As readers of this blog may know, I am with DACKOR 3D Laminates here in North America. Aside from stocking the laminates and making them available to the market and creating trends, we do a lot of specifications. Sometimes cabinet companies have a misunderstanding of what we do.
SPECIFICATION
As you may be aware, before a condo, apartment or hotel breaks ground, the designers choose colors and come up with a general design to be bid on. Designers are contracted either by the Architectural firm or directly by the owners. This is a critical point because if they specify an offshore producer.... or a veneer, for example, and your company's strength is membrane pressing doors then something could be specified that your company does not have a comparable advantage in. Just like HPL, Solid Surface and other architectural products, Dackor gets our colors specified and we do our best to also value engineer the project. We explain how important melamine matches are however ultimately this is a decision for the ultimate customer, the owner of the project.
WHY DO DESIGNERS WORK WITH MATERIAL SUPPLERS?
It is commonly known that Designers work with material suppliers rather than cabinet makers. I have suspected that the reason is that its viewed that for the Designer to work with the subs on a project that it is interfering with the bidding process. Often cabinet companies get exclusive materials and the price of their final work reflects that. By specifying the material, multiple people can bid on the project. This is the first theory. The second theory is that GCs do large projects and may owe funds to one supplier and so interfering with subs and specifying them may affect the cash flow of a project. In summary, its an industry conclusion that designers like to specify materials and then empower the GC to work with whom they choose. So if we are specifying 3D Laminates and you like working with our product segment we are doing you a service. We are lining up a project to fall into your wheel house and better assure that you get the project.
CHANGING SPECS
Dackor is not in the business of going to existing projects and trying to convince them to switch colors. Since our main customer is those with membrane or vacuum presses, we would never disrupt their business by trying to convince a color to be switched to ours. It is our goal to support and to further enhance the business of the door pressing community.
MISUNDERSTANDINGS
If you are a cabinet company who has previously done work for a General Contractor and then you see a Dackor specified laminate, it may seem that we are disrupting your business. This is inaccurate because the project could have been specified in an off shore cabinet color or a surfacing product which your factory is not equipped to produce. From your perspective, the GC is your customer and the wishes of the owner or the designer seem irrelevant however they are the ultimate customer who is paying for the cabinets. Also GCs use a wide variety of cabinet vendors and just having the spec be initially in a 3D Laminate gives your company a leg up to assure that its you who gets that project.
RECOMMENDING CABINET COMPANIES
Dackor is independent and does not favor any company over the other however if you own a membrane press its you who we want to impress, who we want to develop a relationship with. Its important to see our role in the process and to see value in us being out specifying 3D Laminates. Why not get closer to us to find out about other opportunities and to utilize us as an extension of your sales efforts. In addition, we can custom match colors and bring in colors to enable you to win projects that would normally go to another technology or go to another producer.
OTHER INDUSTRIES THAT SPECIFY
We are all aware that HPL producers such as Wilsonart, Formica and Laminart specify their laminates as well as countertop companies like Corian, Cambria and Silestone. In these markets it is quite common for items to be specified and there are such an abundance of companies who can process these materials. Please note that as a membrane or vacuum presser that you are in a unique group and although you are used to controlling the supply of these materials that it is not out of line or unordinary for us to specify our laminates prior to the GC being name and certainly before the Cabinet company is named. By the time you are called to bid the project we may have had a year prior into the specification process. Be sure to reach out to us and to work closely with us so that we can work towards mutual benefit. Ultimately we want to work more closely with you and to develop a closer relationship.
CONCLUSION
Dackor gets involved very early on in projects to specify our laminates. Projects specified in Dackor have been long before you have been involved in that project and before the GC has even been awarded the projects. If your company brings to us a project after the fact then we will refer to you and not even communicate with the Designer or owner for that matter. We understand very clearly the protocol and operate in that manner. We hope that you embrace us, become a customer to us and that we can feed each other business and grow together.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
How we stand in the way of our own success in sales
Some of my most popular posts in this blog have been based upon sales and marketing. In this article I'd like to explain how some companies impede their sales by putting too many constrictions on their success.
THEORY OF CONDITIONAL SUCCESS
In life too many people place conditional limits on their success. An example would be to say something like "Whenever I get a promotion, I'm going to start coming in to work early" or "Whenever I sell all the dead stock of this ugly maple I'll bring in a new maple". With conditional success we put limits on succeeding and tie them to things that are completely unrelated or in some cases they are even conflicting to the success. As you can see above, it may be a good idea to start coming in early in order to get the promotion now. Or in the case of the dead stock, the fact that one item is not selling has no correlation over whether or not the new maple will or will not sell.
WE ARE VEHICLES FOR THE DELIVERY OF DESIGN
Think of me or yourself as a vehicle to deliver a color or design. The market itself may or may not accept a new color or texture however the less restrictions we put on that discovery the better. Some restrictions can be things such as:
"I dont' like this color but its up to you". If you think of about it, your like or dislike of a color should never be forced on a client. Imagine if you sold cars at BMW and someone who liked blue cars came in and test drove a new 7 series and you commented "Its a nice car, too bad its blue". Taste in color is a personal opinion and its also about awareness. Because you are unaware of how to use a color in interior design yourself does not mean its impossible to make it look good. The consumer knows better what they want.
"I have too much inventory". The market itself does not care if you are carrying too much inventory of dead items. Imagine if you have too much dead stock of green or Sanibel maple and so you use this as an excuse not to bring in new items. The market itself may have demand for particular colors however the market itself has no care over how much dead inventory you or I have of non selling colors. Not bringing in new colors because of having too many old colors is a version of conditional success. Its like saying "I will start selling more new colors whenever I get rid of the old colors that are not selling" One has nothing to do with the other. I am not suggesting that you over extend yourself but its important to identify if we are in fact putting limitations on ourselves and then examine it.
THEORY OF FALSE CORRELATION
The theory of false correlation is where we draw conclusions based upon seemingly correlated facts however in truth there is no direct correlation. Imagine if you are a component producer who has been around since the 90s and most of your colors are HPL matches. I could show you a new Tafisa match and you could bring it into your stock and have no sales. You may say "This color doesnt sell" however thats a false conclusion because it could be a top 10 seller for me. A more accurate statement would be "I dont currently have many customers who use Tafisa board and most of my clients are refacers" That would be an accurate conclusion and therefore explain the poor sales results for that color. So by creating false correlations we operate business based upon false data and then make decisions based upon false data. Clarity and understanding of the market is key.
BAD POLLING RESULTS
Sometimes I have spoken to door producers and I've heard them say "Well I just put the door out on my counter display and we will see if the market likes it". Does this accurately depict their entire customer base or just the refacers who pick up the doors themselves personally? Its clearly a selected demographic of just their counter sales and not of their entire sales. Its quite possible that their cabinet customers who are decision makers may not pick up their doors personally and may have them delivered. So the sampling is skewed. Dont feel bad about poor polling though.... Whenever you watch or read the news listen to their poor poll results. They will draw conclusions about public schools based upon a poll they did in Manhattan. Not exactly a national sampling to draw any type of consensus.
POOR LIMITATION OF SUPPLIERS
Another thing I will commonly see is when a company may buy all their laminate from one company. When I ask them about this they say "Well we like so and so sales rep" or "Their freight costs less" or "We like to consolidate our suppliers". Although when we are the company exclusively supplying them it seems great but at what expense? The overall success of our customers is the most important factor and laminate should not be purchased the same way that you buy boxes. Each laminate supplier will have a list of top 10 sellers and the reality is that sticking to just one supplier can hurt your sales over all. There is definitely some merit in focusing on 2 or 3 suppliers to get purchasing power or to demand more service and to diversify however sticking to one supplier will only limit your growth except in rare circumstances.
LIMITATION OF SAMPLES
Another thing one can do to limit sales is to having too few sample chains. If you ever find that you do not have enough sample or literature and you are selected which interested buyers do or do not get samples then this can cause a severe limitation in sales. Its an example of a way we can stand in our own way to selling more.
PREMATURE DELETION OF COLORS FROM STOCK
Another example of how we can hurt ourselves is by premature deletion of colors from the stock line up. Imagine if a laminate, board or door company takes on a new color and it can take 6 months to a year to first create awareness by distribute the samples and then the market itself must be timed properly for that shade of color. Tastes change and imagine if a board company releases a color too soon, takes 6 months to get samples out, distributors dont take the color into their line and then the color is deleted before it becomes relative. Its difficult to do however the timing of colors is critical and that is to have the right color be released at the right time to create relevance. If a board company discontinues an item, under most cases this will kill the 3DL sales.
NOT ENOUGH SALES REPRESENTATION
Most component, laminate and furniture producers in this industry do not have enough sales representation. The problem with this is that it means that our sales become limited to a core group of customers or based upon existing demand. I often notice that if we have a duplicate to another film company or in many cases they have a duplicate to ours that suddenly our sales will grow. Logic would suggest that if I were the only one to have this color that I should get all the sales but its quite the contrary. The market movement of more people promoting colors creates a larger over all market. By not having enough sales representation we limit our sales to only the existing demand and no new fresh business is created or discovered.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the key for us all is to step out of the way of ourselves in order to let the market and the colors do the work. By eliminating conditional success, holding our opinions to ourselves, diversifying supply, distributing adequate samples and being patient and consistent we can better discover if a color has potential or not.
THEORY OF CONDITIONAL SUCCESS
In life too many people place conditional limits on their success. An example would be to say something like "Whenever I get a promotion, I'm going to start coming in to work early" or "Whenever I sell all the dead stock of this ugly maple I'll bring in a new maple". With conditional success we put limits on succeeding and tie them to things that are completely unrelated or in some cases they are even conflicting to the success. As you can see above, it may be a good idea to start coming in early in order to get the promotion now. Or in the case of the dead stock, the fact that one item is not selling has no correlation over whether or not the new maple will or will not sell.
WE ARE VEHICLES FOR THE DELIVERY OF DESIGN
Think of me or yourself as a vehicle to deliver a color or design. The market itself may or may not accept a new color or texture however the less restrictions we put on that discovery the better. Some restrictions can be things such as:
"I dont' like this color but its up to you". If you think of about it, your like or dislike of a color should never be forced on a client. Imagine if you sold cars at BMW and someone who liked blue cars came in and test drove a new 7 series and you commented "Its a nice car, too bad its blue". Taste in color is a personal opinion and its also about awareness. Because you are unaware of how to use a color in interior design yourself does not mean its impossible to make it look good. The consumer knows better what they want.
"I have too much inventory". The market itself does not care if you are carrying too much inventory of dead items. Imagine if you have too much dead stock of green or Sanibel maple and so you use this as an excuse not to bring in new items. The market itself may have demand for particular colors however the market itself has no care over how much dead inventory you or I have of non selling colors. Not bringing in new colors because of having too many old colors is a version of conditional success. Its like saying "I will start selling more new colors whenever I get rid of the old colors that are not selling" One has nothing to do with the other. I am not suggesting that you over extend yourself but its important to identify if we are in fact putting limitations on ourselves and then examine it.
THEORY OF FALSE CORRELATION
The theory of false correlation is where we draw conclusions based upon seemingly correlated facts however in truth there is no direct correlation. Imagine if you are a component producer who has been around since the 90s and most of your colors are HPL matches. I could show you a new Tafisa match and you could bring it into your stock and have no sales. You may say "This color doesnt sell" however thats a false conclusion because it could be a top 10 seller for me. A more accurate statement would be "I dont currently have many customers who use Tafisa board and most of my clients are refacers" That would be an accurate conclusion and therefore explain the poor sales results for that color. So by creating false correlations we operate business based upon false data and then make decisions based upon false data. Clarity and understanding of the market is key.
BAD POLLING RESULTS
Sometimes I have spoken to door producers and I've heard them say "Well I just put the door out on my counter display and we will see if the market likes it". Does this accurately depict their entire customer base or just the refacers who pick up the doors themselves personally? Its clearly a selected demographic of just their counter sales and not of their entire sales. Its quite possible that their cabinet customers who are decision makers may not pick up their doors personally and may have them delivered. So the sampling is skewed. Dont feel bad about poor polling though.... Whenever you watch or read the news listen to their poor poll results. They will draw conclusions about public schools based upon a poll they did in Manhattan. Not exactly a national sampling to draw any type of consensus.
POOR LIMITATION OF SUPPLIERS
Another thing I will commonly see is when a company may buy all their laminate from one company. When I ask them about this they say "Well we like so and so sales rep" or "Their freight costs less" or "We like to consolidate our suppliers". Although when we are the company exclusively supplying them it seems great but at what expense? The overall success of our customers is the most important factor and laminate should not be purchased the same way that you buy boxes. Each laminate supplier will have a list of top 10 sellers and the reality is that sticking to just one supplier can hurt your sales over all. There is definitely some merit in focusing on 2 or 3 suppliers to get purchasing power or to demand more service and to diversify however sticking to one supplier will only limit your growth except in rare circumstances.
LIMITATION OF SAMPLES
Another thing one can do to limit sales is to having too few sample chains. If you ever find that you do not have enough sample or literature and you are selected which interested buyers do or do not get samples then this can cause a severe limitation in sales. Its an example of a way we can stand in our own way to selling more.
PREMATURE DELETION OF COLORS FROM STOCK
Another example of how we can hurt ourselves is by premature deletion of colors from the stock line up. Imagine if a laminate, board or door company takes on a new color and it can take 6 months to a year to first create awareness by distribute the samples and then the market itself must be timed properly for that shade of color. Tastes change and imagine if a board company releases a color too soon, takes 6 months to get samples out, distributors dont take the color into their line and then the color is deleted before it becomes relative. Its difficult to do however the timing of colors is critical and that is to have the right color be released at the right time to create relevance. If a board company discontinues an item, under most cases this will kill the 3DL sales.
NOT ENOUGH SALES REPRESENTATION
Most component, laminate and furniture producers in this industry do not have enough sales representation. The problem with this is that it means that our sales become limited to a core group of customers or based upon existing demand. I often notice that if we have a duplicate to another film company or in many cases they have a duplicate to ours that suddenly our sales will grow. Logic would suggest that if I were the only one to have this color that I should get all the sales but its quite the contrary. The market movement of more people promoting colors creates a larger over all market. By not having enough sales representation we limit our sales to only the existing demand and no new fresh business is created or discovered.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the key for us all is to step out of the way of ourselves in order to let the market and the colors do the work. By eliminating conditional success, holding our opinions to ourselves, diversifying supply, distributing adequate samples and being patient and consistent we can better discover if a color has potential or not.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Recycled Water Bottles made into Cabinet doors?
B2L or Bottle 2 Laminate recycles 2 PET water bottles for every square foot of laminate produced. In the US, approximately 50 billion water bottles are consumed yearly which consumes 35 to 50 million barrels of oil. World wide, the consumption of water bottles is approximately 200 billion bottles of water per year. A large portion of every water bottle consumed ends up in land fills where it can take over 1000 years to decompose. Now imagine for a moment that these water bottles can be turned into usable products.
www.bottle2laminate.com
Stop and Imagine for a moment how much white 3D Laminate is sold. When companies introduce new wood designs an outstanding wood typically is still in the single digit sales on the whole. White however ranges from 30% to 80% of a company's sales. Doesnt it stand to reason that aside from making it for less that there has got to be opportunities to sell more in your local market or quite possibly increase revenue and margin? In total, white is more than the lower cost item, white is a neutral tone or pallet that can mix with any wall paint color and also for spaces like a closet it opens up the space and makes it seem bigger. Isnt that one goal of a closet is to gain space whether it be physical or perceptual? So the ultimate question is, how many of your clients want white but just for the sake of it being white not solely because of the cost.
In a typical closet white melamine is the largest portion of the expense followed by the doors in most cases. The drawers themselves are much smaller in terms of square footage yet can a white drawer be the source of additional margin and/or customer satisfaction? Imagine for a moment that each of your white job sales were presented with the option of upgrading to a recycled drawer front for the closet? Certainly we can estimate that a very large portion of the clients will prefer not to upgrade however even if 20% choose to upgrade that figure alone would be much larger than any new wood design that one could introduce. As a design element, it enables your company to then separate itself from the competition by making the product available. For those consumers who are looking for something new, or unique or quite possibly a conversation piece in their closet B2L can delivery a truely unique surface that not only helps the environment but also shows the capability of manufacturing in figuring out how to harness materials bound for the landfills and package them in new products that are still reasonable in cost.
Another strategy which harnesses a new product like B2L is to offer the product as a free upgrade for certain clients. How many customers come in to shop price, service and features? You may identify some clients who like the green aspect but are unwilling to pay for it. In fact they are shopping multiple companies and using price as a determining factor. If selectively offered a free upgrade by saying "Look we may not be the least costly but our company stands by our product and we are willing to include the Recycled Product at no additional charge. " Such a proposition can give the customer value without reducing the price. Since the product is not yet mainstream, if you are the only one offering this in your market you may secure jobs simply by being the first to integrate a sustainable white.
In conclusion there are many ways to position a product however one of the most important things is to showcase products in a manner that shows the end user that your company is innovative and brings them the newest surfaces on the market.
Footnote:
B2L is great for
- Office Desk tops
- Store Fixtures
- Wall Panels
- Door and Drawer fronts for Kitchens, Closets and Hospital Furniture
www.bottle2laminate.com
www.bottle2laminate.com
Stop and Imagine for a moment how much white 3D Laminate is sold. When companies introduce new wood designs an outstanding wood typically is still in the single digit sales on the whole. White however ranges from 30% to 80% of a company's sales. Doesnt it stand to reason that aside from making it for less that there has got to be opportunities to sell more in your local market or quite possibly increase revenue and margin? In total, white is more than the lower cost item, white is a neutral tone or pallet that can mix with any wall paint color and also for spaces like a closet it opens up the space and makes it seem bigger. Isnt that one goal of a closet is to gain space whether it be physical or perceptual? So the ultimate question is, how many of your clients want white but just for the sake of it being white not solely because of the cost.
In a typical closet white melamine is the largest portion of the expense followed by the doors in most cases. The drawers themselves are much smaller in terms of square footage yet can a white drawer be the source of additional margin and/or customer satisfaction? Imagine for a moment that each of your white job sales were presented with the option of upgrading to a recycled drawer front for the closet? Certainly we can estimate that a very large portion of the clients will prefer not to upgrade however even if 20% choose to upgrade that figure alone would be much larger than any new wood design that one could introduce. As a design element, it enables your company to then separate itself from the competition by making the product available. For those consumers who are looking for something new, or unique or quite possibly a conversation piece in their closet B2L can delivery a truely unique surface that not only helps the environment but also shows the capability of manufacturing in figuring out how to harness materials bound for the landfills and package them in new products that are still reasonable in cost.
Another strategy which harnesses a new product like B2L is to offer the product as a free upgrade for certain clients. How many customers come in to shop price, service and features? You may identify some clients who like the green aspect but are unwilling to pay for it. In fact they are shopping multiple companies and using price as a determining factor. If selectively offered a free upgrade by saying "Look we may not be the least costly but our company stands by our product and we are willing to include the Recycled Product at no additional charge. " Such a proposition can give the customer value without reducing the price. Since the product is not yet mainstream, if you are the only one offering this in your market you may secure jobs simply by being the first to integrate a sustainable white.
In conclusion there are many ways to position a product however one of the most important things is to showcase products in a manner that shows the end user that your company is innovative and brings them the newest surfaces on the market.
Footnote:
B2L is great for
- Office Desk tops
- Store Fixtures
- Wall Panels
- Door and Drawer fronts for Kitchens, Closets and Hospital Furniture
www.bottle2laminate.com
Friday, May 4, 2012
What a business can learn from the Octopus
When you think about life, humans or business we should all look at nature to see how animals have adapted for survival. One amazing animal is the Octopus.
The most obvious thing would be that Octopuses have 8 arms. Actually the arms are four sets of two. Aside from the arms, the Octopus's intelligence and adaptability is what makes it truly a unique animal. Some site that the Octopus has been around for over 400 million years and it has developed quite intelligent tricks to enable its survival.
The Octopus can:
1. NICHE: Fit into small spaces just like a business can serve niche parts of a market. Octopuses the size of your fist fit though the neck of a beer bottle and hide out from predators on the ocean floor. This flexibility enables it to get into tight areas free from harm.
Example for our Industry: Firstly with so much manufacturing that has gone to Asia simply making custom components is already considered somewhat a niche in the grand scheme of materials. A further niche could be a focus on complex parts that are thicker, sculputural panels, a focus on the closet industry or a focus on refacing.
A. Focus complex Parts such as thicker parts. If a company was to focus on this niche it would require them to enhance their CAD abilities and also to invest into a press than would make these deeper parts.
B. Sculptural Panels: If a company were to focus on this market they would have to invest into that specific tooling and also focus on building the rep or specification sales arms to succeed.
C. Closet Industry: If a company were to focus on this segment they would have to focus on bringing in 3D Laminates that matched the boards being most used in their market.
D. Refacing: If a company were focused this market they would need to develop match HPL backed thermofoils or possibly peel and stick backed product which companies like Dackor offer.
The point is that it is very difficult to be all things to all people and so its easier to focus on a Niche for not only survival but also to become the best at that niche. If your company attempted to serve all the markets then you wouldnt have the right press for the thicker parts, or the right tooling for the sculptural panels or all the board matches for the Closet Industry or would never quite develop the match system for refacing. In essence you'd probably get a bit accomplished of all the goals but never be the master of one. This dispersing of time and capital makes you vulnerable to the predators of the ocean who are either more focused or have the resources to accomplish all tasks.
2. ADAPTABILITY: When facing adversity many Octopuses change color to conceal themselves in coral or in the sand. They change and adapt just like businesses must change and adapt with market conditions. In fact, Octopus have been known to change colors to mimick lionfish, sea snakes and eels. This means that the Octopus is intelligent enough to have self awareness in order to aspire to be a more dangerous predator when its life is put in danger; Amazing if you think about it. In waters near islands, Octopuses have been known to grab two coconut shells that were bust in half and use them as shields to fend off its competitors of the sea.
Example for our Industry:
The first thing that comes to mind is the ability for a business to change with the times. Lets suppose that textures are becoming a trend and all your swatch books in the market have yesterday's colors however if you are adaptable you could quickly add the newest textures being offered to change the appearance of your swatch book offering to adapt to the image the market desire.
3. INK: When attacked in open water the Octopus will deploy ink and then disappear to a safer hiding spot. I used to live in Japan for several years and developed a taste for Octopus at the Sushi bar but when the Octopus releases the ink in open water it makes the water taste bad and reduces the desire for larger predators to continue pursuit.
Example for our Industry:
If you compare the example of the Octopus unleashing ink to make the water taste bad and hence think that the Octopus will taste bad imagine your company focusing on a niche industry while your competitors are spread out too thin. If you were focused on the reface market for example and all of your matches had complimentary HPL matches, you could process HPL back and even peel stick back then it would spoil the water for a would be competitor. A competitor would come in to eat your lunch only to taste the ink in the water and decide not to attack this market due the high barrier of entry you have created. I could apply this example to the Closet Industry, Sculptural Panels, or any other part of the market as well.
CONCLUSION:
I hope that as I've used the example of the Octopus that you feel inspired to continue on your current path or for some you may, in fact, rethink how you are currently going about things and hopefully this article may inspire in some way.
I hope that as I've used the example of the Octopus that you feel inspired to continue on your current path or for some you may, in fact, rethink how you are currently going about things and hopefully this article may inspire in some way.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Drying Racks for 3D Laminate components
Recently I received a call from a company who just got a press. They said they were looking for drying racks and that when asking around people recommend that they call me. I was so happy to hear this because it signifies that people know I will go the extra mile and if I dont know the answer I'll find it out. So I looked through my notes and right away found the following site which sells carts for drying thermofoil doors and other components.
shopcartsusa.com
shopcartsusa.com
Cost $325 for Drying Tower DT-50. 50 shelves 25 per side
This is the price the last I checked however it may change by the time you read this post.
If you are ever looking for something or need pressing assistance please dont hesitate to ask. Also if its a topic or product that you do not want me to publish on this blog you can also request that as well.
Dackor does sell tools at www.dackor.com/tools however we do not currently carry drying racks.
Monday, April 23, 2012
3D Laminating Open House at Black Brothers
A P R I L 2 0 1 2
Industry News:
As many of you may already know, Black Brothers purchased the membrane press division of Shaw Almex.
On April 26th Thursday and the morning of the Friday 27th this week Black Brothers is having a 3D Laminating Open House which is running in conjunction with KBIS Chicago 2012. If you are attending KBIS on Tuesday and Wednesday you may just want to stay a bit longer. The drive from Chicago to Mendota, IL is about 1.5 hours. If your are are not renting a car but will be in Chicago you may also contact me for a ride to Mendota and back to Chicago on Friday afternoon.
At the open house there will be the following presentations:
1. Spraying Techniques Session by Craig Thomas from Daubert Craig has also authored a blog for this 3D Laminate Blog entitled: Adhesive Spraying Tips for RTF Doors
2. Current & New Markets by Dennis Lebrecht from SSI
Dennis will speak about the existing and upcoming market trends using 3D Laminates.
3. High Gloss Film Lamination by Mark Viers from DACKOR
I will be speak in depth about manufacturing 3D Laminate doors using High Gloss and going into depth on how to get rid of orange peel and wrinkles.
4. Trouble Shooting Solutions by Bill Formella from CSI
Bill will present solutions and tips on how to trouble shoot problems in membrane pressing.
This is an open house and open. You may also contact Black Brothers at:
Black Brothers
501 Ninth Avenue / P.O. Box 410 / Mendota, IL 61342
Tel: 815-539-7465
Contact: Ed Strahota
eds@blackbros.com
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Whitening on the corners of 3D Laminate thermofoil doors
There are many different tips and tricks to pressing. Often I am asked for formulas however I often find that each company may require different settings based upon the material they are pressing, the profiles, glue type, stage height and so on. One common issue that all companies have or will eventually face are whitening on the corners.
There are many misconceptions about what causes whitening on the corners and typically the laminate is blamed for the issue. Although the laminate can be a reason it is not necessarily the culprit. Read more to delve into the issues and the solutions on whitened corners on the doors.
First I'd like to separate lightening from whitening. I define lightened corners as separations between the print layer and the base film layer and whitened corners as separations between the top cap and the print layer. When you see a corner that is lightened it is typically revealing the base layer of the foil. One over generalization is that a lighter backer of the foil is the issue. When thermofoils are produced typically the lighter backer is used as the base tone of the design. Quality manufacturers have dozens of backers whereas a low end manufacturer may have only a few bases to choose or may use a white backer on a dark woodgrain for example. But most common you will find mustard , almond or chocolate backers on most woodgrains and if any foil is over formed it will reveal the base layer and therefore have whitened or lightened corners.
Another common mistake is that you can bend a sample and when it whitens that is evidence that the material will whiten when pressing. When you bend a thermofoil sample and it whitens it typically is forcing the top layer away from the base layer and this is very common among quality manufacturers and will not necessarily cause whitening on the edges when pressing. It in fact shows how they produce their film in respect to the printing layers whether direct printed, reverse printed or at what temperature the material was laminated at. In fact, many high end manufacturers darker colors will whiten when you bend them. So if a sales person grins and bends his sample to show that it doesn't whiten they are trying to show their product is of a higher quality but it is really just a bi-product of how they produce their product or may even show that their company doesn't even have the capability to produce by direct print with a finished top cap. They may actually be showing a weakness of their product and not even knowing it. By bending a sample it will not necessarily stop whitening on the corners when membrane pressing. In the application of miter folding PVC bending the sample does in fact have a direct correlation to whitening issues because the part will be bent at a lower temp whereas in membrane pressing the part is formed at full temp.
Want to know how to tell the difference between a top cap separation and a print layer separation?.... The key way to tell is if your parts lighten to a clear or bluish edge or if they whitened to the color of the base of the film. If they whiten to the base of the film then its not caused by the top layer separating. If the corner of the door is in fact bluish or clear in tone you can test it by rubbing it with a block of wood or flaring it with a heat gun. In a miter folding application of a thermofoil a wooden block or heat gun can be used to reseal the top cap to the whitened area. In a membrane pressing application the key will typically be to use a higher heat so that it soaks through the foil and does not cause a separation between a top cap and a print layer.
The most common problem with lightened corners are caused by either too much or too little heat. With too much heat you will over stretch the material and will typically find the outer doors that do not have jigs or are not on the edge of the table. The material is heated up too high and then there is no jig or tray filler to capture material and then the laminate may get over stretched on the corners. A simple solution is to put a jig / tray filler close to the edge.
Another common problem with lightened corners are caused by too little heat. When the material is too soft or has cold spots on the table the material can separate on the print in the areas where it is being stretched the most which is typically the edge or corners of the doors. You can put a heat strip in various places on the press to find any cold or hot spots in your table.
For darker colors such as a Wenge which has ticking you may also find that these darker colors are more likely to have too much heat applied to fast. What I mean is that the dark woodgrains are likely to absorb heat faster than a lighter woodgrain and especially when using bulb heating elements. In addition if the foil has aggressive ticking you may find that these deep ticks become separation starters. So the material pulls apart faster between the ticks. The solution for this is to move a jig / table filler closer to that edge and it should solve the problem right away.
In general most press operators think in terms of board feed rate in their saws or imput data into the press machine but we often have to think of membrane pressing as more of an art. To recap,
1. Whitened corners can be due to the material being too hot. Solution: Put fillers closer to the edge of the part
2. Whitened corners can be due to the material being too cold. Solution: Increase the preheat by 10%. Be sure to use heat strips to ascertain this
3. Dark woodgrains or items with deep texture can whiten easier. Solution: Put fillers closer to the edge of the part
I hope that you find this post helpful and if you would like to add any tips or points please feel free to send me an email.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Virtual Image Creation
Have you ever looked at a car brochure and thought of how amazing the brochures are? Now look at a typical cabinet or furniture brochure and it pales in comparison.
Over the years I have noticed that the European cabinet and company brochures were always more nice than the North American counterpart. What I discovered a few years back was that these high quality images were created using virtual images. Virtual images create images from scratch using modelling softwares, shading and coloration to create images from scratch. This gives not only life like images but when done properly the images actually turn out better than a photo that you could take.
Dackor not only makes and stocks 3D Laminates to specification but we also market heavily in a variety of ways. One way we market our laminates is through our catalogues and website; yet another way is through calling on Architects and designers. Now we have added the capability to create Virtual Images in house at discounted rates which enable our customers to have amazing images created that can market product without the cost or space that a display takes up.
Please browse the images at:
Please let us know if you have any questions.
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