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INDUSTRIAL BRUSH SECTOR As we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel on the COVID-19 pandemic, we took the opportunity to catch up with three key players in the industrial brush industry to get their insights on the sector. MICHELLE SWINIARSKI: SCHAEFER BRUSH / GORNELL BRUSH What has been your best-performing product over the past 12 months? Product category sales heightened as they related to the cleaning industry. Brushes related to the MRO industrial sector skyrocketed with the increased cleaning practices required during the height of the pandemic. What made this a challenge during the pandemic was securing raw materials, while various businesses were navigating the challenges of being able to operate and ship, while everyone operated under different business operating rules during this past year. Any underperforming segments in the past 12 months?
sales may become the norm as businesses continue to adjust to the new normal and realize the value of sustaining the cleaning practices learned this past year. Biggest challenges over the past year and any current issues? This past year was a challenge in shifting production schedules and raw material purchases to meet high demand in product categories that excelled during the pandemic. It was also a challenge at times keeping up with the changing information as it related to protocols and cleaning regimens at the onset of the pandemic. We kept open communications with our employees as information was received and held question and answer sessions, so everyone was comfortable and knowledgeable as we faced ever-changing work environments. Any final comments? We are excited about 2021 and beyond. We look forward to meeting with our customers again and are grateful for their business and support. We are thankful that we were able to support so many of our customers as we all navigated this exceptionally challenging past year together. We look forward to seeing everyone again and are enthusiastic about the business growth ahead.
Sales dropped at the beginning of the pandemic as non-essential businesses around the country were closed and medical facilities focused on the COVID-19 virus and training their staff. Our product lines that were related to HVAC took a dip during the pandemic with businesses and residences locked down. Our custom brush category was also down as businesses shut.
JIM BENJAMIN: PRECISION BRUSH COMPANY
How would you characterize your current volume of overall sales?
What has been your best-performing product over the past 12 months?
Schaefer Brush and Gornell Brush sales are extremely strong, and businesses are opening back up and resuming ordering. There is a large backlog of need as businesses open and return to servicing their customers. We are not seeing seasonal sales for items that would typically have low/high sales depending upon the time of the year. Businesses are restocking as quickly as they are able and placing repeat orders rapidly.
We started
What is your 12-month outlook? We anticipate very strong sales as the world reopens and begins normal operations. The trend of increased cleaning product
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out last year pretty strong. We mostly concentrate on custom products, which is a good thing. The one thing that has been steady all long is food processing brushes. Everybody still needs to eat. We are seeing a little bit more of a trend toward automation – companies trying to take out labor, whether it’s cleaning or
