PCC expands marketing reach - Precision Custom Coatings

Precision Custom Coatings (PCC) - one of the largest producers of nonwoven and knit interlinings in the United States - has announced that it will begin to market its brand name worldwide and work more closely with interested U.S. distributors to promote its global network of 38 distribution, warehousing and sales offices. The vertically integrated firm, which until now has operated as a silent partner with 99 U.S. interlining distributors, says that the move will benefit U.S.-based apparel firms that are working to expand their sourcing and supplier networks. PCC, with $100 million in annual sales, was founded in 1987 and operates a 210,000-square-foot, 280,000,000-yards-per-year production facility in Totowa, NJ. It produces nonwovens from fiber to finished product and also coats knit fabrics supplied by a number of leading knitting mills. Today, 60 percent of the company's U.S. production, which includes thermo-bonded, chemical-bonded and needle punch goods, is sold through U.S. distributors, while the remainder is exported under the PCC label to markets including the Far East and Europe. The company also has a strong presence in Latin America and recently named Notions International Inc. an official distributor for the Central American and Caribbean regions. Notions International has offices in El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

Despite its size and global breadth, PCC has gone largely unrecognized in the U.S. apparel industry because its name has not appeared on any of its interlinings, which to date have been sold exclusively under the labels of U.S. distributors including QST Industries Inc., Arc Mills Inc., BTC II Ltd., WAF Group and Security Textiles Corp. This approach has been extremely effective, according to the company, but the past decade's growth of marketing-oriented companies with global sourcing networks (and a resulting shrinkage of the U.S. manufacturing base) has made it necessary for suppliers to offer global service as well.

"In 1996, the company realized that it needed to distribute overseas and follow global trends," Scott Tesser, vice president of international business, told Bobbin. "We have manufacturing efficiencies here that allow us to be competitive globally. As a result, we can offer consistent products produced at a single location. . . . And we also can produce nonwovens and knits in widths up to 130 inches, which gives us flexibility in serving different markets and improves overall fabric utilization.

"Many of our U.S. distributors now want to leverage our worldwide network and technical expertise, which will help them expand their businesses outside the United States," he continued. "For example, we have 10 offices in the Far East. We have technical personnel who can work directly with factories and evaluate production capabilities using standardized fusing tests. We also offer an apparel research center for evaluation. These services are becoming increasingly important to our distributors."

To help promote these services, PCC has kicked off a new corporate identity program. It will include a new logo that will be used on roll-end labels, joint advertising with a number of U.S. distributors and multilingual swatch books to promote PCC's interlinings.

Complementing the corporate marketing strategy are several new PCC-branded product introductions aimed at both the U.S. and global markets. One is a formaldehyde-free line that includes 16 thermo-bonded interlinings. The primary target markets are children's wear, infants' wear and intimate apparel.

Additionally, the company has developed an advanced, low-cost double-dot resin application system for fine fabrics, noted president and COO Peter Longo. "Resin dots on a piece of interlining will gravitate toward the heat source [used in fusing]. We use small dots on the bottom of the [interlining] that are already set," he explained. "These dots are not reactivated by the heat, which keeps the resin from bleeding through the fabric."

The double-dot interlinings, which have applications in difficult-to-fuse fabrics such as Teflon[R]-coated rain-wear, currently are available in nonwovens. However, knits are in the works and soon will be available as second-generation products.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Miller Freeman, Inc.
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