The Value of a Fully Integrated Wood Coatings Supplier

Industrial wood finishers have options when it comes to their wood coatings supplier. A number of different factors may influence why you might select one coating over another.

It might be convenience. It might be cost. It might be perceived quality of the product. It might be supplemental service and support that is offered.

But there’s another factor you might not often think about—and it’s how much control your supplier exerts over their own product. Do they control the research and development process? Colorant manufacturing? Distribution?

All of these things and more can ultimately impact the wood coating product you’re depending on to meet your customers’ needs. High-quality coatings, made with care and to high standards, can ultimately help you bring new value to your customers, too. With this in mind, here’s a look at the added value you can extract from working with a fully integrated coatings supplier that maintains total control over its processes from start to finish:

Research and Product Development
First and foremost, a high-quality, high-performance product starts with understanding the needs of the customer, as well as the technology required to meet those needs.

That makes a robust research and development process an important characteristic to look for when vetting your coatings supplier. By beginning with a good understanding of what a wood finishers’ most critical requirements are—including ease of application, process efficiency, color consistency, and more—your supplier is more equipped to deliver a product that meets them.

Importantly, that performance should be vetted—making field testing an important part of any research and development process. Once developed, it’s important for any supplier to rigorously test their products in field trials, demonstrating its ability to perform as expected—every time.

Manufacturing Quality and Control
Along with robust research and development, a high-performance product depends on what it is made of. A fully integrated supplier should maintain a consistent, reliable network of preferred suppliers for various raw materials—including pigments—that go into a coating. Ideally, they should also make their own colorants.

These capabilities translate into added value for wood finishers in a few ways. First is consistency in color, which is critical to the final product. For example, if your coatings supplier faces a discontinuation from an external colorant supplier, it’s highly likely the color of a coating will shift slightly once a change is made to replace the colorant. For you, it means an inconsistent product. A coatings supplier with its own stringent colorant manufacturing capabilities likely won’t run into the same issue.

Secondly, a supplier with a strong raw material supply network and internal colorant manufacturing helps ensure reliable supply. A fully integrated manufacturer that works with vetted and trusted external suppliers is more likely to deliver a consistent, on-time experience for wood finishers. It’s part of the value of a supplier that controls all its processes.