IAPD: Alex and Marcy, thank you for joining us for this manufacturer interview. Alex, you are in the United States for the second time to run Kömmerling; what brought you back?

Alexander Franke: Thanks for having us and providing the opportunity to engage with IAPD in a new dimension. I hope there will be more sessions like this with other manufacturers in the future.

Indeed, it is my second time in North America, and I am here for good. I have been with Kömmerling for 18 years; the three years I spent in the United States back in 2015 were by far among the most impactful years of my career. Most recently I served as the Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) in Germany, and now I have the opportunity to develop a new era for our global footprint in North America. This opportunity brought me back to the States and had me step down from the board of directors.

IAPD: It sounds like Kömmerling is poised for some much bigger plans. Can you tell us about the ‘new era’ at Kömmerling?

AF: Kömmerling is planning to make significant investments in the United States over the next five years to five-fold our business by 2030. First, we will bring fully integrated capabilities for the value chain of extrusion and fabrication for the fast-growing tilt-and-turn vinyl window market to the United States. Second, we are on the way to add a fully-fledged Type I program to our product portfolio; and third, we will heavily invest to grow our market share in existing distribution channels through market-leading market services, quality levels and the continued development of new applications for PVC sheets. On the PVC sheets side, we are planning to double our turnover by 2030.

IAPD: Marcy, those goals for the sheets division sound very ambitious in a rather saturated business environment. Can you tell us a bit more about your vision to make this happen?

Marcy Menoni: The primary root for our continued success and growth is our exclusive focus on PVC as both a material and as a substrate. Many of our direct competitors carry a variety of different materials in their basket. Looking at them, it seems that PVC is carried by the success of the other products in their basket. With Kömmerling, you can expect a steady focus on PVC because this is what we do!

IAPD: Let’s have a deeper look at your pillars to grow Kömmerling’s business over the next five years. Can you elaborate further on your addition of Type I and how you can establish it in this market?

MM: Adding Type I has been on the agenda for quite some time. We have always had supplies from our parent company in Europe, but never made the step to maintain local capacities. This change will elevate us from a niche player to becoming an established supplier in the top tier levels. With decades of experience for Type I in our group, we will bring excellent and reliable quality that is proudly produced in the United States. While we expect to have our domestic lines fully up and running in the first quarter of 2025, we are stocked for a ramp-up entering into 2025 with existing initial production capabilities in Huntsville, Alabama.

IAPD: Valuable services and quality products are on the agenda for every one of our members. Can you detail what makes Kömmerling different?

AF: Our organization is customer-driven from “hair to toes.” Our operations and sales teams are committed to what matters most for our customers. This is a fact and not just a saying. We strive to make impossible things happen — And we mostly do!

Maintaining a broad range of products in stock with high responsiveness and quick turnaround on special jobs is our normal and should never be the exception. Going into the Fall, we will shorten all lead times for special projects to one week from our factory.

As part of this endeavor, we will add another Freefoam extrusion line to our portfolio going into 2025. It will be the third line addition since 2016 to support the growing demand for our products.

Our quality inspection process is an evolving system optimized to customer needs and respective applications. Beyond our standard products, we also offer customized solutions with specialized quality routines to ensure their specific needs are met.

Lastly, we offer an ever-increasing range of recycling services to give pre- and post-consumer materials a second life. We have several ongoing programs with large converters and are open to more as our efforts continue to grow recycled shares in our products.

With our brand’s attentive service, high quality and our continued efforts for continuous improvement, we are well-positioned to enter the “next era” of growth with our existing partners.

IAPD: As you broaden your product portfolio, what applications may be on your list of additions?

MM: The list of applications is literally ever-growing. It is truly exciting to see new innovative ideas arising that we haven’t even thought about the day before.

Wet environment applications are one large area of growth. With the addition of KömaDur (Type I), we have a comprehensive range of PVC options to replace wood-based substrates with a durable and economically viable option. Our recycling efforts help with these applications, along with our KömaEnviro series that carries up to 50% recycled material. We strongly believe the best is yet to come on growth opportunities with PVC in general.

IAPD: On the subject of recycling, where does sustainability rank in your business?

AF: Sustainability has gained a lot of attention and buy-in in our industry as it is vital to the future for fundamental reasons. We provide fully-fledged options to close the loop with both pre- and post-consumer material and have launched several successful programs with large players in the industry. We recently expanded the recycling capacities at our home site. We are also adding new technologies to help sort the material to avoid down-cycling and bring the material back into the entire product range. Our group is a global pioneer in recycling, and we are honored that we can rely on their knowledge and resources when needed.

IAPD: We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. Good luck with your ambitious plans for the future!