandson, President and CEO J.P. Sankpill, now leads the company.

“As a company that’s been in this industry since the beginning, our roots are in innovation and design,” Sankpill says. “We still have a lot of that expertise here in the company. As a small company, it gives us a unique combination of innovation and flexibility to [meet] end-user needs.”

For instance, about six years ago, U.S. Safety recognized “there was a strong need for a prescription safety eyewear program that was easy to understand and offered a good value to the end-user,” he recalls. U.S. Safety then created its Passport Rx program, which combines a simplified price structure with all the components of a large-scale, industrial eyewear program.  

“On top of that, we applied competitive pricing,” Sankpill adds. “We made it so that safety managers could understand what they were getting and be able to budget for it.”

U.S. Safety also manages all the services associated with the Passport Rx program. “The safety professional doesn’t have to worry about finding an eye doctor to send their people [to and whether products meet] the industry standard,” Sankpill says. “All of those questions have been answered with the program.

“That’s the main reason Passport has been so successful,” he states. “It just captures all of that in a simplified structure that’s easy to understand.” Information about the program can be found at www.passport-rx.com.

Staying Fresh
U.S. Safety has been proactive as the eye and face protection market has changed, Sankpill says. About 15 years ago, “When Asian imports started arriving in the market, it had a major impact in the industry,” he recalls. “[It] turned eye and face protection into a commodity.

“What eventually happened is that the majority of protective eyewear manufacturers in the United States disappeared,” Sankpill says, noting that U.S. Safety is only one of a handful of manufacturers that remain.

U.S. Safety adapted, Sankpill says, by focusing its manufacturing operations – its core product line – and supplementing it with new eyewear styles from the company’s overseas partners. Previously, U.S. Safety underwent long, engineering-driven product development processes that lasted several months. “That process has been accelerated so that new styles and adaptations can be introduced in a matter of weeks,” he says. “As with any industry, you have to keep your product line fresh to stay competitive.”

The company also remains strong by focusing on niche markets with its products, such as eye protection for workers in dusty environments. One application for these products is the petrochemical industry, Sankpill says. During plant turnarounds, when lines and equipment are flushed, “The process creates a lot of airborne dust and debris that causes eye injuries,” he says.

These innovations have also fueled useful developments for U.S. soldiers stationed in the Middle East, Sankpill adds. In addition to airborne dust, “There are an increasing number of eye injuries from sand and dirt that gets kicked up in desert-based operations,” he explains.

“The Air Force and Army have come to us looking for better solutions than what they have to address those injuries,” he says. U.S. Safety is developing a new generation of combat eyewear designed to address specific hazards.

Nearly 10 percent of the company’s work is for the U.S. government. These innovations will help generate new solutions for employees in the industrial sector, as well, he says, and U.S. Safety is already planning to make that happen.

Modernizing U.S. Safety
Sankpill joined U.S. Safety full-time 10 years ago, and took over leadership of the company last year from his father, Alan Sankpill, who led the company for 26 years. “I think the challenge of being a small company in this industry is really kind of exciting,” he says. “We are the only privately-owned, nationwide provider of prescription safety eyewear programs, and we go head to head with industry giants like 3M and Essilor.”

However, Sankpill says the company’s size also nurtures an environment where its work force constantly develops new ideas and solutions. “We have to be very engaged with the customer to be successful,” he says. “It’s part of what sets us apart in our industry, and it’s a core part of our strategy.”

Sankpill says U.S. Safety is constantly exploring new ways it can add value to its products and services. “What we’re trying to do is focus less on how we can sell to our potential customers and ask ourselves why they should buy from us,” he says. “[This process] forces us to build value into everything we do.”

In February, U.S. Safety began implementing a comprehensive customer relationship management solution to improve its communications with clients. “We will ultimately have a single communication platform that sales, customer support and management can all work from,” Sankpill says. “It brings those parts of our business together in ways they never have before.”

He notes that the system allows management to track sales activity, success rates and market penetration. It also includes tools for customer support to create and manage cases for individual customers, which will streamline problem resolution and help identify areas that need particular attention.

In addition, the company is looking at ways to improve its brand identity. “The company is well-known and has a great reputation,” Sankpill says. “I’m just not sure most people truly know what we can do for them.”

He plans to address that by launching a new marketing initiative targeted at educating customers and prospects about its capabilities. “We plan to strengthen our position as an expert in the safety industry that offers innovative solutions, unique value-added services [and] leading-edge technology that’s actually going to solve problems for our customers,” he says.

Of course, the key to implementing the strategy for any company is its people, he notes. “It’s safe to say we have the most experienced and loyal group of people in the industry,” he says.

The company’s work force averages 15 years per person industry experience and 12 consecutive years with U.S. Safety. Even with a seasoned group of individuals, he says. “They are the ones driving the changes that are moving us forward, and they don’t hesitate to speak up when something isn’t going the way it should.”