Partners in Progress

Finding a partner.

Back in the late 80s, FiberLok was a small but growing operation in Fort Collins, Colorado, that was beginning to outgrow its process, which was slow and labor-intensive. With their products rapidly gaining popularity, they needed a means to increase volume while simultaneously decreasing production time. Founder Brown Abrams knew he needed to find a partner with the capability to produce the components he needed in a form that would enable FiberLok to modernize its process and produce more patches in far less time if he was going to meet the higher volume of orders. The challenge was finding a company willing to entertain what would be a relatively small piece of custom business, at least to start, and that Brown felt he could trust to play a critical role in the success of his entire operation. One hundred percent reliability was absolutely essential.

Turning to FLEXcon.

Since he already had a relationship with FLEXcon and was confident in our capabilities, Brown turned to us. The project actually fit quite nicely into our PURPOSE — to help our customers make the most of their opportunities and achieve their potential. We began precision toll coating components for FiberLok’s proprietary technology shortly thereafter, and have been doing so ever since. Says Brown of the relationship, “Depending totally on someone to be in your supply chain requires the highest amount of trust, and I feel more than comfortable in our relationship, which is highly dependent on absolutely consistent results from FLEXcon.”

Collaboration matters.

FiberLok’s business has grown by leaps and bounds because they offer something truly unique. While, historically, the focus has been on heat transfers, they are currently seeing a sizable demand for their products in a pressure-sensitive format for a variety of labeling applications, such as brand identity labels on durable goods and instructional labels for auto interiors, as well as prime labeling and P-O-P displays. Once again, the technical teams at FiberLok and FLEXcon are collaborating to develop a portfolio of PSA products covering a range of permanent/industrial and temporary/repositionable sticker options that features a robust combination of FiberLok’s three families of products and FLEXcon’s pressure-sensitive adhesives and release liners. It’s possible for end users, or their suppliers, to specify or source completed product directly from FiberLok or to laminate and laser cut themselves.

Symbiotic relationship.

Brown believes the greatest benefit of working with a single supplier that he’s come to know, appreciate and trust is the symbiotic relationship forged and the consistency developed over years of working together. “It’s vital that we integrate our processes so that our proprietary manufactured products come together in a predictable and consistent way. A lot of up-front work goes into every project in order to obtain the required functional performance that enables us to provide the reliability our customers demand,” Brown says. “FLEXcon gets that and is ready to work with us to achieve the quality control that is essential to our success. We’re in this thing together.”