No Limits to Laminates: Fabricators Tell Their Success Stories.

Editor's note: Continued improvements in overlays, such as enhanced design capability, increased durability and ease of processing, have resulted in an upsurge in laminate usage in residential and office furniture, case goods, cabinetry and flooring. According to George Carter, executive director of the Laminating Materials Assn., shipments of overlays have been on a steady upward trend, increasing an estimated 7 percent in 2000, to stand at 13 billion square feet (BSF).

What follows are some of the reasons behind successful fabricators who are using overlays and laminated products.

BESTAR 'FUSED' INTO RTA 

Since Bestar's founding in 1948 by Jean-Marie Tardif, the father of current CEO and Chairman Paulin Tardif, the company has strived to be the best and most innovative RTA manufacturer in Canada.

Located in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Bestar holds claim to being the first RTA furniture manufacturer in Canada, through its production of small bookcases designed to hold encyclopedias. "The encyclopedias were sold door to door and the bookcases were given as a free gift to anyone who purchased a set," says Michele Tardif, vice president of supply.

In 1991, Bestar also became the first RTA company to use thermofused melamine worksurfaces on its products. "Our company was a pioneer in the use of melamines for RTA furniture," says Tardif. She adds that it has proven excellent for high wear applications offering durability, resistance to stains, scratches and burns.

Laminates have always been an important part of their product design over the years, Tardif adds. "We use a variety laminates de pending on the design of the piece and its application. Our goal is to produce an attractive, competitively-priced product that will offer the best quality to the end user."

Its laminate furniture line includes a wide range of designs, among them computer carts, computer workstations, modular office systems and home entertainment furniture. The laminates used include 60-gram overlays and some of the newer 30-gram overlays from Europe. Bestar laminates all but its TFM panels in-house in its 350,000-square-foot facility. It purchases the TFM panels from an outside source.

When asked to comment on the changes in laminates over the years, Tardif said she has seen some "very nice improvements in the quality of printing. The overall durability of the laminates is up, along with the developments in resins and topcoats and the improvements in the laminating process. When we began laminating panels years ago it was a complex procedure but the new technology has streamlined the process. It's really a fusion of all the different materials, from the glue to the board to the laminate, and together they add up to high quality and good looks using environmentally friendly materials."

The aesthetic appeal of today's overlays has enabled the 500-employee shop to sell its products around the world through retailers in office superstores, warehouse clubs, catalogs and through office dealer channels. In 1996, the company became the first North American RTA manufacturer to gain ISO 9001 certification for its quality control. The company reported sales of $81 million in 1999.

FURNITURE FIRM 'WILD' FOR OVERLAY MIX

Contemporary case goods/bedroom furniture manufacturer Wild Rose Furniture relies heavily on papers and vinyls to give its products a finished look. An estimated $1.5 million to $2 million dollars is spent annually on the materials, which the Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based company overlays onto particleboard and MDF cores.

"We use 48-pound density particleboard for our case components and MDF for moulding," says Jim Gebhardt, purchasing manager. Typically, 30 gram material is used on particleboard, while 80-gram weight laminate is used on the MDF mouldings. Drawer sides and backs are wrapped on 1/2-inch particleboard with mende board drawer bottoms in white or woodgrain styling. All styles, which include juvenile and master bedroom designs in addition to the home furnishings line of case goods, are shipped fully assembled.

Currently, 65 percent of the overlay used in the case goods and bedroom furniture is paper, with the remaining 35 percent vinyl. "At one point, we used paper exclusively, but for the past eight or so years we have been using vinyl, too. We believe it reflects what consumers want and answers market trends," Gebhardt says.

Style and price points play a part in what laminate is used in a design. "In general, you see vinyl in our high priced designs while paper laminates are featured in the more moderately priced furniture," he explains.

Laminating is performed on-site at the company's 202,000-Papers and vinyls are used extensively in Wild Rose's furniture line.

square-foot manufacturing facility, using a double sized laminator from Harlan Machinery Co. and a profile wrapper from Voorwood. In addition to its manufacturing facility, company headquarters and the distribution facility are also located in Calgary. Three hundred people are employed by the 15-year-old company, which boasted annual sales of approximately $40 million last fiscal year. Wild Rose's furniture and case goods are marketed by a network of agents and distributors throughout Canada and the United States.

LAMINATE USE 'NO SMALL FEET' AT STEVENS

Located in Teutopolis, IL, Stevens Industries is one of the top five major laminators in the United States, producing a full line of laminated products from toddler furniture to components.

Founded in 1956 by Chuck Stevens, the company initially produced specialty woodwork and residential kitchen cabinets. In 1964 it introduced wood commercial fixtures and furniture to its product mix and two years later began manufacturing architectural casework. By the early '70s Stevens Industries introduced laminate casework and cabinets for schools and in 1980 it added high-volume melamine presses and component manufacturing for furniture and fixture manufacturing companies.

The mid '80s began a time of growth and expansion for the company. In 1986 it introduced early learning and child care center furniture under the brand name Tot Mate and in 1994 began offering bedroom furniture for children and young adults under the I.D. Kids name. In 1996, the company expanded into custom-design capabilities, thus creating Millwork Solutions.

According to Todd Wegman, sales manager of panels and components, the company introduced laminates as a way to offer a "good quality, durable product that offered design options and growth opportunities."

In addition to manufacturing laminated panels for its own lines, Stevens supplies to other OEMs. A specialty laminator. Stevens also offers custom color and pattern options to its clients. In its 350,000-square-foot plant, the company currently operates four melamine presses and two HPL presses. According to Wegman, melamine is generally used for surfaces that need good durability but do not require the impact resistance of HPL. Thermofused melamine also offers a price advantage compared with HPL, he adds.

In 1998 the company was sold by the Stevens family and is now owned by Stevens associates and stockholders. The company employs 550, many of whom are second- and third-generation associates.

During its nine-year history, Rieke Office Interiors of Elgin, IL, has gone through some major changes. According to Chris Matus, president, the company began by selling new office furniture, and then discovered its niche in refurbishing and selling used furniture.

Matus says they switched to manufacturing refurbished office furniture after taking consideration of the needs of the market. "We were very successful at offering good quality furniture at great prices. However, when a customer came back six months or a year later to buy more furniture, we couldn't guarantee that they could get the same style. It became a frustrating situation for our customers. Their attitude was 'now what do I do with what you sold me?' It made more sense for us to get into manufacturing."

It was a successful solution for Rieke, which posted sales of $6.5 million last year. The company currently employs 51 people in its manufacturing plant and sells direct to customers, offering custom options and office product variety.

The options include the wide range of laminate selections available to customers. "We don't just bring out a selection of eight colors, we show them the entire range of 800 laminates. We use roughly 95 percent high pressure laminates and the rest melamine," says Matus.

"The laminate flooring industry also did a wonderful job of introducing laminates as a quality product to put In your home which makes it really easy for us to justify it in the office. It's durable. It's beautiful. It's affordable. It has many different finish styles from gloss to semi-gloss, to matte, to dimpled.

Laminates make sense. The products are environmentally friendly but customers don't sacrifice looks to have all the other great attributes. When our clients see all the options that laminate manufacturers offer, and when they see our finished product, they seem to have a new respect for laminates."

Matus says laminates offer them the opportunity to take all the palettes of colors and put it with its designs to offer some thing unique.

"With so many choices, clients can take their unique impression and personality and tie it into a place where they spend a great deal of their waking time," he adds.

The Laminating Materials Association

The Laminating Materials Association (LMA) is a not-for-profit trade group that represents all types of man-made decorative overlays in North America. In addition, the LMA is the representative organization for all edgebanding in the United States and Canada. The products represented by the LMA are applied to a wood substrate (typically particleboard or MDF) and used in the production of furniture (household and office), store fixtures, cabinets (kitchen and bath), wall paneling, and etc.

Starting with only 12 members in 1985, the LMA has grown to nearly 140 member companies in the United States, Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Venezuela. Approximately 45 of these companies are suppliers of decorative overlay materials or edgebanding. These companies are known as Reporting Members within the LMA. As their name implies they report their annual production or import data to the LMA for inclusion in the group's annual statistical report.

The decorative finishing materials represented by the LMA include: continuous Laminates, decorative foils, heat transfer foils, low basis weight papers, saturated papers (a.k.a. thermofused melamine), vinyl films (includes membrane press vinyls) and edgebanding.

The remaining members in the LMA, known as Non-reporting Members, supply all of the other materials required for Laminating. These include substrates, adhesives and equipment. A number of the non-reporting members are custom Laminators, bringing all the supplies together and producing some type of Laminated products. A few members in the LMA produce finished goods utilizing laminated products.

The Association's Board of Directors comprises members who represent each of the major product categories covered by the LMA. Each director serves for three years, while day-to-day operations of the LMA are taken care of by George Carter, executive director. The following members compose the LMA's Board of Directors: Jerry Villa, American Adhesive Coatings Co.; Ed Zelasko, CFC International; Ed Dudley, Chiyoda America Inc.; Bjorn Wahl, Dyno Overlays Inc.; Mike DiGiuro, Flexible Materials Inc.; Rick Spiess, H.B. Fuller Co.; Jim Barnett, Omnova Solutions; and Allen Pickering, Pickering Inc.

LMA's Annual Statistical Reports

The Laminating Materials Assn. was formed to provide a continuous flow of statistical marketing information on the shipments of decorative overlays. The LMA collects shipment and import data from its members covering the decorative overlays it represents.

North American shipments of decorative overlays rose approximately 7% in 2000, to stand at 13 billion square feet (BSF). Shipments of overlays have been on a steady upward trend since the 1991 recession, falling only slightly in 1995 due to an inventory correction.

Current estimates for 2000 indicate that the vinyl films category rose about 6.5% from the 1999 Level. The LMA estimates that total 2000 North American shipment volume for all vinyl films was roughly 3.3 BSF. Vinyl films, made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), may be either clear or solid color. If the film is clear, then it is printed on the reverse side, which protects the print. If the film is a solid color, the printing is on the top. There are six categories of vinyl films. Vinyl films can be used for wall paneling, case goods, stereo cabinets and other applications. The rapid acceptance of membrane pressable vinyls, known within the LMA as ther moformed overlays, have helped push up the whole category's market share.

Low basis weight papers range in weight from 23 to 40 grams and are sometimes pre-impregnated with resin. Acrylic, polyester and other resins can be added during the paper-making process to improve the internal bond strength of the paper. The paper is then printed and generally coated with polyurethane, urea, polyester, acrylic or melamine resins, or a combination thereof. Total North American shipments of these papers rose about 3.5% in 2000, to stand at 4 BSF. Low basis weight papers make up the largest segment of the decorative overlay market, accounting for more than 30% of total volume of decorative overlays shipped in 2000.

Decorative Foils are cellulose papers weighing between 40 and 140 grams per square meter untreated, although most of the commercially available papers in this cate gory tend to range between 40 and 80 grams per square meter. These overlays may be impregnated or topcoated with melamine resins. Treating may add 20 to 40 grams of weight or more, depending on the basis weight of the paper. Decorative foils require an adhesive for lamination.

These papers are generally referred to as "finished foils" in Europe. In the United States they have been called melamine papers, intermediate weight foils, and impregnated foils. They are all of intermediate weight, but so are most of the saturated papers. "Foils" are not all finished nor are they all impregnated. Impregnation, or lack thereof and the percentage of resin used, have a direct effect on the internal bond strength of the paper, as well as the porosity, cutting qualities, and machinability. Total North American shipments of decorative foils experienced strong growth in 2000, rising about 11%. This follows an 8% gain in 1999, which brought total shipment volume in the United States and Canada to 1.9 BSF for 2000.

Saturated papers, also known as thermofused melamine (TFM), generally weigh between 60 and 130 grams per square meter, with the majority of usage falling between 80 and 120 grams per square meter. These overlays are saturated with reactive resins, which are partially cured at the point of saturation. Final curing is done at the time of hot press lamination when the resins form a hard crosslinked thermoset material. The paper formation is similar to the decor sheet used for high pressure laminates. These products are self-bonding; that is, the resin in the paper flows into the surface of the board during Lamination, creating a permanent bond. Thus, no external adhesives are required. Since the LMA began tracking shipments of these papers in 1975, this product group has declined only 4 times. The LMA expects that shipments of saturated papers in North America will have risen about 9% in 2000, to stand at 3.8 BSF.

Design Trends for Tomorrow and Beyond

What's hot and what's not--perhaps the two most important questions facing overlay producers Design experts share their insights into the influences on design trends both today, and in the future.

Both designers say technology has been the major influence on design trends. "Technology combined with the influence of nature, such as water and tight, is a driving force on the demand for pearlescent and metallic prints," comments Marcel Albert, director of design for Suddekor LLC. "I (also) see a clear direction for laminates toward a metalltic Look for commercial applications. Combined with metallic inks and a dimensional finish, these laminates will outperform the real metals in both wear and appearance he adds.

According to Edward Zelasko printed patterns business unit manager for CFC International "(Through the use of digital Originations), subtle variations of a theme will be more prevalent in the future. Printing technologies lend itself to computer originations quite nicety since it too is a form of printing.

"The use of digital computer printing has also revolutionized the laminate industry. Speed to market has been a true benefit of digital printing, and customers are also given many more color and design options," Zelasko added.

"The much improved processes and experience gained by dedicated people have enabled printers to put images on paper that rival authentic natural materials," Albert adds. "The pearlescent and metallic use of pigments is now used in ways that give real ism to images, and not the 'tacky' glitter images of the past. Wood prints have been enhanced with pearl stages that give a real look to the prints. With the addition of dimensional registered finishes, even wood experts can be fooled," he says.

Today's woodgrain patterns are also seen to mimic the look of natural wood. Flight now the trend in woodgrains is running away from bold, wide-grained (large cathedrals) patterns to those that are much more subdued. Grains are typically tighter, more linear designs," Zelasko says.

Popular species include cherry, maple, beech and warm oaks. Walnut, mahogany and exotics are also gaining in market share. in many segments, including residential furniture. "Additionally, we are still seeing an upsurge in washed out patterns Like barn worn and whitewashed grains--patterns that have character and eye-pleasing colors. But patterns and colors do not necessarily have to match or blend well today. They may be sharp in contrast and still work for the consumer," Zelasko adds.

With the focus on nature and natural materials -- nature marble, granite, stone and wood -- the question arises as to white's place in the picture.

White, Zelasko and Albert say, will always have its place in the cabinet industry, or as a neutralizer with bolder prints and patterns. However, Albert adds, "The use of white as a decorative surface will diminish as the 'clinical' Look is out. The markets are ready for bold, rich, sophisticated use of color, image and texture. Buyers of decorative products are more sophisticated and demand more value for their money."