More Industry Profile

Industry Profile

Lilian Bower, senior account executive, says coils stock from Chromagraphic Processing Co. colors the world.

D&WC: Please give a detailed description of your company and its history. Lilian M. Bower: Chromagraphic Processing Co. (CPC) was founded in March 1986 by my father, Don Bower. At that time we occupied a 6,000-square-foot building in Montoursville, PA, which housed one paint line. There were nine employees originally. Plans then were to coat only the top 10 most popular colors of aluminum coil for one-inch mini-blinds. Today we occupy a 258,000-square-foot building in Williamsport, PA. Chromagraphic currently houses seven slitters and six paint lines. The paint lines are state-of-the-art with in-line slitting capabilities. All six paint lines use the reverse roll coating method for steel and aluminum in coil form. The lines are computer controlled to monitor paint thickness for even application and a better quality finished product. Our INTERMIX computerized coloring system assists in matching or creating infinite colors and stores custom color formulas for future use. More than 2,000 different colors for the window blind industry were painted at Chromagraphic last year. We currently stock 150 colors in one-inch and micro-blind slats. We also stock 63 colors in vertical slats. Currently, CPC employs 168 people. D&WC: What parts of the country do you service? Bower: Our product is sold throughout the world. We supply large fabricators in the window coverings industry with coated coil stock. Most of our coil is sold through our distributors. We have a very strong relationship with each of our distributors who all, like CPC, are independent suppliers to the window coverings industry. Along with our coil, CPC distributors offer their own window coverings products as well. D&WC: What are some of the key factors involved in your growth and success? Bower: In 1989 we made the decision to purchase aluminum rolling mills from Kaiser Aluminum in Cupertino, CA. At that time we purchased three mills with support equipment and our parent company, Coastal Aluminum Rolling Mills, Inc., was born. The mills give us the advantage of being our own supplier of aluminum. In January of this year, our third mill went into production. D&WC: Do you offer any products other than window coverings products? Bower: In addition to window blind aluminum, we also supply coated aluminum and stainless steel for the automotive industries as well as coated aluminum for a large variety of building products. Some of our "other than window blind" products include highly specific striping of adhesives, this is one area that Chromagraphic excels and allows for high quality products across the board. In addition to coated products, a large part of our business is uncoated aluminum coil to the aerospace industry around the world. D&WC:What do you consider to be among your strengths in the marketplace? Bower: Everything possible is completed in-house by our own employees under Lloyd's direction. We have a Special Projects crew for that purpose. This crew does everything from building machines to erecting our new buildings. D&WC: What distinguishes you from the competition? Bower: As our own supplier of rolled aluminum coil stock, we are by far ahead of our competition when it comes to quality control. In addition, as a custom coil coater we are able to supply any size, color or gauge of window blind coil. Chromagraphic Processing Co. 2475 Trenton Ave. Williamsport, PA 17701 (717) 323-7899 (800) 367-6607 Fax: (717) 323-6710 Manufacturer of aluminum coil stock for horizontal and vertical blinds and other blind components and metal products. Available in custom colors, widths and gauges.