PURE CYMBAL-ISM
Toronto Star, Canada
July 3 2006
New Brunswick firm Sabian Ltd. hopes to `ride’ out the metals boom and
`crash’ the fortunes of its foes, by Sharda Prashad
Acadian culture, scenic coastlines – New Brunswick is famous for
many things, even a cymbal company that’s part of a four-century-old
Turkish dynasty.
Sabian Ltd., one of the top two cymbal manufacturers in the world,
laid its roots in Canada a quarter century ago after a bitter dispute
over ownership divided the business.
Today, Sabian’s fighting another battle: remaining competitive against
a high dollar and high commodities prices.
Closing in on $40 million in gross sales, achieving double-digit
growth and counting the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Phil Collins
and other top percussionists among its customers, Sabian’s winning.
Besides producing a world-class product, Sabian is dabbling in
futures contracts to offset the soaring price of copper, one of its
main costs. It is also selling higher-end products with bigger profit
margins more aggressively, and increasing top-line sales targets to
prevent a drop in bottom line, says Andy Zildjian, newly appointed
president.
Andy works alongside brother Bill, a former commodities trader and
drummer who looks after international customers and commodities
transactions.
If Sabian’s profit-raising strategies aren’t effective, it might
have to do something it’s trying to avoid – increase the price of its
cymbals. For now, Sabian’s strategy is working and a growing volume
of orders is pushing up production levels at its cymbal plant in
Meductic in southwestern New Brunswick.
The company, which employs 150, produces 1.2 million cymbals every
year. Sabian makes more than 1,500 different types, with rides,
crashes and hi-hats being the most popular. Most are made by machine.
But the old Turkish tradition hasn’t been lost, as 15 craftsman hand
hammer about 20 per cent of the more high-end metal discs. Cymbals
cost between $64 and $770 for individual pieces, with custom-made
cymbals commanding a premium.
Everyone in Meductic, population of 189, seems to work at Sabian,
including town mayor James "Nort" Hargrove, vice-president of
manufacturing.
How exactly did a company that was started by an Armenian alchemist
named Avedis in Constantinople in the 1600s end up in Meductic?
Avedis Zildjian III moved from Istanbul to Massachusetts in the
1920s. Both of his sons, Armand and Robert, were involved in Avedis
Zildjian Co. with a mission that’s not changed since the days of
Constantinople: to make the world’s best cymbals.
One of the reasons family businesses tend to endure longer than others
is there is a substantive mission, says David Simpson, professor of
entrepreneurship and family business at the University of Western
Ontario’s Ivey School of Business.
The statistic that just 10 per cent of family businesses make it
to a third generation is often thought of as a bad thing, says the
professor, but most companies that have existed for more than 100
years are family businesses.
If you consider the family businesses of Sabian, The New York Times,
or Michelin Tires, says the professor, all seem to have transferred
the business values from generation to generation rather than just
passing the entrepreneurial reins.
For Avedis’ younger son Robert, there was never any question he’d
continue the family business. After serving in World War II, Robert
visited New Brunswick for fishing and camping trips. He was hooked
on Canada, not just on the country’s wilderness, but its inhabitants.
Robert believed they could produce the coveted cymbals.
Robert expanded the company’s operation to Meductic in the late
1960s and hired 15 staff to manufacture the company’s most-labour
intensive cymbals.
When Avedis died in 1979, the brothers spent two years battling over
ownership, until Robert decided to leave the family business and open
a new cymbal company. What’s fascinating about Sabian, says Simpson,
is the family feud wasn’t about getting out of the family business,
since both were dedicated to staying in it and there are few examples
where a family squabble leads to direct competition. The formation
of Adidas and Puma in 1948 after brothers Rudolf and Adolf fought
over their shoe company is another example. Usually family feuds
occur when someone wants to move the business in a new direction,
dissolve it, or leave it.
Robert took over the small Canadian operation in 1981, expanded it
and named it Sabian after daughter Sam and sons Bill and Andy. There
was a one-year non-compete clause with Zildjian that meant Sabian
couldn’t sell cymbals in the United States. In 1983, it turned a
profit for the first time. Robert dryly divulges the amount: $1,750.
The firm has since experienced double-digit annual growth and Andy
wants to close in on $50 million in sales and eventually overtake its
main competitor – Avedis Zildjian Co. of course. Armand died in 2002
and that firm is now run by his daughters.
To compete in the cymbal world, Robert, who is 82 and chairman (he
quips that there’s no board), says Sabian has to innovate in making
cymbals, and get more people playing these copper discs.
The company targets three markets: recreational players, such as
those who play in garage bands, professionals, and growing ranks
buying cymbals as part of a therapeutic music regime. The cymbals
are also promoted in schools, with the hope that young musicians
will catch the Sabian fever early. Robert says the most effective
marketing tool is word of mouth.
That’s how Brendan Buckley, drummer and music producer currently
touring with Shakira in Europe, found out about Sabian. He started
using the brand in 1997 when he was on tour with Julio Iglesias
after a former classmate raved about the product. "I trusted his ears
immensely, so my curiosity was piqued," says Buckley.
The best way to choose a cymbal is by playing it, he says, since no
two sound the same.
Buckley has worked with Shakira for eight years, and while he says she
doesn’t concern herself with product names, she has "remarkable ears."
Another reason why the company has prospered is that its mission
includes meeting the needs of all customers, meaning it caters to
the discriminating needs of professionals.
"It’s not easy to get to Meductic," says Robert, but drummers such
as Phil Collins and the Neil Peart of Rush have made the journey.
"If you get a devoted musician, they’ll have a sound in the back of
their mind."
Sabian will work with drummers until the exact sound can be replicated
on the cymbal. Despite a high dollar, soaring metals prices and a
bitter family feud, Zildjian’s association with cymbals continues to
endure after several centuries.
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