Rowmark Europe
History
Rowmark: A Company History
Nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the engraving business who has never heard of Rowmark engraving materials. The name Rowmark is to engraving materials as the name Kodak is to photographic film: a household word. The Rowmark story is an interesting one and one that's not widely known among the tens of thousands of Rowmark users today.
To avoid any potential confusion, readers should understand that there are two parts to the Rowmark history: the Rowmark brand of products and the Rowmark company, which manufactures these products.
The Rowmark story begins with a vision. This was, and still is, the driving force behind the company, which began with a vision inspired by Fred Kremer Jr. back in 1993. Its employees continue to nurture the vision today. But the original Rowmark story actually began in 1983 at Hancor, Inc., of Findlay, Ohio (now owned by Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., of Hilliard, Ohio), where Fred Kremer was CEO. Hancor was an industry leader in the manufacture of high-density polyethylene drainage products.
One day in 1983, Fred Kremer received a phone call from the engraving machine and materials giant, Gravograph / New Hermes, inquiring whether Hancor could make a top quality sheet of "microsurface" engraving stock to be sold by Gravograph / New Hermes as part of its immense engraving materials line.
At the time, Fred Kremer admitted that he didn't know much about engraving stock, but he knew a lot about producing high quality plastic products and Hancor had the capabilities to begin manufacturing sheets. It wasn't long before Hancor was making sheets of engraving material being sold by Gravograph / New Hermes under various Gravograph / New Hermes brand names, a relationship that flourished until 1986.
In the meantime, Rowland Inc., the Connecticut-based company that had previously been the exclusive manufacturer of Gravograph / New Hermes' engraving materials, had a falling out with Gravograph / New Hermes. Rowland owners, Don and Audrey Morrison, then decided to create their own sales organization and launch their own line of engraving materials to be sold exclusively through a network of independent engraving supply distributors. Originally, the Morrisons had all of their own manufacturing facilities in their Connecticut factory, but they soon discovered that the equipment and technology needed to manufacture the products were very expensive in comparison to the size of the market. They could produce the sheets themselves, but doing so wasn't very efficient or cost-effective.
It made sense to let a company such as Hancor, with its know-how and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities make the products as Rowland Inc. focused on the sales and marketing. Rowland's Don Morrison then introduced a line of engraving materials, sold under the Rowmark brand name. This joint business venture seemed like a marriage made in heaven and allowed Hancor's Fred Kremer to go full-scale into the engraving materials manufacturing business by setting up the Hancor Sheet Division, which included a new plastic extrusion line. So, in 1987, the Rowmark brand of engraving stock was born along with a growing line of now familiar Rowmark engraving materials, such as the "Satins" and the "Mattes," products which were very innovative in their day and are still widely used today.
In 1993, Kremer decided to purchase the sales and marketing rights for the Recognition and Identification market from Rowland. After doing this, he created a new company, establishing it as a separate division of Hancor, and Rowmark (the company), as we know it today, was born.
The Rowmark product line has grown immensely since the early days of the Satins and the Mattes, adding products to its ever-evolving line-up. In 1991, with the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), sign makers were faced with new rules on how to create signage that would comply with the new laws. Rowmark's addition of the ADA Alternative product line in 1994 gave sign shops and engravers a wide range of colors to make custom signage that was both compliant and architecturally attractive.
FlexiBrass, also introduced in 1994, was a landmark product for Rowmark. It was the first product designed specifically with the trophy and award retailer in mind. The thin-gauge, flexible material was a perfect substitute to the heavier metals that had traditionally been used as plates on trophies and plaques. Its ability to look great even after years of exposure made it the ideal choice for applications where oxidation was an issue. FlexiBrass proved to be Rowmark's introduction into the emerging laser engraving market as well.
During the mid 1990s, Rowmark was the first company in the engraving materials market to develop a website. By the late 1990s, Rowmark upgraded its website, making it easier to download information, providing quick access to material specifications, color choices, technical information, sales tools and a gallery of how-to ideas for potential applications. Rowmark's website was expanded to allow authorized distributors to order products online.
By this time, Rowmark had a strong domestic presence, so Kremer wanted to enter the growing international market. This goal was achieved in 1996 when the company opened a distribution warehouse in the Netherlands, responding to the increasing demands in Europe for Rowmark's products.
Rowmark continued to be a subsidiary of Hancor until October of 1997 when Kremer resigned his position as CEO of Hancor and purchased Rowmark outright. He also purchased land for Rowmark in the Findlay Tall Timbers Industrial Park where he would build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility designed to combine office, warehouse and manufacturing functions under one roof.
Then on December 20, 1997, which was the Saturday morning following Rowmark's Company Christmas Party, where Fred and the employees of Rowmark celebrated the new venture, Kremer and two pilots were killed in a private plane crash. According to Hancock County Sheriff deputies, the 1976 Beechcraft Bonanza A36 took off from the airport's north-south runway just before 7 a.m. and moments later came down about a mile away, killing all three men.
Kremer's vision for Rowmark might have died that day, but it didn't. Fred Kremer's family became involved in the business and his employees rallied around his plan, pressing on with the move. On September 2, 1998, the new facility opened and, with additional extrusion lines and raw material storage, Rowmark was poised for extraordinary growth.
On September 3, 1998 (one day after Rowmark's new facility opened) the Kremer family and the Rowmark Board of Directors announced that Duane Jebbett had been named President of Rowmark. Jebbett was a strong protégé of Kremer's and had proven to be a very capable leader. He seemed to be the perfect facilitator for keeping Kremer's vision and Rowmark's future alive.
The company quickly took off, focusing on innovative product development and launches. In 1999, Rowmark established its first joint venture, joining with Universal Woods to bring digital color to Rowmark through Unisub® and ColorLine® branded sublimatable products. Lee Thomas, Chairman of Universal Woods and author refers to Rowmark positively in his book "Ethical Business Relationships."
In 2001, when the industry began to see a greater infusion of laser engravers, Rowmark quickly responded by introducing a highly engineered product, LaserMax®. Designed for laser and rotary engraving, LaserMax offers a broad range of UV-stable color combinations to the marketplace.
In 2002, Rowmark became the exclusive worldwide marketer for products from Spectrum Marking Materials. These products included MATES and magMATES, sublimatable items, LaserLIGHTS and LASERmag flexible laserable materials. These unique and attractive products gave engravers and sublimation customers a wide choice of materials that would meet more demanding applications.
Recognizing the need for internal quality systems, Rowmark implemented state-of-the-art a bar-coding system into its finished goods and raw materials warehousing in June of 2002. The company's finished goods warehouse has consistently met world-class cycle counting levels of more than 99% accuracy. And the company is continuously evaluating material vendors to make sure that the best raw materials go into making Rowmark products.
In 2003, continuing to grow the company in a positive direction, Rowmark announced the creation of a new custom products division called Premier Material Concepts (PMC). The PMC division specializes in the manufacture of customized plastic sheet and roll stock for a variety of market applications (including the thermoforming market), with an emphasis on customization. It is PMC's goal to find effective solutions to the demanding needs of the market.
Rowmark became an ISO 9001:2000 certified company in 2004. This means that procedures, processes and instructions have been put in place to ensure that its quality management system (from administration to manufacturing) is maximized to its fullest potential, resulting in quality products delivered to Rowmark's customers.
Tromark was created in 2003 as a joint venture between Trodat and Rowmark. Trodat (headquartered in Austria) is the world leader in self-inking stamps and, by becoming partners, Trodat and Rowmark created a distribution network in the engraving market to handle the distribution of Rowmark materials to the European, African and Middle Eastern markets. With the opening of this new distribution network, the distribution warehouse in the Netherlands was closed.
Rowmark expanded its headquarters in 2004-2005. The expanded facility contains more than 78,000 square feet and houses multiple extrusion lines; press, lamination and hot stamp capabilities; six storage silos; a warehouse dedicated to raw materials; a finished goods warehouse and the company's administration offices. In 2005, Rowmark expanded their extrusion capacity by adding a new, state-of-the-art extrusion line.
Introduced in 2006 was Metalgraph PlusTM. This product line represents Rowmark's commitment to providing cutting-edge materials to its customers. The integrated hardcoat in Metalgraph Plus provides scratch and fingerprint resistance as well as UV stability and outdoor weatherability. It is laser and rotary engravable and represents the next generation of the company's materials.
In 2007, Rowmark introduced LaserGlowTM. This glow-in-the-dark laserable product is the only MEA (materials equipment and acceptance) certified acrylic engravable product on the market today. It exceeds several safety-signage standards, including New York City Local Law 26. Glow-in-the-dark sign materials are now being specified in some high-rise buildings so evacuees can read the signage in the event of an emergency where the power is cut off.
2007 marked a new chapter in Rowmark history. It was announced late in 2006 that the company entered into an agreement to sell a controlling interest in the company to management with the backing of Clearview Capital, LLC, a private investment firm located in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. This opportunity would position Rowmark for future growth, while continuing to provide the same high level of service its customers have come to expect. The management and employees of the company remained intact through this transition, under the leadership of Duane Jebbett.
In 2008, Rowmark announced the official launch of its new sign supply division ClearPath Signage Systems. Created to service the needs of the growing interior architectural signage market, ClearPath Signage Systems sells a full line of quality frame systems, stand-offs, cable hanging systems, sheet materials, photoluminescent products and ready-made signs.
Also in 2008, the company announced that Rowmark acquired 100% ownership of the joint venture Tromark (created in 2003). This important strategic change would allow Rowmark to continue to grow its strategic business model and brand throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, expanding its brand overseas, and continuing to strengthen the company in the global marketplace. With this change, Tromark has now become known as Rowmark Europe, and is headquartered in Ozoir, France with sales offices in Antwerp, Belgium.
There is no doubt that Rowmark will continue to service the engraving and sign market in the future. The company has invested heavily in capital equipment, facilities, people, research and engineering resources to bring "next generation" engravable materials to its customers.
Rowmark's plans include the addition of several new product lines and further expansion in both the domestic and international markets, and the development of new innovative products to meet the market's changing needs. The company values its excellent distribution channel partners and will continue to support them as the market changes and grows.
Year in and year out, the Rowmark team is committed to excellence in all aspects of its operation. Rowmark is proud to offer its products through more than 130 distributors in over 70 countries. With the largest distribution network in the industry, Rowmark takes great pride in calling itself the worldwide leader in extruded sheet materials for the awards, engraving and signage markets. You can be sure that Rowmark will continue to be a company of growth, a company of promise, and a company of vision.