Start it up Right

Three-year-old Coating Excellence Intl. claims that using top-notch equipment and seasoned employees is the best way to do business-and it has $27 million in annual sales to prove it.

Staff -- Converting Magazine, 12/1/2000

Like her colleagues, Lynda Swenson took a risk when she left a good job to work for startup operation Coating Excellence International (CEI). Now, just three years later, the Wrightstown, Wis.-based specialty converter of printed packaging and plastic extrusion-coated and laminated products has annual sales of $27 million-looks like Swenson made a wise career move.

When asked about the business' success, chief executive officer Mike Nowak says the key is in the equipment and employees. "Number one, we invest in good equipment," says Nowak, who co-founded the business with partner Bill Arndt. "Coating Excellence was a startup, but we put a lot of money into it from an equipment and layout standpoint to ensure we are efficient and more cost-competitive than our competition. The second large investment is in our people. You can have great equipment, but without committed, qualified people to run and service it, you're not going to be successful."

The company prints, extrusion-coats and laminates a wide range of substrates such as paper, foil, clear and metallized films, and non-wovens. Extruded resins include polyethylene and polypropylene. Ream wrap, sugar packets, gum overwrap, food pouches and pizza labels are among the end products.

Equipment lineup

In January, the converter moved into printing and installed a new eight-color, 50-in. Astroflex Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. flexo press. When CEI was launched, it was capable of only polycoating and polylaminating paper with a 105-in., 2,000-fpm Millennium Line extrusion coater/laminator by Egan Davis-Standard Film and Coating Systems. As business developed, customers requested different sized rolls, small ones in particular, and it became evident that rewinding in-house would be quicker and more cost-effective. So, Coating Excellence invested in a 60-in., 1,200-fpm rewinder by Stanford Products, LLC, and a 110-in., 3,500-fpm machine by A & F Corp.

When its ream-wrap business began to develop, CEI fulfilled customers' desire for an improved finished product by outsourcing the printing. This way, CEI could outperform competition. For example, Nowak says when one paper manufacturer asked its ream-wrap supplier to print a picture of a person on its ream wrap, the converter provided only a person's shadow. With this knowledge of competitors' capabilities, Coating Excellence grew its ream-wrap business by refusing to say "no" and meeting customers' exact specifications. Buying a flexo press was a natural decision after the growth of its printing business skyrocketed.

"Our printing volume got so large, because our business grew so fast, that it got unrealistic to continue printing outside," Nowak says.

When looking at presses, Nowak investigated Windmoeller & Hoelscher and another leading press manufacturer, as he felt both companies made the best machines available for the application. He also wanted something installed quickly and both companies had presses readily available. In the end, Nowak says he went with W & H because of slightly better changeover speed, print quality and price. According to him, changeover is a whiz with the press' robotic arms that remove old plates and install new ones. Not only is this faster than a manual changeover press, it also prevents damage caused by people bumping into plates or anilox rolls.

The press also features an automatic wash-up system that flushes out used ink and fills in with new color. In other plants, one hour per color is typically required-so a four-color job means a four-hour changeover. At CEI, seven colors are switched in 45 min to an hour. Other press capabilities include Print Vision 9000, a print-quality detection system by AVT, which CEI installed to guarantee zero print voids for its ream-wrap customers.

For environmental reasons, Coating Excellence uses Flint Ink Corp. water-based inks, which are mixed in an in-house, computer-controlled mixing kitchen. According to Nowak, solvents are under so much government and industry scrutiny that in the next few years they may not be used at all. The quality of water-based inks, the alternative to solvents, has become much better, he says. "Five years ago," Nowak comments, "you could tell one print job vs. another, and now it's getting more difficult."

With a goal to be a $50-million company in five years, Coating Excellence has invested in a second 105-in., 2,000-fpm extrusion coater/laminator by Egan Davis-Standard, to arrive next spring. Both machines have curl control, printing capability and treaters, and the new coater/laminator can precoat. Also, the machines slit rolls and make finished product right off the machine, whereas competitors typically use rewinders.

When asked about substrate challenges CEI has overcome, Nowak says his experienced staff has adjusted the coater/laminator so it will run film and foil, in addition to paper. "Initially, the machine was designed to run only paper. We found a wealth of business available in film and foil, so our manufacturing team made adjustments to the machine," Nowak says. "We changed the web path and ran different tensions so the product would be very flat. We've also gotten more speed from the machine by adding treating capability. We have been very successful getting adhesion to almost any substrate."

To ensure consistency and quality, CEI installed its own hole detector by Graceland Intl. Corp. on the coater/laminator. "We wanted to guarantee no holes, so we put in our own hole detector. We have customers who make sugar packets-and sugar packets with holes are a big problem," Nowak says.

With four 12-hr shifts, seven days a week on its coater/laminator, CEI goes down annually for just a wee period-two days for Christmas and two days for deer hunting. "Only in Wisconsin," Nowak smiles.

If you build it, they will come

When word got out that Coating Excellence was launching, people with years of industry experience immediately began inquiring about employment. Business partners Nowak and Bill Arndt didn't scout for talent or undergo painstaking interview processes-12 seasoned employees, many of whom had worked with Nowak and Arndt previously, left their jobs for the startup operation. That core group included four operators with 50 years'collective experience, as well as a knowledgeable customer service and sales team.

Part of this sales group was Lynda Swenson who comments, "When Coating Excellence first started, we all left very good jobs to come-and there was a risk involved. The core group knew this and that they'd be working really, really hard to make this company successful."

In such a tight labor market, a question begs attention: Why did they come? Why did experienced people choose Coating Excellence over the oodles of employment opportunities available during these days of record-low unemployment? Nowak says he's pondered that question and believes that people enjoy the responsibility entrusted to them.

"At CEI we don't work with a lot of supervision. Machine crews run their own show, and they like that responsibility," Nowak says. "Being a small company, everyone has more impact in making the company grow and moving it forward."

Today CEI employs 55 people, each with average industry know-how of 15 years. It's this almost unheard-of experience level that helps attract and maintain business. Potential customers can visit or call the plant and have intelligent conversations with knowledgeable employees. And existing customers have faith that the job will get done right, because it always has.

With CEI's smashing success so far, observers may wonder where the company will go next. Nowak says he'll continually expand the business while focusing on customer service and employee satisfaction. He is already doubling the 60,000-sq-ft facility to fit the new extruder and a warehouse. After this addition, to be complete in early 2001, five more acres are available onsite; then the question is whether to expand nearby or in a different state.

Wherever it goes, Coating Excellence will build on delivering specialized, cost-competitive service and innovation with top-notch equipment and seasoned employees who care about the business.

More information from:

Concord Business Systems, Inc.,770/429-0268, fax: 770/429-8774, www.concord-converting.com Circle 260 · Egan Davis-Standard Film and Coating Systems, 908/722-6000, fax: 908/722-6444, www.davis-standard.com Circle 261· AF Corp., 215/289-8300, fax: 215/289-9093, www.a-fcorp.com Circle 262 · WindmoellerHoelscher Corp., 401/333-2770, fax: 401/333-6491, www. whcorp.com Circle 263 · Eastman Chemical Co., 800/327-8626.Circle 264 · Flint Ink Corp., 734/622-6000, fax: 734/622-6131, www.flintink.com Circle 265 · BST Pro Mark, 630/833-9900, fax: 630/833-9909, www.bst-pro-mark.com Circle 266 · AVT, Inc., 414/523-0422, fax: 414/523-0433, www.avt-inc.com Circle 267 · Testing Machines, Inc., 800/678-3221, fax: 516/842-5220, www.testingmachines.com Circle 268 · Maren Engineering Corp., 708/333-6250, fax: 708/333-7507, www.marenengineering.com Circle 269 · Micro Clean, by Absolutely Microclean Intl., 800/474-8489, fax: 916/635-4654, www. microclean-int.com Circle 270 · Harper Corp. of America,800/438-3111, fax: 704/588-3819. Circle 271 · Corona Designs Inc.,972/272-0471, fax: 972/272-0379, www.coronadesigns. com Circle 272 · Measurex Corp.,800/538-9390, fax: 408/366-5390. Circle 273 · Stanford Products LLC,618/548-2600, fax: 618/548-6782, www.stanforddivision.com Circle 274 · Graceland Intl. Corp.,800/550-5826, fax: 847/699-7542, www.graceland-intl.com Circle 275

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