Commonwealth Laminating and Coating/Suntek (CLC), based in Martinsville, Va., recently opened its second location in the area, focusing on expanding its manufacturing and distributing capabilities.

“For our dealers it means that they’ll be able to be serviced more efficiently. We’ll be able to keep proper levels of all of our product lines to help with future growth,” says Hilary Thomas, vice president of North America sales and marketing.

The company, which added a master distribution center (MDC) in an effort to keep up with rising production demand, is growing consistently at an estimated 20 percent yearly according to Thomas, is also adding more in-house manufacturing capabilities. The building is modular, as the company anticipates increased expansion in the near future.

“We’ll be able to provide a higher level of quality control,” adds Thomas.

CLC initially started with one 60-inch coater and laminator, eventually adding a second 72-inch coater and laminator to boost production capabilities. The company began dying its own film in 2010 and now plans to add a third coating and laminating machine as well as a second dye line to its first location, which primarily will serve as the manufacturing facility.

“We justified and constructed the existing dyed film line, and the new one being built, based on 100-percent consumption and use in Suntek products only,” says Ernie Showfety, vice president of operations. “We didn’t realize the quality advantage when we started making our own CLC-produced dyed film … we realize now a lot of the finished product quality comes from the dyed film itself.”

Additional improvements to the existing manufacturing facility include a reorganization of the product flow as well as segregated air-filtration systems between machines and labs to reduce the overall risk of contamination.

Despite the many changes the company has experienced, as well as its exponential growth, Showfety says dealers will still get the support and service expected of a smaller company.

“Even though we’re now a big company, we’ve maintained that small company mindset,” he says.

For more on CLC’s expansion, look for the July/August edition of the FILM’d newscast.