He might have felt unprepared and bereft on becoming the head of the company, but he mapped out a strategy that has helped the firm develop into a major international player in the pet care industry.

Cardinal Laboratories Inc. was established in 1948 in Los Angeles, California. Today it has a 33,000 square foot manufacturing plant and two warehouses (30,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet) as well as a large yard and office building adjacent to the manufacturing facility.

Starting From Scratch
De Vos knew nothing at all about the pet industry or running a manufacturing plant when Larry Sica hired him. Born in Eindhoven, Holland in 1948, De Vos emigrated to the United States at the age of 13. After graduating from La Salle High School in Sierra Madre, California, he earned a degree in business administration and information systems from California State University in Los Angeles.

Cardinal Laboratories had somewhere between eight and ten employees when De Vos joined the company, following stints at several other firms, including the Bank of America.

Adversity And Triumph
When Cardinal laboratories lost its founder and guide, Larry Sica in 1981, De Vos had to pull himself together to keep the company going. He devised a plan and worked out a strategy to grow the firm into its present success.

He started with some advice he'd gotten from Sica, who once told him that "We never made a mistake until it went out the door." That emphasis on quality control and having systems in place to catch mistakes before they're shipped out is still the foundation of Cardinal's relationship with its customers.

Chief among those customers, particularly in the early days of the company, were the groomers. They relied on Cardinal to provide the products they needed and quality they could depend on. De Vos has never forgotten the support he received from those groomers, which is why the company sponsors the Cardinal Crystal Grooming Achievement Awards, presented each year at Intergroom, the largest international dog grooming show in the world. It's also one of the reasons De Vos is so active in industry trade associations. He wants to give back something to the people who helped him out when he needed it.

He believes that service to the customers is paramount, "Even if they (customers) order today and need it shipped today, which would be considered above and beyond the normal routine, we do our best to help them out. That's the only way we can all survive today helping each other out.

People Are Paramount
De Vos also attributes much of the company's success to the people who work there. "I want to give credit where credit is due. My management team and all my employees are qualified to do their jobs and they do them well. I feel confident that my people are watching our after their company. It's important to them too".

Employees at the company say similar things about De Vos. They clearly admire and respect him, enjoy his sense of humor and appreciate his warmth. Comments they've made about their boss include, "He always has a smile; he's always glad to see you," and "Tony's had some days when I thought, if it were me, I'd go bury my head in the sand. But Tony always faced his problems. He's always here. He's persistent and he sticks to something until it's resolved. I've really leaned something just by being around Tony every day."

Growth
With that kind of devotion and mutual admiration fueling it, it's no wonder that Cardinal Laboratories has grown and prospered. The number of employees has increased to more than one hundred. Sales have risen at a steady rate, actually doubling in some years. More than just luck and love brought about that result.

Taking a leadership role in trade associations has made Cardinal Laboratories highly visible in the industry and contributed to its growth. De Vos is a past president of the World Wide Pet Supply Association; he's a past president of the American Family Pet Society; and he has held leadership roles in the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association and The Pet Care Trust.

He is also constantly looking to "improve our products and keep up with the world in terms of technology. We were one of the first companies in the pet industry to be on-line with EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), we are up on the web, although we are still building and adding to the site. We do everything we can to grow with the times and to keep abreast."

By taking on personal responsibility for the International Sales division, De Vos has more than doubled international sales over the last two years. He expects the growth to continue at a rate of 25 to 30 percent over the next five years.

What's Really Important
Despite all this success, when asked to point to his proudest achievement De Vos says, "my families are all there is in the world. By that I mean my own family and my Cardinal family. Linda and I have been married 28 years this year. (We celebrated our Silver Anniversary with my parents. It was their Golden Wedding Anniversary, 50 years, imagine that!) We have two wonderful sons, Jason and Michael. I'm also the proud grandfather of Justin, age two, and enjoying every minute of it. What more can I say?"

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