Surface & Panel Q1 2018

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METROPOLITAN: A PROFILE OF GROWTH CLOSET AMERICA: PROCESSES, PRODUCTS, PEOPLE CABINET COMPANY ACPI USES NEW SPACE TO GO HIGH END AMBITIOUS ASHLEY EYES CONTINUED EXPANSION DIGITAL RISING

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No matter how you look at it, has you covered.

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Many people are involved in the development of decorative panels and surfaces. Designers must appeal to customers and meet their performance demands. Manufacturers are concerned with production efficiency and productivity. Of course, management has a laser focus on the bottom line.

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Inspiration? Walmart Finally Getting It Right Online Walmart finally woke up and smelled the coffee.

Furniture cannot be sold online like paper towels or Fancy Feast cat food. Walmart’s new senior vice president of e-commerce home division, Anthony Soohoo, admits that furnishings and décor are inspired purchases. To that end, Walmart is launching a new website for furnishings and home décor.

The new website will feature collections of furniture that are grouped by trends and put together by inhouse stylists. Consumers can choose from nine styles: modern, midcentury, traditional, glam, industrial, bohemian, farmhouse, transitional and Scandinavian.

“Over the past year, we've nearly doubled our home assortment and introduced a wide variety of furniture and home décor items, like a new Scandinavian line of furniture and a refreshed assortment of modern furniture,” Soohoo said. “Now, it is going to be that much easier for customers to shop these items and more.”

Walmart might be a little late to recognize that most consumers have little imagination. And most consumers will admit that they can’t articulate what they want, but they know it when they see it.

Furniture retailers with extensive experience romancing the consumer “in store” have long recognized they need to inspire online, as well. Consumers need to see what they are buying in the context of a room setting or style. Fierce competition exists online between Target, Wayfair, IKEA, La-Z-Boy and Amazon.

And it’s about to heat up even more with Walmart’s inclusion of more upscale brand offerings and a new-

“Decorative surface and composite panel materials, processing technology and improved furniture and cabinet designs have collectively made a quantum leap. In doing so, I believe, they have pulled the industry along with them.”

found understanding that everyone—and I mean everyone—responds positively to great design.

So don’t write this monster off in the home furnishings category. The new site launches soon. It will be interesting to see the results.

The best news for panel processors in the furniture and cabinet categories is that our industry’s full complement of decorative surfaces, and the composite panels that go hand in glove with them, are seen in virtually every Walmart style category listed above. And that’s just for starters. Target, IKEA, Wayfair, et al. are selling similar panel-processed products, made with our industry’s materials. It’s great news for everyone. Decorative surface and composite panel materials, processing technology and improved furniture and cabinet designs have collectively made a quantum leap. In doing so, I believe, they have pulled the industry along with them.

For 15 years, the Surface & Panel tagline has been “uniting materials, technology and design.” I’m proud to have witnessed the heights this industry has reached, and it’s rewarding to know we just might have been right in believing that a small industry niche could become a global phenomenon.

John Aufderhaar | President | Bedford Falls Communications | john@bedfordfallsmedia.com | 920-206-1766 surface&panel

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6 Metropolitan: A Profile of 100 Percent Growth in Modern Cabinetmaking Metropolitan curates stock, semi-custom and custom residential cabinet lines, in large part by outsourcing components—without the traditional cabinetmakers’ existential remorse.

18 Slow But Steady Growth Expected In Housing Industry [ D E P A R T M E N T S ]

Forecasts from the National Association of Home Builders and its chief economist, Robert Dietz.

22 Processes, Products, People Closet America’s full-on pursuit of excellence propels company to impressive, wide-ranging success.

3 From the Publisher 6 4 From the Editor

34 Cabinet Company acpi Uses New Space To Go High End With Frameless Serenade Line Cabinet maker acpi expands into a new facility while creating a new high-end line to add to its other brands, frameless cabinets, requiring panel processing as a major part of the operation.

66 Advertiser Index

46 Panels, Decorative Surfaces Remain Key Materials

As Ambitious Ashley Eyes Continued Expansion Ashley Furniture has a good handle on what’s hot and what trends will affect the furniture industry in the years ahead.

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John Aufderhaar President | Bedford Falls Communications 302 N. 3rd Street, Watertown, WI 53094 PH: 920-206-1766 john@bedfordfallsmedia.com

52 Digital Rising Customization, speed, efficiency among key attributes of emerging print technology.

58 Moving the Industry Forward

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Scott W. Angus Editorial Director | Bedford Falls Communications 302 N. 3rd Street, Watertown, WI 53094 PH: 920-261-1947 scottangus47@gmail.com

Second symposium builds off inaugural event’s resounding success.

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Ryan Wagner VP Sales & Marketing | Bedford Falls Communications 302 N. 3rd Street, Watertown, WI 53094 PH: 920-261-1945 rwagner@bedfordfallsmedia.com G R A P H I C D E SI G N — P R I N T P U B L I C AT I O N S

Karen Leno Graphic Designer | KML Design, Inc. kmldesign@mchsi.com

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METROPOLITAN: A PROFILE OF GROWTH CLOSET AMERICA: PROCESSES, PRODUCTS, PEOPLE CABINET COMPANY ACPI USES NEW SPACE TO GO HIGH END AMBITIOUS ASHLEY EYES CONTINUED EXPANSION DIGITAL RISING

ON THE COVER:

Metropolitan Cabinets & Countertops feature Tafisa's VIVA on the cabinets in the bathroom.

Surface & Panel is published quarterly by Bedford Falls Communications, Inc., 302 N. 3rd Street, Watertown, WI 53094, telephone 920-206-1766. John Aufderhaar, President, Christine Aufderhaar, CFO. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical without written permission from the publisher. Subscription policy: Individual subscriptions are available, without charge, to manufacturers who engage in panel processing, qualified service providers and suppliers. Publisher reserves the right to reject non-qualified subscribers. One year subscription to non-qualified individuals: U.S. $50, Canada/Mexico $75, all other countries $100, payable in U.S. funds. Single issues are $15, and must be prepaid. Bedford Falls Communications, Inc., does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material contained herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident, or any other cause whatsoever. Printed in the U.S.A. Postmaster: Send address changes to Surface & Panel, 440 QUADRANGLE DR, STE E, BOLINGBROOK, IL 60440-3455. Please direct all subscription questions to: Surface & Panel, 440 QUADRANGLE DR, STE E, BOLINGBROOK, IL 60440-3455; or call: 630-739-0900 option 1; or e-mail: subscriptions@cds1976.com

Metropolitan: A Profile of 100 Percent Growth in Modern Cabinetmaking S U Z A N N E

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n some ways, Metropolitan Cabinets & Countertops, located in Norwood, Massachusetts, is a typical North American cabinetmaker. It’s a family business. It’s been in operation for decades—2018 marks its 34th anniversary.

Its primary competition is from overseas.

But there’s a fundamental difference in Metropolitan’s story that gives the company a slightly different, and very effective, approach to making cabinets.

For the first 20 years, Metropolitan Cabinets & Countertops didn’t make cabinets—only Corian and laminate countertops. Stuart Elfland and his father, Mike, founded the company as a small stock cabinet distributorship after a local dealer closed.

From the beginning, Metropolitan’s purpose was clearly defined: to provide high-quality products to the trade.

Guided by this principle, Metropolitan curates stock, semi-custom and custom residential cabinet lines, in part by outsourcing components.

When multi-unit commercial contractors needed cabinets, however, Metropolitan brought in automated panelprocessing technology and took full advantage of the new machinery.

“The foundation of the company is making the trade’s job easier,” said Peter Laufer, vice president of Metropolitan.

“Every partnership, investment and strategic expansion serves the original purpose. It’s how Metropolitan became the biggest cabinet manufacturer and stone countertop fabricator in the Northeast.”

Metropolitan’s cabinet offering spans nearly every price point and surface material. It can be broken into two distinct categories, residential and multi-unit.

Both are sold exclusively through the trade (architects, designers, contractors, developers, property managers and remodeling companies). Both serve the greater Boston area. Both customizable product lines are fulfilled in a newly expanded state-of-the-art, 145,000-square-foot facility.

Both feature cabinet boxes for frameless and inset cabinets made in house from States Industries’ SoyStrong NAF plywood. Both use high-quality functional Blum hardware.

But each category has a different go-to-market strategy, production process and material palette.

Metropolitan’s utilization of industry resources and investments have increased cabinet production by nearly 100 percent in the past two years.

“Our owner, Stuart Elfland, understands the marketplace.

He’s on the floor every day,” said Matt Gaudette, director of cabinet manufacturing for Metropolitan. “He makes sure we are a state-of-the-art facility. That involvement is an important part of our growth.”

A company profile provides an interesting overview of the changing shape of cabinet manufacturing.

Tafisa’s VIVA wins the day Metropolitan Cabinets & Countertops’ multi-unit division first engaged with global multifamily real estate developer Greystar by doing occasional tenant turnover jobs. Metropolitan’s agility and proximity give it an advantage over international competition for local rental renovations, which vary in number and require quick turnaround.

When Greystar began planning the Elan Union Market apartment complex in Watertown, Massachusetts, there was a lot of competition for the 282-unit project.

“The original spec was thermofoil,” said Scott Donoghue, director of multi-family business development for Metropolitan. “As a domestic supplier, we knew we couldn’t beat the price of international suppliers. Fortunately, that was when Tafisa released their VIVA embossed-in-register TFL.” Embossing texture on a decorative surface isn’t new. On a large scale, there are several methods: press plates, release papers and chemical embossing to name a few. Typically, a general texture, like wood ticking or stippling, is applied across the board. Tafisa’s VIVA is different. With two sizes of panels and two-sided embossed, it uses state-of-the-art technology to match the embossed texture exactly with the printed surface design. The resulting product has unprecedented visual and haptic fidelity.

“I brought VIVA to Greystar and their architecture team at TAT and told them, ‘Here is what we can do,’” Donoghue said. “Once they saw the product and felt the graining, they fell in love with it.

“VIVA won the bid, and it allowed them to put in a very durable, textured product that looks like real wood at a fraction of the cost. Ultimately, Greystar will be able to market the units better because of it.”

COLORS USED

West Building • Lower cabinets: M2011 (Y) Stargazer – Horizontal grain • Upper cabinets: L202 (I) Summer Drops East Building • All lower and upper cabinets: M2015 (Y) Apres-Ski – Vertical grain

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ADDING VALUE—RESIDENTIAL CABINETS

Residential cabinets (stock, semi-custom and custom) account for about 30 percent of the company’s 1,200-cabinet-per-week output, Gaudette said.

In essence, Metropolitan’s residential segment is a sophisticated variation of the original kitchen dealership model. Most frameless cabinet boxes and drawer boxes are now made in house and can be custom cut.

Metropolitan has a relationship with MasterBrand to meet demand for framed cabinetry.

With the exception of Metropolitan’s laminate line, which features HPL from Formica, Wilsonart, Pionite, Poliform, Nevamar, Arborite and Lamin-Art, door/drawer fronts and embellishments are sourced from Northern Contours and Conestoga Wood. Partnering with suppliers who use the best component manufacturing technologies gives Metropolitan an expanded palette of materials and designs. Cabinets are finished and assembled by skilled craftspeople in house.

Metropolitan began fabricating granite countertops in 2003. With the 2016 expansion, the company invested in state-of-the-art stone-cutting equipment— CNC water jets and bridge saws—to ensure quality. The residential side offers an extensive selection of countertop materials.

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To make the buying process easier for the trade, Metropolitan established four showrooms, staffed with designers who help homeowners. “We handle all the measurements and design. Then ultimately provide the cabinets,” Laufer said. “Customers like that we produce locally.”

Metropolitan’s showroom professionals use 2020 Design software. “Our engineering department enters designs into our management software. We use CabinetVision to submit for manufacturing,” Gaudette said. “Metropolitan has so many designers of different backgrounds, 2020 is easier software for giving perspective drawings and elevations. CabinetVision is more robust but requires more tech savvy.”

GOING BIG—MULTI-UNIT EXPANSION

“We’ve seen an increased call for TFL flat panel doors.

Now with products like Tafisa’s VIVA embossed-inregister textured material, the TFL door is very popular because it gives a great look at minimal cost.”

MATT GAUDETTE, DIRECTOR OF CABINET MANUFACTURING FOR METROPOLITAN

According to CMD Group construction data, the Boston area saw a 42 percent increase in the number of building permits issued in 2015 for new apartments and condos. The area’s major housing shortage and increasing rent prices caused pent-up demand.

Demand for tenant turnover cabinets also increased.

“Around 2014, Stuart Elfland saw opportunities that could not be filled with our existing equipment,” Gaudette said. “So he took the initiative to invest in production capacity. We developed a commercial multi-unit division to service construction and property management companies.”

Multi-unit jobs now make up 70 percent of Metropolitan’s cabinet production.

Competition in this segment is stiff. Both domestic and international suppliers vie for jobs. But Metropolitan’s proximity, partnerships, capabilities and dedication to serving the trade put the company in excellent position to provide both quality product and value-added services.

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Metropolitan’s multi-unit team works to get the latest material samples to architects and interior designers in advance of bid invitations. Being urban and East Coast, there is demand for a modern, clean aesthetic. Specifications for flat doors are common and play to Metropolitan’s panel-processing prowess.

“We’ve seen an increased call for TFL flat panel doors,” Gaudette said. “Now with products like Tafisa’s VIVA embossedin-register textured material, the TFL door is very popular because it gives a great look at minimal cost. It’s easy to fabricate, and you don’t have to worry about inconsistencies in the material. When you’re building many units of frameless cabinets, that’s incredibly necessary.

“There’s increasing demand for ULEF materials. Then we use Tafisa’s EVOLO particleboard core. Today’s TFL is a great material that works well in our market.”

Because Metropolitan is local and custom-manufactures, the company adds value by going to the job site and taking measurements. The team adjusts designs to eliminate fillers and accommodate special considerations, such as ADA compliance. Rather than forcing architects to work out of a spec book, Metropolitan works within the architect’s specifications. The end result is a more elegant interior with a higher perceived value.

Multi-unit designs happen in CabinetVision, which integrates into production.

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ONE-STOP SHOP—PROCESS INVESTMENTS

Jobs go through different production lines depending on category.

“For our ShowHouse residential custom and semi-custom products, we mill everything on two Morbidelli flatbed nesting machines,” Gaudette said. “Jobs are cut by room, then go through a dedicated line where workers finish and assemble by hand.”

Multi-unit and stock jobs go through production by floor with like components compiled. For efficiency, Metropolitan invested in an SCM Flexstore EL material handling and board management system.

“We can put up to 22 different bunks of board into this machine, and as our jobs come down, it manages the cutting stations and acts as inventory control,” Gaudette said. “We can have several multi-unit jobs going at once using all different colors.”

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The Flexstore delivers materials to an attached Gabbiani Galaxy 2 110 panel saw and stages parts for routing on an attached Morbidelli M400F modular machining center. All parts are automatically labeled prior to cutting, and the information flows through each step of the production and assembly process.

Metropolitan added the latest model UniFlex HP 1.1 high volume through-feed CNC boring machine, which can mill left and right sides of a board simultaneously.

“We have three Stefani Solution MD edgebanders with both EVA and PUR glue capabilities. Also a wood grinder, several dowel inserters, case clamps and a state-of-the-art dust collector. It’s a pretty comprehensive shop,” Gaudette said. “We’ve been using SCM equipment since 2005.

Our local dealer, Akins Machinery, helped with the layout and setup of the new equipment. They provide training and, if needed, extremely fast technical support. You can’t put a value on that kind of service.”

The value Metropolitan Cabinets & Countertops provides to the local trades is evident in its sustained growth. For 34 years, professionals have relied on the company to continually evolve to meet the ever-changing demands of the housing market. Driven not by tradition or pride, but by a dedication to serving the trade, Metropolitan’s partnerships and investments bring leading-edge materials and products to market.

“We didn’t set up to just be a good company,” Laufer said. “We want our manufacturing and fabricating processes to be the best. By cultivating relationships with industry leaders and controlling strategic aspects of production, we are able to provide the best possible experience for everyone downstream.” s&p

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Slow But Steady Growth Expected in Housing Industry B Y

H

ousing starts in the United States are expected to approach 1.25 million in 2018, an increase of 2.7 percent from 2017 but still short of the 1.5 million justified by population growth.

That’s according to the National Association of Home Builders and its chief economist, Robert Dietz.

NAHB forecasts 1,248,000 total housing starts for 2018, compared to 1,215,000 in 2017.

Broken down, 2018 starts are expected to include 893,000 single-family units, up from 854,000 in 2017, and 354,000 multifamily units, down from 360,000 in 2017.

The forecasts draw considerable attention from all housing industry sectors, especially cabinet makers and others involved in kitchen and bath construction, because housing starts correlate directly with demand for kitchen and bath fixtures and materials.

Single-family growth in 2018 would continue a steady incline that has seen starts grow from 620,000 in 2013. Multifamily construction, on the other hand, peaked at 395,000 units in 2015 and has fallen each year since.

In an NAHB construction forecast webinar, Dietz said housing inventory would remain tight for the foreseeable future, and he cited “three Ls” as primary reasons: labor, lots and lending.

“We have a labor shortage in the construction sector … The workforce is smaller,

S C O T T

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A N G U S

and there are lot more unfilled jobs,” he said. “That’s the reason the labor issue appears at the top of labor challenges. We simply don’t have enough workers—builders and remodelers.”

One partial remedy could be increased productivity, Dietz said, noting that construction sector productivity is up just 3 percent since 1993, compared to 30 percent for the rest of the economy.

“Maybe that means more factory-built components, more panels, more modular construction,” he said. “We’re going to have to get more productivity out of our workforce because the worker shortage doesn’t look like it will change.”

Regarding the other two “Ls,” Dietz said

lot supplies are “low or very low,” still struggling to recover after the land development pipeline dried up during the recession, while lending growth remains slow because of the higher regulatory burden of Dodd-Frank.

REMODELING

Residential remodeling is projected to grow a robust 7.5 percent in 2018 to nearly $340 million, continuing a growth trend that began in 2016, said Manuel Gutierrez, consulting economist to the National Kitchen & Bath Association.

The rooms that typically see the most spending are kitchens and baths, which are likely to generate a greater return on investment than other rooms, and Gutierrez CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 �

HOUSING AND INTEREST RATE FORECAST

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018 2019

Housing Activity (000) Total Housing Starts 928 1,001 1,107 1,177 1,215 1,248 1,284 Single Family 620 647 712 784 854 893 940 308 355 395 393 360 354 344 Multifamily New Single Family Sales 430 440 503 561 620 653 693 Existing Single-Family Sales 4,475 4,338 4,627 4,828 4,912 5,017 5,147 Interest Rates Federal Funds Rate 0.13% 0.13% 0.38% 0.63% 1.13% 1.88% 0.06% 0.03% 0.05% 0.32% 0.95% 1.77% 90 day T Bill Rate Treasury Yields: One Year Maturity 0.13% 0.12% 0.32% 0.61% 1.20% 2.07% Ten Year Maturity 2.35% 2.54% 2.14% 1.84% 2.33% 2.65% Freddie Mac Commitment Rates: Fixed Rate Mortgages 3.98% 4.17% 3.85% 3.65% 3.99% 4.31% ARMs 2.88% 3.02% 2.94% 2.88% 3.20% 3.74% Prime Rate 3.25% 3.25% 3.26% 3.51% 4.14% 4.98%

2.56% 2.53% 2.78% 3.10% 4.82% 4.45% 5.66%

Data are averages of seasonally adjusted quarterly data and may not match annual data published elsewhere. For more forecast details, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.

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expects spending on them to increase 9.4 percent for the year. That breaks down to about 10 percent for kitchens and 8 percent for baths.

Gutierrez cited two “major policy events” as stimulating factors for remodeling growth: the federal tax reform act and a reduction in regulations.

“The federal tax reform act … has changed radically the tax structure in the nation. This will impact directly consumers’ pocket book by lowering their tax burden and thereby increasing their take-home pay,” he said.

Reducing regulations should make doing business easier, Gutierrez said, although the impact is more subtle and difficult to measure. “Nonetheless, it’s expected the changes will improve business productivity in the future.”

Two other factors that influence the optimistic outlook are household mobility and home ownership. Both have turned positive in the last few years after consistent declines. That’s a good thing for the remodeling industry because homeowners remodel at a higher rate than rental property owners, he said, and people are more likely to

remodel after they move into new homes.

Leah Peterson, executive vice president of the SEN Design Group, which is the kitchen and bath industry’s largest buying group, predicted that growth would be steady for the remodeling industry in 2018.

“Our kitchen and bath showroom and design/build firm members across the country continue to be extremely busy, booking jobs several months out and, in some cases, by more than three months’ time,” she said.

The majority of SEN Design’s members have planned 5 to 10 percent sales increases and 2 to 4 percent increases in net profit.

Consumer spending should remain strong through the first half of 2019, absent a world event, Peterson said.

“While business is strong, it's vital business owners truly understand their financials and pad their bank accounts. This will help ensure their viability through the next recession and a faster rebound for all of us when we come out of it," she said.

LONG TERM

In the NAHB webinar, Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, said prospects

are good for the economy continuing to perform well through the end of the decade. The current economic expansion, which is in its ninth year, is the third longest in history and is likely to pass the 10-year tech expansion of the 1990s as the longest ever.

“I do expect housing to lead the way,” Zandi said. “I expect more entry-level homes at lower price points to be built. There is clearly a dearth of homes for that segment of the housing market.”

Dietz said his forecast does not include a recession over the next few years and instead projects “modest growth.” Extended to five or six years, however, the chance of a recession grows to 50 percent, he said.

NAHB’s numbers show total housing starts growing to 1,284,000 in 2019, including 940,000 single-family units and 344,000 multifamily. The association expects the prime interest rate to climb to 4.98 percent in 2018 and 5.66 percent in 2019.

Despite the growth, single-family starts in the foreseeable future will remain below the 1.5 million justified by population trends, Dietz said. s&p

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As shown: Clear Birch painted white with taupe stain

As shown: Clear Birch painted white with warm grey stain

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Processes, Products, People Closet America’s Full-on Pursuit of Excellence Propels Company to Impressive, Wide-Ranging Success

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loset America is driven to flourish. The need to grow is tightly ingrained in the custom closet and organization company’s DNA.

“We really believe that if we are not growing, we’re dying,” said Skip LaBella, president of the Hyattsville, Md.-based company, located less than 10 miles outside the nation’s capital. “We are strong believers in adopting proven processes in everything we do from the way we answer the phone and design our jobs to how we produce our orders and load our installation vans.”

Proven processes combined with top-notch products and passionate people are propelling Closet America’s impressive growth. The numbers speak for themselves:

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SKIP LABELLA, PRESIDENT OF CLOSET AMERICA

• The company created and filled 25 positions in 2016 and 24 in 2017, and it plans to add 23 jobs this year, bringing its workforce to nearly 140 people.

• Annual sales are projected to increase this year in line with the 30 percent and 31 percent growth recorded in 2016 and 2017.

Sales of organization products for closets, pantries, home offices and other rooms eclipsed $12 million last year.

• An extensive renovation of Closet America’s facility last year added 10,000 square feet of office space and a new showroom.

In addition, the company’s factory and warehouse was expanded four-fold to 24,000 square feet.

The sorely-needed factory build-out allowed the company to design a more efficient workflow while accommodating new equipment, including a Biesse Rover A CNC router nesting cell with prelabeling, automatic lift table and an off-load conveyor. On order is a Homag airTec hot air edgebander with return conveyor to allow one person to edgeband up to all four sides of a part.

CHOOSING TO MAKE VS. BUY

LaBella’s introduction to the closet industry was a rocky one. After building a successful marketing career, including stints with MCI, T. Rowe Price and AARP, he joined forces with his partner, Rick Wuest, in 2007 to start a closet dealership focused on design, sales and installation.

“We were the first dealer for a new company that made and sold closet systems through a dealer network,” LaBella recalled. “It was a terrible experience, which is why we believe so strongly in the model of manufacturing our own products. When you rely on someone to deliver your parts on time and made correctly, you’re completely at their mercy. We couldn’t deliver the customer expectation that we wanted to achieve.

“Everybody makes mistakes, but now if one of our installers has a problem with a part, he calls the plant, and the part gets made and

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delivered to the jobsite. The customer never knows the difference.

That wasn’t the case when we were a dealer. We had to talk to the customer about the problem, then order more parts from the vendor and wait for the parts to arrive so that we could schedule another installation date.”

The partners severed ties with the closet dealership and launched Closet America in 2009, using space “carved out” from Thompson Creek Window Co., a home improvement business owned

by Wuest. They bought equipment formerly used by a company in Florida, including a beam saw, an edgebander and a CNC machining center. The start-up had seven employees.

Making the transition from closet system buyer to maker was not without challenges, LaBella said. “I think the biggest challenge was that everything was new. We needed suppliers for things we didn’t previously buy. We needed staff to do things we’d never done before, and we had to figure out how to lay out a plant.

“The benefits so outweighed the challenges, it wasn’t ever second-guessed,” LaBella added.

“Having manufacturing control immediately gave us the ability to define what our product is going to be,” LaBella continued. “If we were still working as part of a dealer network, we wouldn’t have hot air edgebanding. We also wouldn’t edgeband the top of our partitions or use leg levelers because we couldn’t just stock parts and chop off an end to custom size and still maintain integrity of the part. We’d have what everyone else has. We wanted to be something better.”

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surfaceandpanel.com

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“We really believe that if we are not growing, we’re dying. We are strong believers in adopting proven processes in everything we do from the way we answer the phone and design our jobs to how we produce our orders and load our installation vans.”

SKIP L ABELL A , PRESIDENT OF CLOSET AMERIC A

A HOT AIR EDGEBANDING PIONEER

The Homag airTec edgebander scheduled for delivery in March represents Closet America’s second investment in hot air technology. In 2014, LaBella said his company was the first U.S. manufacturer to put a hot air edgebander into service when it installed a Biesse AirForce.

Both edgebanders are designed to use Rehau’s LaserEdge. It has a pre-applied functional layer eliminating glue to apply the edgeband. Compressed hot air activates the functional layer and fuses the edgeband material to the substrate to create a zero edge.

“We use hot air for all of our jobs,” LaBella said. “Because there’s no glue pot, there’s no glue line, and it only takes a couple of minutes to change over from color to color. The edgebanding costs a little more, but from a production and quality standpoint, you can’t beat it. The quality of the edge is second to none.”

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Closet America specifies its Rehau LaserEdge to match or complement the thermally fused laminate (TFL) it acquires from Uniboard. LaBella said it has been fascinating to watch TFL surface finishes evolve from smooth to textured to registered embossed.

“Registered embossed is really something,” LaBella said. “The average customer who wants real wood and then sees this really can’t tell the difference. Woodgrains have always been a sizeable percentage of what we sell. Registered embossed is so good, it really is the answer for the customer who wants real wood but at a more affordable price.”

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LaBella said he believes the closet and home organization market will make a sizeable shift to registered embossed TFL: “For the first time since I started in the business, we’ve seen one of our finishes discontinued. It was a woodgrain that just had a smooth surface finish. With the growing popularity of textured and registered embossed products, I think we’re going to see more in that direction, which is great.”

LaBella views LED lighting as another exciting technology pushing the envelope of closet trends. Richelieu and Häfele are Closet America’s main suppliers not only for lighting, but hardware and accessories, as well.

“LED lighting seems to be exploding. There are some things that we are currently testing that we would like to incorporate in our systems. I think it begins to change the way we design our closets. It just makes them even more appealing.”

BECOMING AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE

Closet America has racked up a stack of awards, including Best of Houzz, Angie’s List Super Service Award, Guildmaster Award for Service Excellence and Qualified Remodeler’s Top 500. As gratifying as these and other awards have been, the recognition that LaBella takes most pride in was being included in the Washington Post’s top Workplaces 2017.

“To have added employees at the rate that we have and then have such a positive response from our people in a blind survey is the thing we are most proud of,” LaBella said. “The Top Workplaces CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 �

EDGE OUT THE COMPETITION

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LABELLA BRINGS EMPLOYEES TOGETHER FOR CHRISTMAS PARTIES AND FAMILY FESTIVALS TO BOND AND SHARE IN THE COMPANY’S SUCCESS. � CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

survey showed we weren’t perfect. We fell short for some folks, but overall, we’re doing pretty well.”

LaBella is a big proponent of professional development to build a winning team and a successful company culture. A few examples include: • Bringing all of Closet America’s designers together for a two-day “launch meeting” to kick off each new year. “This year, we had two keynote-type speakers, revealed new products and conducted new online contract training,” LaBella said.

• Sending manufacturing personnel on plant tours. “In 2016, I participated in the Biesse technology tour to Italy. I was so impressed with what I learned that I sent our director of

operations and shop supervisor last year. I plan to send someone this year and every year,” LaBella said. “I don’t know any other closet company that sends their employees to Europe.”

• Requiring managers to join a professional organization. Closet America’s finance director, for example, is a member of Vistage, a CEO network. “I want our managers to get out beyond our four walls, get smarter and bring that knowledge back into the organization.”

LaBella is also keen on promoting from within whenever possible and bringing all employees together for a Christmas party and a family festival in the summer to bond and share in the company’s success.

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BARNWOOD

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BRANCHING OUT

Serving the greater Baltimore-Washington, D.C., market has served Closet America well.

Customers for master bedroom closets, the company’s bread and butter, spend anywhere from $2,000 to $30,000 on a closet system, with the “sweet spot” being about $5,000.

In addition, LaBella noted that Closet America is doing more projects for condominiums. “The small spaces trend” is driving increased demand for custom wall beds, he said.

While LaBella still sees room for Closet America to grow on its home turf, he also knows that the company has reached a tipping point where it is time to tap into new markets. The company’s name lends itself to expansion anywhere in the United States.

“I don’t have a specific number in mind, but I would like to be in more markets,” LaBella said.

“I would like to continue the growth trend that we are having, continue to have success and continue to grow staff.”

On a personal note, LaBella added: “I’ll continue investing a lot on my own development because every day I come to work, I’m running a bigger company than I’ve ever run before. I need to do the things to stay ahead and not let the business grow past my ability to manage it.” s&p

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cabinet company acpi uses new space to go high end with frameless Serenade line

C JEANINE WEINZIERL IS DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR ACPI'S NEW SERENADE LINE.

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abinet maker acpi was about out of space in its Thompsontown, Pennsylvania, manufacturing plant, so it bought a 200,000-squarefoot building in nearby Mount Union.

Rather than just expand into the new facility, however, acpi had a different idea. It created a new high-end line to add to its other brands and decided to make the new cabinets frameless, which meant panel processing would be a major part of the operation.

In October 2016, acpi brought on Jeanine Weinzierl as director of business development for the new line, named Serenade. She helped create the product essentially from scratch, and it debuted in January at the Kitchen & Bath Show in Orlando.

“I started with a blank sheet of paper,” she said.

Weinzierl had experience that ranged from the lower end to custom luxury cabinets, so she understood the market and who Serenade’s customers would be.

“Our target customer with Serenade is at the higher end of the semi-custom market—kitchen at a time,” she said. “So it’s more of the independent kitchen and bath dealer that is design focused.

“If it’s a new home, it is a much higher-end, custom-built home.

It’s not a production house or a production builder. Or if it’s a

SERENADE’S DOORS COME IN SOLID WOOD, RIGID THERMOFOIL AND ALUMINUM FRAME, BUT ALL OF THE BOXES ARE MADE OF 5/8-INCH PLYWOOD TFL FROM TIMBER PRODUCTS, INCLUDING THE BACKS. .

renovation or a remodel, it might be a design-build firm or a homeowner who goes to a kitchen and bath showroom and works with a kitchen designer to design their dream kitchen.”

While acpi’s new plant provides components for the company’s other two facilities, its primary product is the high-end, frameless Serenade.

What, exactly, is high end to Weinzierl and acpi?

“There is stock, then there is the middle, semi-custom. We position ourselves as the high end of semi-custom,” she said. “We have a broader assortment. We have more detail. In terms of the design CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 �

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about acpi • Corporate brand name: ACProducts Inc. (acpi) • Headquarters: The Colony, Texas • More than 1,400 employees; three manufacturing locations • Production: 10,000-plus cabinets per day • Manufacturing facilities: • Thompsontown, Pennsylvania • Mount Union, Pennsylvania • New Paris, Indiana • 2017: $350 million-plus in sales • Founded as Triangle Pacific in 1943 • Purchased by American Industrial Partners in 2012 • Since 2012, more than $90 million invested in production facilities • Invested more than $18 million in last 18 months at Mount Union • Company promise: To deliver high-quality cabinets, great value and peace of mind

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of door styles, I think of it as the breadth of assortment and the level of modifications and accessories that are available.

“And also the overall quality of the materials. An example is the accessories that we aligned ourselves with—Kesseböhmer, which is considered a very high quality, precise German-engineered accessory.”

Serenade also incorporates Blum hinges and drawer guides, along with Rev-A-Shelf and Häfele interior accessories.

Another example of the line’s quality is that Serenade’s walnut doors are premium walnut, not just standard walnut, she said.

Serenade’s doors come in solid wood, rigid thermofoil and CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 � 36

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s g n i 100 r C E L E B R AT I N G

of family,tradition and values.

Ring by ring, our company has grown like the resources we’ve built our

business on– trees and people. Our history, our traditions have relied upon the relationships we’ve enjoyed with family and with business partners like you.

Celebrating one hundred rings isn’t just about looking back—it’s about looking forward to what the next 100 will bring! Our company is a spry century old and ready to grow…with you.

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ACPI'S SERENADE LINE INCORPORATES HIGH QUALITY ACCESSORIES FROM MANUFACTURERS SUCH AS KESSEBÖHMER, BLUM, REV-A-SHELF AND HÄFELE. SERENADE'S WALNUT DOORS ARE FASHIONED FROM PREMIUM WALNUT.

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aluminum frame, but all of the boxes are made of 5/8-inch plywood TFL from Timber Products, including the backs. That’s another element that adds to the cabinets’ quality.

“That is the only box type we offer for Serenade.

Again, it goes to being in the higher end of that semi-custom market. We felt strongly that plywood offered a much higher quality box in the long run. It’s so much more solid and sturdy, and it’s not going to get out of square in transit or installation,” Weinzierl said, adding that all Serenade cabinets are delivered fully assembled.

Going frameless with Serenade made sense because of the style’s growing popularity in the U.S., Weinzierl said.

“We saw the onset of a pretty big frameless trend,” she said. “A lot of the other cabinet makers are in the process or have recently expanded into the frameless product. That’s really based on the design trends that are out there in that the look has been popular over in Europe for quite some time, and it’s now becoming more popular over here.”

The shift toward open spaces in houses is a key factor in the trend.

“If you look at design today, the overall concept of CONTINUED ON PAGE 40 �

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FINISHING

“For a lot of the organizational and storage type of accessories, the frameless box really accommodates those much better.”

JEANINE WEINZIERL

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the house is more open. Frameless cabinets fit into that. Plus, there is higher functionality within the cabinet itself, and by that I mean more storage and organization to keep the homeowner more organized because time is so precious,” she said.

Consumers have realized that they get more storage per square foot with frameless cabinets because there are no frames to obstruct or restrict.

“For a lot of the organizational and storage type of accessories, the frameless box really accommodates those much better,” Weinzierl said. “It’s all about making the most of the space you have. You don’t have to spend a lot of time digging through the cabinet to find what you’re looking for.”

The frameless style also follows the trend toward a cleaner look in cabinets.

“Think back 10 years, and the style was real heavy and ornate, whether it was crown molding or applied molding in doors. They just had lots of profiling to them,” Weinzierl said. “And now, a lot of the door styles, while they still may have applied molding, it’s a much cleaner, less busy look to the door itself.”

Acpi invested $18 million to renovate and equip the new CONTINUED ON PAGE 42 �

A true reflection of style.

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Ph: 877-332-3396 www.element-designs.com

Introducing INSIGHTS: Volume III OMNOVA Solutions is excited to share the third edition of INSIGHTS, our visual translation of emerging design trends with an intimate view of next generation decorative surfaces. Rooted in research and curated with character, this annual publication highlights key color and finish trends. This edition, MOVEMENT, includes three design narratives with more than thirty new laminate offerings.

Be inspired with INSIGHTS. Lead with Design. Lead with OMNOVA. Learn more at www.omnova.com/insights

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building. Machinery includes two Wemhöner membrane presses for RTF doors, several Cefla finishing lines, two edgebanders, a Thomas return conveyor, two Biesse Rover CNC machining centers and an IMA Schelling panel saw.

About 45 percent of the laminate doors will be solid color, while 20 percent will be wood grain, 25 percent will be textured wood grain, and 10 percent will be high gloss.

Omnova Solutions is the primary supplier of the decorative laminate for the RTF doors, while Weyerhaeuser and Arauco provide MDF. CONTINUED ON PAGE 44 �

STOCK & CUSTOM BUILDING SOLUTIONS TO MEET YOUR NEEDS Olon creates simplicity in sourcing with our one-stop-shop approach for architects, designers and builders requiring NEXGENTM and custom components.

Our products are used in the kitchen & bath, closet, office furniture, hospitality, healthcare, educational and store fixture market segments.

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ACPI OFFERS A BROAD ASSORTMENT OF DOOR STYLES, MODIFICATIONS AND ACCESSORIES.

acpi’s other lines Besides the new Serenade line of frameless cabinets, acpi manufactures: • Smart Cabinetry. Made in New Paris, Indiana, this is the company’s lower-cost, entry-level stock product. Smart is offered in a narrow assortment of styles and finishes and is typically sold to production builders for single-family residential use.

• Advanta Cabinets. Manufactured in Thompsontown, Pennsylvania, Advanta is a lower-cost stock product offered in both framed and frameless styles. It is distributed directly to builders and dealers serving the multi-family housing market.

• Echelon Cabinetry. Manufactured in Thompsontown, Echelon is a stock and semi-custom framed line distributed directly to builders, dealers and remodelers. The standard particleboard box can be upgraded to plywood, and Echelon is offered in 30 door styles and a wide array of paint finishes to fit any style.

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Element Designs provides the frames for the aluminum doors.

The many advances in composite panels played a key role in the decision to go frameless with Serenade, given that panels are used for all of the boxes and many of the doors, Weinzierl said.

“The improvements in the panels influenced us a lot because it allowed us to be able to offer textured thermofoil, high-gloss thermofoil, wood-grained thermofoil,” she said. “It used to be when anybody thought of an RTF door, all they thought of was the white doors.

“Now, there are so many more colors, so many more textures. The people in that industry that supply us with the rolls of that type of material have so many more things that offer texture and color. And that has really contributed to the increase in the use of that material—just how much more diverse that product has become.” s&p

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PANELS, DECORATIVE SURFACES REMAIN

Key Materials AS Ambitious Ashley

E YE S CO NTI N U E D E XPAN S I O N

A

B Y

shley Furniture has a good handle on what’s hot and what trends will affect the furniture industry in the years ahead. As director of materials development, Rick Bryson is up to the challenge of providing the most current finishes and technology to the process.

Ashley, after all, is the world’s biggest furniture manufacturer. It has eight manufacturing facilities in North America and four in Asia, and its furniture is sold at more than 800 Ashley Furniture HomeStores in 43 countries and more than 20,000 storefronts in 123 countries.

That’s a lot of furniture, and composite panels with decorative surfaces are key materials in much of it.

“It is important to specify the correct material for the right applications so we can meet customer expectations,” Bryson said in a recent interview with Surface & Panel. “Decorative surfaces, primarily laminates, have come a long way in the past decades. They offer high value and are seemingly gaining more customer acceptance.”

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RICK BRYSON, DIRECTOR OF MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

ASHLEY HAS EIGHT MANUFACTURING FACILITIES IN NORTH AMERICA–LOCATED IN WISCONSIN, MISSISSIPPI, NORTH CAROLINA AND PENNSYLVANIA. LEFT: THE FACILITY AT ARCADIA, WISCONSIN. BELOW: ASHLEY'S PLANT IN ECRU, MISSISSIPPI.

Ashley has used decorative laminates in its furniture for decades, Bryson noted, but he’s been impressed by advances in the materials.

“In recent years, our industry has seen technical advancements among registered textures that further bring a sense of realism and acceptance to the market,” he said.

Laminates offer high value at affordable cost, Bryson continued.

“Composite panels are a critical component to our ability to produce large quantities of furniture at affordable prices. Plus, the use of wood byproducts makes a very sustainable material and can be produced in many regions across the U.S. and Canada.”

While Bryson anticipates some trend shifts, he doesn’t foresee big changes in materials.

“For the residential furniture industry, we don’t see many changes in materials used, such as composite panels, wet finishes, laminates or the mix of media like glass, stone and metals,” he said. “The gloss may change from super matte to ultra-high gloss, and some texture may be more pronounced.”

One innovation to watch for, however, is digital printing, which could bring more personalization to the process, Bryson said.

Among the biggest influences in furniture manufacturing is the emergence of the millennial generation as a dominant force among buyers as baby boomers age.

“Millennials seem willing to purchase online. Therefore, products may require more assembly in order to express ship,” Bryson said.

“Also, product size may be smaller for city apartments and flats, but a CONTINUED ON PAGE 48 �

surface&panel

Q1 2018

47

Ashley History 1945 Carlyle Weinberger founds Ashley Furniture as a sales organization with headquarters in Chicago.

1970 Ron Wanek is appointed general manager of Arcadia Furniture, a 35,000-square-foot facility with 35 employees in Arcadia, Wisconsin. The manufacturer specializes in cabinet commodes and occasional tables distributed nationally through Ashley Furniture.

1982 Major ownership and management is restructured, allowing Arcadia Furniture and Ashley Furniture to merge into one company: Ashley Furniture Industries.

1984 As imports take over the table business, Ashley’s Arcadia facility converts to making bedroom furniture.

Ashley begins overseas trading and manufacturing to strengthen its product lineup, including occasional tables with high-gloss finishes.

1989 Todd Wanek serves as general manager of Ashley Furniture Industries Taiwan and moves to Asia, where he begins establishing and managing business development in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia.

1996 Ashley introduces leather upholstery. Todd Wanek is promoted to president and chief operations officer.

1997 The first Ashley Furniture HomeStore opens in Anchorage, Alaska.

1999 Ashley establishes manufacturing in Kunshan, China.

2000 The first international Ashley Furniture HomeStore opens in Aichi, Japan.

2005 Ashley becomes the world’s largest manufacturer of furniture. Ashley HomeStore reaches 200 stores.

2007 Ashley HomeStore passes Walmart to become the No.1 retailer of furniture and bedding in the United States.

2008 Ashley establishes a plant in Tan Uyen District, Vietnam.

2009 Ashley Furniture launches Ashley for the Arts to support the arts and raise funds for humanity. Attendance for the charity event has grown to more than 50,000, raising more than $425,000 supporting more than 40 non-profit organizations.

2012 Ashley establishes plant in Binh Duong City, Vietnam.

Ashley HomeStore accelerates the expansion of its international retail presence.

2014 Ashley HomeStore reaches 500 stores.

2015 Ashley HomeStore reaches 600 stores. Ashley launches its Omni-Channel platform to address the needs of today’s consumer.

2017

Ashley HomeStore reaches 700 stores.

2018 Ashley HomeStore has more than 800 locations worldwide after the opening of the newest store in Tijuana (Rio), Mexico.

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higher focus on finish details and function seems important.”

“Ashley dominates the traditional category of furniture, but it is competitive in the contemporary segment and will continue to develop this as we receive customer feedback about our current offerings,” he said.

Despite its position as the world’s top manufacturer, Ashley has ambitious plans for growth. Bryson said the key to the company’s continued success remains its customer-centric focus on the total experience.

“We have remained committed to investing in our company’s infrastructure to include manufacturing technologies, a state-of-theart logistics model and the ultimate in-store experience,” he said.

“We are in the home fashion business and continue to add to our line of residential furniture products, expanding most recently with outdoor furniture.”

When asked where Ashley expects to grow, Bryson emphasized that it’s a global company in both manufacturing and retail and is always looking to expand in areas that make sense for its brand.

“We are aggressively growing our international presence, and we continue to grow across the U.S., as well. We want to ensure that we are able to meet our promise to the customers and deliver products as quickly as possible, which requires us to be strategically located.”

Ashley’s eight manufacturing facilities in North America—located CONTINUED ON PAGE 50 �

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in Wisconsin, Mississippi, North Carolina and Pennsylvania—produce residential case goods, upholstery and bedding and also house warehouse and distribution facilities. Ashley also has a plant in China and three in Vietnam that support North American operations with components. The newest facility is an 870,000-square-foot distribution and fulfillment center in Mesquite, Texas, which will allow Ashley to grow as demand requires.

Ashley’s facilities produce more than 7,000 product SKUs in more than 22 categories annually, and its U.S. facilities make more than 50,000 units per day or 250,000 per week. Nine state-of-theart testing labs worldwide support development of the company’s products, packages and processes.

“Ashley’s product line is popular worldwide,” Bryson said. “Each area of the world has their own taste, but for the most part, our line is well-received.” s&p

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Digital Rising Customization, Speed, Efficiency Among Key Attributes of Emerging Print Technology

B Y

A

mong the themes at the Material, Technology & Design Symposium in October was the need for a compressed supply chain that can address market demand in the decorative surfaces and composite panel industries in a timely manner with a wide range of offerings.

That bodes well for digital printing technology, which can produce quality surfaces on demand while reducing waste and manufacturing materials, says Ron Gilboa, director of Keypoint Intelligence—InfoTrends’ Functional Printing and Packaging. Gilboa was a featured speaker at the symposium, which was co-sponsored by Surface & Panel magazine and the Composite Panel Association.

“With many of the leading décor manufacturers embracing digital printing technologies, we expect digital printing will over time have a big impact on new and innovative designs for end users, helping the industry as it migrates from mass production to mass customization, as well as contribute to supply chain efficiencies,” says Gilboa, who is responsible for production technology advisory, market research and market forecasting at InfoTrends.

To better understand the impact of digital printing, InfoTrends teamed with Surface & Panel to reach out to architects, designers and producers of goods to gauge sentiment about the use and growth of decorative surfaces. The survey was conducted in fall 2017 and was supplemented with information from earlier research.

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S C O T T

W .

A N G U S

InfoTrends and Gilboa issued an analysis titled “Digital Printing Opportunities in the Woodworking Industry: New Horizons and Innovation.”

“The woodworking industry is a massive and dynamic segment that is evolving in response to the construction industry as it is using technology innovation in projects small and large,” Gilboa says in the analysis.

“With over 11 billion square meters of decorative laminates manufactured by 2018, even the tiny share that is now digitally printed is significant and has huge room for growth,” he says, adding that digital printing “has the potential to democratize surface designs and related products in a range of applications.”

To provide context, the analysis first looks at the various industry segments, including flooring, laminates and furniture.

The market for flooring is estimated to reach more than $331 billion worldwide by 2020, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 4.8 percent. The Asia Pacific region represents about 40 percent of market share, and that is expected to grow, given that the region has 54 percent of the world’s urban population.

The next segment in terms of influence is furniture. “Due to its impact on the consumption of decorative surfaces, the furniture market represents about $450 billion in value with a staggering consumption of about $12,000 in products consumed every second around the globe,” the analysis notes.

“This demand, in turn, drives the growing use of decorative laminates for furniture, which is estimated to grow to about 11 billion square meters worldwide by 2018.”

According to Ahlstrom-Munksjö, a global supplier of fiber-based materials, worldwide production of surface coating materials in 2016 was about 8.8 billion square meters, of which about 58 percent was attributed to thermally fused laminate.

The constant pressure to meet consumer demand for mass customization is among the key trends driving growth and innovation, according to InfoTrends’ analysis.

“The need is met by the industry as it adopts technology and new materials to create a range of new décor surface technologies. These are aimed at meeting client CONTINUED ON PAGE 54 �

RON GILBOA, DIRECTOR OF KEYPOINT INTELLIGENCE—INFOTRENDS

New Dimensions Through Industrial Digital Printing

New Dimensions Through Industrial Digital Printing A variety of colors, material mixes, and largeformat patterns are no longer mere dreams the future, but are now a reality to Aofvariety of colors, material mixes,thanks and largeindustrial “Made by Schattdecor” digital printing. format patterns are no longer mere dreams Our range of digitally produced decors is remarkof the future, but are now a reality thanks to able for its uniqueness, creativity, and innovation.

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� CONTINUED FROM PAGE 52

demand for improved efficiencies and reduction in environmental impact and waste, as well as offering new manufacturing processes,” the analysis says. “The new technology will add better predictability to the supply chain.”

Traditional printing technologies have been the mainstay of the surface industry because they afford quality and cost effectiveness for long runs associated with mass production and ultimately lower cost. In the past few years, however, digitally printed décor papers and surfaces became available to those looking to produce customized decorative surfaces.

“These allow for just-in-time manufacturing with little waste and the flexibility to incorporate any design with significantly reduced preparation and relative expenses,” according to the analysis. “As a result, digital printing has opened the way for mass customization of design in the woodworking industry.”

Some 200 A&D firms responded to the survey, and the majority of respondents

were people who make purchasing decisions regarding décor surfaces, while the remainder were influencers. The typical project budget among the firms was $35 million, with about 4 percent allocated to custom decorative components.

Most A&D respondents said that the demand for custom decorative materials is growing, and they indicated an awareness of the benefits of digital printing, such as improved options for customization, timeliness and design flexibility. They did, however, stress that a lack of education was evident among many in the A&D community and said tools and knowledge are needed to promote effective use of digital decorative surfaces.

The producers who responded represented some of the larger companies in North American woodworking and manufactured a range of products from furniture for residential and commercial uses to cabinetry. Though some indicated they print their own décor materials, the majority sourced materials from suppliers such as Interprint

and Schattdecor.

“Respondents indicated that most product categories are requiring increased levels of decoration, which bodes well for future growth in digital printing for décor,” the analysis says.

Leading the growth in terms of expected use of decorative materials or surfaces were trim and millwork elements used to put finishing touches on construction projects, with 100 percent growth anticipated. Following closely were synthetic materials used to create unique looks to bridge the gap between wood and other materials in the same environment. Strong growth also was expected for furniture, decorative film and wood.

Digital printing includes two different approaches for decorative surfaces: directto-surface printing and printing on décor paper or laminates that are then pressed to a final product. Inkjet is the core of all technologies used for digital decoration in the woodworking industry. Among the top directto-panel printers are Barberan Jetmaster, CONTINUED ON PAGE 56 �

*Upon request

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� CONTINUED FROM PAGE 54

“With over 11 billion square meters of decorative laminates manufactured by 2018, even the tiny share that is now digitally printed is significant and has huge room for growth.

Digital printing has the potential to democratize surface designs and related products in a range of applications.”

RON GILBOA, DIRECTOR OF KEYPOINT INTELLIGENCE—INFOTRENDS

Hymmen Jupiter, Cefla J-Print, Huser—HCK DP and EFI Cubik. Top décor paper printers include Hymmen Jupiter, KBA RotaJet, Wemhöner MasterDigital and Palis.

The analysis concludes that, with the continued burden on the supply chain to react more quickly to the industry’s changing needs, manufacturers are under pressure to implement solutions that will allow them to meet the A&D community’s needs while ensuring quality and offering clients a way to differentiate.

“Many of the vendors have turned to digital printing to respond to market demands faster and produce new color palettes and designs, one that allow them to differentiate themselves in the marketplace,” the analysis says. s&p TO LEARN MORE

To learn more about digital printing, plan to attend the Digital Printing Symposium at IWF Atlanta. www.iwfatlanta.com/Education/All-DaySymposiums To see the analysis, go to www.keypointintelligence.com/ digitalprintwoodworking

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Moving the Industry Forward second symposium builds off inaugural event’s resounding success

Y

ear one of the Material, Technology & Design Symposium @ CPA Fall Meeting was a huge hit. There’s no telling how successful year two will be.

“A powerhouse” is how one attendee described the 2017 symposium.

The 2018 event is scheduled for Sept. 23-25 at the brand-new JW Marriott in downtown Nashville. The symposium is co-sponsored by Surface & Panel magazine and the Composite Panel Association in conjunction with CPA’s Fall Meeting.

“Without a doubt, the symposium is moving the industry forward, and anyone connected to panel processing should feel compelled to attend to learn about cutting-edge materials and technology and what lies ahead in this dynamic and rapidly changing field,” said John Aufderhaar, publisher of Surface & Panel.

The 2017 symposium featured 10 speakers in seven sessions whose topics ranged from the importance of distributors to emerging trends in materials and design to the future of digital printing. Renowned industrial designer Karim Rashid was the keynote and challenged attendees to think beyond replicating what’s known and available.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 60 �

THE 2018 EVENT WILL BE HELD AT THE BRAND-NEW JW MARRIOTT IN DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE

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September 23–25, 2018 JW Marriott, Nashville, Tennessee

CO-SPONSORED BY SURFACE & PANEL MAGAZINE AND THE COMPOSITE PANEL ASSOCIATION

feedback from the 2017 symposium...

“I like the exposure to other ideas. ” “Everybody here

is on our radar screen and vice versa. ”

� CONTINUED FROM PAGE 58

This year’s symposium will build off the solid foundation of 2017 by offering an even stronger lineup of enlightening and inspirational speakers.

CPA President Jackson Morrill said the results of an attendee survey were “very positive,” and he’s pleased the symposium will return in 2018.

“We look forward to another great program and hope each of you will put the word out to non-member end users and invite them to join us,” Morrill said.

While the 2017 symposium was Surface & Panel’s first collaboration with CPA, it was the eighth industry conference sponsored by the magazine, and it attracted S&P’s biggest turnout yet. Attendance also was the highest ever for a CPA Fall Meeting.

Thirty sponsoring businesses supported the symposium, and 27 featured products and services in an exhibition hall that buzzed with attendees.

Morrill said the symposium more than met its objectives: “The central goal of the symposium was to develop a superior program of speakers and augmented networking opportunities that would benefit the broader membership and attract non-members, particularly users of composite panels, to attend learn more about our industry’s products.

“Moreover, the format provided an opportunity to highlight the innovation and breadth of offerings in the decorative surfaces industry.” s&p

To learn more about the 2018 symposium and register, go to sandpsymposium.com.

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“It’s a success.

Look at the enthusiasm.

Look at the interaction.

Five stars all the way. ”

“This is exciting.

This is the way to go. ”

“ A nice chance to meet

customers, share ideas and look at issues from a different perspective. ”

Certified. Sustainable.

Eco-Certified Composites are Among the Greenest on Earth.

What are Eco-Certified Composites?

ECC stands for Eco-Certified™ Composite, as defined in the stringent ECC Sustainability Standard and Certification Program for composite panel products – specifically particleboard, MDF, hardboard and engineered wood siding and trim.

What makes a composite panel Eco-Certified?

Composite panels that carry the ECC mark are manufactured in facilities that are certified to meet the stringent requirements of the ECC Sustainability Standard.

ECC panel manufacturing facilities meet rigorous environmental requirements utilizing objective-based criteria and annual on-site audits. Each must ensure that its composite panels meet the stringent California Air Resources Board (CARB) formaldehyde emissions regulations AND achieve at least three of the following requirements:

• Demonstrate a Carbon Footprint Offset • Use Local Wood Fiber Resources • Use Recycled/Recovered Wood Fiber • Minimize Wood Waste in Manufacturing • Hold a Valid Wood Sourcing Assessment or Certificate In the future, ECC will incorporate EPA TSCA Title VI emission requirements into the program.

What about LEED v4 Credit?

• MATERIALS AND RESOURCE (MR) CREDIT: Building Product Disclosure Optimization – Environmental Product Declaration • MR CREDIT: Building Product Disclosure Optimization – Sourcing of Raw Materials

Who sponsors ECC Certification?

The Composite Panel Association (CPA) developed the ECC Sustainability Standard, including its pioneering Carbon Calculator. CPA administers the ECC Certification Program in North America as a third party certification agency accredited to ISO/IEC 17065 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

• MR CREDIT: Building Product Disclosure Optimization – Material Ingredients • MR CREDIT: Furniture and Medical Furnishings • INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (EQ) CREDIT: Low-emitting materials

www.ECCproduct.org

The Composite Panel Association is committed to advancing and certifying the sustainability of industry products for residential, commercial and industrial uses.

MAGIN

digital printing “The fidelity of digitally printed décor has made quantum leaps.

All other print methods will need to improve and adapt to stay current.”

“The Digital Print Symposium will reveal the world’s most advanced material, technology and design ideas. It is a can’t miss event for anyone involved in producing or specifying surface designs and their applications.”

“Digital print will exceed 10 billion square feet in 2018.”

“Flexibility, speed to market, customization and quality are all advantages of digital print. The only thing that can hold it back is…lack of imagination.”

Wednesday—Saturday/August 22—25, 2018

2018 Digital Printing Symposium Tuesday, August 21 Georgia World Congress Center / Atlanta, Georgia, USA TO REGISTER, VISIT

www.iwfatlanta.com TO LEARN ABOUT SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DIGITAL PRINT SYMPOSIUM,

Please contact Ryan wagner at rwagner@bedfordfallsmedia.com or 920.261.1945

The Digital Printing Symposium is produced by Keypoint Intelligence and Surface & Panel magazine in conjunction with the International Woodworking Fair.

International Woodworking Fair, LLC® is owned and sponsored by:

I N M E M O R IA M : A ACC ’ S J E R RY V I LL A

When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.

—SHAKESPEARE, ROMEO AND JULIET

F R O M

T H E

Longtime industry veteran Jerry Villa of American Adhesive Coatings Co. passed away Dec. 24, 2017. Jerry was one of the founders of AACC, a strong supporter of the industry and a familiar face at CPA’s annual meetings.

We all know what Jerry has been doing for the last 30-plus years—selling hot melt adhesive!

He began selling wax in 1968 in the U.S. and abroad for Boler Petroleum Waxes. In 1980, he joined Malcolm-Nickel Adhesives, which was eventually bought by Ford.

Jerry always wanted to start his own company, so he co-founded American Adhesive Coatings Co. in 1985, when laminating light weight papers was in its infancy. He built the company into what today is the gold standard for preapplied hot melt adhesives. In 2015, Jerry purchased AACC outright and put in place the right people and plan to carry on his legacy.

Jerry always said "98 percent is showing up," and he lived by that principle.

He always cared for his customers and their well-being, whether in business or their personal lives. Our industry has lost a good friend and a great man who will be sorely missed.

E D I T O R

A Tale Of Two Cabinet Makers Each issue of Surface & Panel emphasizes certain segments of homes, businesses, offices, stores and more and how they use modern composite panels, decorative surfaces and the accessories that go with them.

In the first-quarter edition, which you are holding in your hands, we single out kitchens, baths and home organization. In the second quarter, we feature store fixtures and commercial interiors. The third-quarter issue moves on to residential interiors and furniture, while the fourth quarter focuses on office furniture, health care and hospitality.

The areas of emphasis don’t make up the entire edition. We mix and match to a degree based on what’s timely, interesting and available, but we always make sure to give the designated topics their due.

Given that this issue is at least partly devoted to kitchens and baths, it’s no surprise that cabinets are the primary products of two companies profiled in separate stories. After all, cabinets are the major elements of both areas, particularly when it comes to the materials that are this magazine’s primary focus: composite panels and decorative surfaces.

While they share cabinets as a key element, the two stories are considerably different. Suzanne Van Gilder’s piece on Metropolitan Cabinets, which starts on page 6, looks at how a company went from a small stock distributorship to the biggest cabinet manufacturer and stone countertop fabricator in the Northeast. My story about acpi’s new Serenade Cabinetry, on the other hand, is more about a company’s commitment to a new high-end frameless line and its decision to invest millions of dollars to make it happen. The Serenade story starts on page 34.

Home organization also gets attention in the first quarter, and this year’s feature is a dandy. Closet America has a great story to tell about two guys who started as dealers but decided they wanted more control. So they started manufacturing their own parts, and they’ve never looked back. Read about their success starting on page 22.

While those stories provide the foundation for this issue, they are far from the only content. Starting on page 46, Ashley Furniture’s Rick Bryson offers insight into decision making at the world’s largest furniture manufacturer.

Several housing and remodeling experts assess what’s in store for the rest of 2018 and beyond starting on page 18, and the impact of digital printing on panel processing is explored starting on page 52.

Lots to read. Lots to learn. That’s only fitting for an industry with as much happening as this one. s&p Scott W. Angus | Editorial Director | scottangus47@gmail.com 64

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Materials, Technology, Design Symposium 920.261.1945 www.sandpsymposium.com

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Cefla 704.598.0020 www.ceflafinishing.com

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Chemisol 1.39.0331.523.351 www.chemisol.it

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Rehau 800.247.9445 www.na.rehau.com/zerojoint

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Columbia Forest Products 800.637.1609 www.cfpwood.com

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Renolit +1.973.706.6912 www.renolit.com

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Composite Panel Association 866.4Composites www.ECCproduct.org

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Riken 248.513.3511 www.riken-usa.com

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Daubert Chemical Company, Inc. 866.368.3983 www.daubertchemical.com

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Roseburg 800.245.1115 www.roseburg.com

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Decotone 908.301.0600 www.decotonesurfaces.com

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Salice 800.222.9652 www.saliceamerica.com

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DVUV 216.741.5511 www.dvuv.com

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Schattdecor 800.600.6100 www.schattdecor.com

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Element Designs 877.332.3396 www.element-designs.com

32

Smartech 704.362.1922 www.smartechonline.com

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Genesis Products 877.266.8292 www.genesisproductsinc.com

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States Industries 800.626.1981 www.statesind.com

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Grass 336.996.4041 www.grassusa.com

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Stevens Industries 217.857.7100 www.stevens-wood.com

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Häfele 800.325.6202 www.hafele.com/us

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Stiles Machinery, Inc. 616.698.7500 www.stilesmachinery.com

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Hexion 888.443.9466 www.hexion.com

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Synergy Thermal Foils 954.420.9553 www.synergythermofoils.com

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IMA Schelling 919.544.0430 www.imaschelling.us

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Tafisa Canada 877.882.3472 www.tafisa.ca

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Interprint, Inc. 413.443.4733 www.interprint.com

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Timber Products Company 800.547.9520 www.timberproducts.com

62-63

IWF 404.693.8333 www.iwfatlanta.com

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Toppan 770.957.6447 www.tia.toppan.com

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Kastamonu 90.216.554.30.00 www.keas.com.tr

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Uniboard 844.302.8585 www.uniboard.com

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King Plastic 800.780.5502 www.kingplastic.com

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Union Tool Corporation 574.267.3211 www.uniontoolcorp.com

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Kings Mountain International 704.739.4227 www.kmiinc.net

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Vortex 800.355.7708 www.vortextool.com

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The four new additions to the Roücke HD product line are; Rustic Oak, Cottage Oak, Lodge Oak, and Weathered Oak. The structured melamine has the same texture, durability, matching edgebanding, and panel-to-panel consistency like the other 11 color options in the Roücke HD line.

Slab, 3-piece, 5-piece, and barn style doors are available now in all Roücke HD colors from Premier EuroCase.

premiereurocase.com | sales@premiereurocase.com | 303.373.9718 | 12000 East 56th Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80239