How Innovation Has Kept a 134-Year-Old Company Relevant

“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” -William Pollard

Compaq, Sears, Kodak, PanAm. These are all famous companies and some would say household brands. They also have something in common. They are old companies that failed or are failing. They neglected to innovate and to understand consumer trends and then change their business to adapt to new markets.

Pittsburgh Plate Glass was founded in 1883 by Captain John B. Ford and John Pitcairn in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 134 years later, PPG is a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, and fiberglass and employs approximately 47,000 people worldwide. They’ve obtained more than 600 patents in the last ten years and supply products to companies from cutting edge products within the aerospace industry to running shoes.

Reinvention is Key

PPG has reinvented itself several times to survive the industrial and technological revolutions. PPG learned to adapt to changing times and through leadership in innovation and sustainability. A brief look at the history of PPG can highlight the adaptive nature of the company.

Automobile Boom

In the early 1920s, automobiles became more common across the country. As more and more people wanted to utilize this new wave of transportation, larger vehicles needed to be manufactured. Because of this, the automotive industry began using more glass as the open touring car gave way to the larger, roomier sedan. To capitalize on this trend, PPG revolutionized plate glassmaking with their straight line conveyor-based ribbon method. This was a vast improvement over the previously used batch method, making the process faster and more efficient.

Post War

By 1940, the world was still recovering from the Great Depression, and PPG knew that it was necessary to create products that would be necessities in the everyday household. Because of this, PPG entered the optical products business and introduced the CR-39® optical monomer. They had a vision for the future, and after patenting the CR-39 monomer, the company created a successful line of optical products that later included the innovative Transition lenses. This patented material is still used widely in prescription lenses.

Cars Again

In the 1060’s the automotive industry began to rebound, PPG once again adapted to the changing technologies that were transforming industry and found a way to give cars a new lease on life by revolutionizing the auto industry with the commercialization of the electrodeposition coating process, virtually eliminating rust.

A Nice Blue Pool

While many decades progressed, so did the lifestyles of people throughout the world. With successful products in the expanding automotive industry and throughout health and eye care, PPG saw an opportunity as swimming pools become common in backyards across America. In 1987, PPG’s chlor-alkali business made huge strides by developing the SUSTAIN Pool Care System, delivering chlorine more evenly and accurately for easier pool care. As a lifeguard in the 80’s and 90’s, this was a life saver.

Alternative Energy

By 2000, the question was how PPG could make a difference in the alternative energy sector. PPG saw the perfect place to use several new technologies to make an impact. To manufacture lighter and stronger wind turbines, PPG developed a fiberglass that now is core material in wind turbine blades.

Airline Paint and Coating

When Jetstar wanted to find a clearcoat that would make all of their aircraft sparkle (literally) without slowing down speeds, they turned to PPG. Ever adapting and as a solution to Jetstar’s problem, PPG developed an exterior topcoat system for the aircraft that not only created the shimmer that Jetstar was going for, but was also lighter than the traditional coat, easier to apply, and improved aircraft fuel economy. This got the attention of the airline industry. PPG was able to become a part of a project with QantasLink, Jetstar and Flying Colours Aviation. “Using the PPG coatings enabled us to reduce the full strip-and-paint process to an industry-leading 11 days,” said Linda Armstrong, managing director of Flying Colours Aviation. “We have used the PPG basecoat-clearcoat system on many aircraft, and as usual the paint system did not disappoint.”

Focus Core Business

PPG has been in the paint business for well over 100 years. PPG has grown its core business into being one of the largest home paint companies in the world. With name brands PPG Paints, Olympic Paints & Stains and Glidden Paint, the company is aggressively trying to expand this business worldwide.

A Culture of Challenge and Innovation

PPG is not only adaptive and innovative in an external sense. Internally, PPG is always challenging their team. One internal program that they use to develop talent is called Aggressive Career Management. Employees of PPG who are selected to participate in the Aggressive Career Management program are actively promoted to positions with more and more responsibility across different departments of the company. It’s a cross-training program that develops leaders that are cross trained and have the ability to perform and adapt to challenges they face. It creates an understanding of all the different business units across management. Bryan Iams Vice President for Corporate & Government Affairs at PPG said,” stated that it wasn’t always easy to get our team to understand why we made significant changes in our business but ultimately people adapted and now buy into our focus on innovation. That is why we see growth in our business.”

PPG is aggressively growing its markets in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Instead of letting technology and innovation slow them down, PPG has consistently capitalized on and embraced the changing the world. This is a strategy that is proven successful for the company. They have proven they have staying power. I wonder what will be written about them 2117?