Because of the deadlines to make this issue of PM, a lot of work was accomplished in a short amount of time. And electronic technology saved the day, says Marissa Mason, a WearGuard business sales representative who worked on this makeover project, along with account manager Ann Munson.

"We were under such a tight time schedule, Jim Deiter (Deiter Bros.' president) and I worked with the electronics at our disposal -- the Internet and e-mail," Mason says. They found that e-mailing each other was a great way to resolve questions that arose while working through the selection process, rather than leaving voice messages and waiting for call backs.

So how do you makeover a bunch of plumbing and heating guys in record time?

"In this case, we acted not just as a uniform supply company but also as a consultant," she explains. "We asked Jim about his business and the types of work environments that his employees are exposed to every day. Based on our experience, we were able to choose some garments that we thought would give him the image he wanted -- durable yet stylish."

Mason also helped him out with the photo shoot for this article.

"I've been on photo shoots with clients, and you have to pay attention to the details," she says. "Like footwear: Everyone needed clean-looking footwear because you don't know if it's going to be a full shot or a close-up. So Jim bought the footwear and belts to get that clean, consistent look."

Munson then e-mailed Deiter the advised style numbers and directed him to WearGuard's Web site, www.wearguard.com. On each page he could see the different colors and sizes offered for each item, as well as descriptions of the fabrics.

He decided to go with a khaki-colored polo top and green work pants. Once his selection was made, Deiter went back to his crew and started collecting sizes for the 39 employees. Then the ordering process began.

"Normally the process to create an order like that would take a minimum of three to four weeks, and that's being conservative," Mason explains. "We turned Deiter Bros.' order around in about 10 business days."

Nothing like a magazine's production schedule to speed things up, huh?

Deiter adds: "WearGuard, and Marissa in particular, was extremely helpful, especially in getting our order out in a very short period of time. Each garment came marked with the employee's name on it, which made it very easy to distribute the uniforms to the appropriate person."

And how did it all turn out?

"The finished product looks and feels great," Deiter says. "The embroidered logo really 'pops.'"