We are proud of who we partner with
Did you ever notice while that there are 100’s of different papers, many choices of laminating films and mounting boards, there are really a small number of factories actually making those products. I was at a tradeshow recently and a colleague criticized us for being so open about who are suppliers are. Companies go to great lengths to protect their sources so that it is more difficult for you to change from them and consider competitors. They argued that I would be “safer” if I kept our suppliers invisible to our customers. I disagree and I think that is really pretty short-sighted on their part. While it may make it a little more difficult for customers to change suppliers, each of the suppliers has particular strengths and their products do process differently. Accordingly, not disclosing your supplier makes it more difficult for new customers, especially those who know what they need, to try your products.
As a converter, we do not extrude foam board, coat adhesive on film or make equipment and we do not pretend to “develop” those products. We bring those components together to make our customer’s lives easier and less complicated. But when we say an adhesive is acid free and archival or that an adhesive has been certified by Xerox, it helps to know who stands behind that statement with the testing and qc resources to insure that. Just as when you build your house, you want to know you have Kohler faucets or Pergo floors or Dupont laminate. You want to know the quality you are getting because it is important and quality makes things better.
I have been through the plants and used the products of all of our primary vendors. Our key vendors include the D&K Group, 3M, Gilman, Sekisui, Seal and Elmers. These are all adhesive, board, film and equipment manufacturers with rigorous quality control, products engineered to meet the changing needs of a digital marketplace, and most important of all - people who know their product and can answer questions. And all have significant local presence in the USA so the time to get supply and information is short. So when you deal with us, we can tap into their resources and bring them into a conference call so our customer needs can be met quickly and you can have a double layer of quality control which definitely adds value.
I am sure that the private label products are also good quality (and I usually know where they come from), but when you need to know a specific attribute or need a certificate for any purpose, transparency to the manufacturer makes things a lot smoother. And given our market niche to deliver products which are designed to make laminating less of a hassle, knowing our primary suppliers helps make using our products easier.