Maryland Heights, Mo.—Nearly 35 years ago chemical giant BASF became known for its tagline, “We don’t make the products you buy; we make the products you buy better.” The idea was that BASF enhanced products through its chemical innovations. Along those same lines, Schattdecor, a global leader in décor development, could boast, “We don’t make the flooring; we make the flooring look better.” That’s because the German company for years has given laminate flooring unmatched visual authenticity and today is seeking to do the same for LVT/ SPC/WPC.
Schattdecor has long been a leading supplier of the decorative paper that for decades has taken laminate flooring to new heights in terms of realism. Today it owns about 40% market share on U.S.-made laminate, making it arguably the market leader. “We’re the largest decorative printer in the world,” said David Sheehan, CEO of the American arm of the nearly $1 billion company. “We have 16 locations and six representative offices.”
Sheehan came to Schattdecor less than a year ago seeking to build business by leveraging some 30 years of relationships. His primary targets are the producers of the 700 million square feet of domestically made LVT. “Today we are actively engaged with the largest flooring manufacturers in the U.S.,” he told FCNews.
And that’s just the beginning. “We’re just getting started with LVT,” he said. “Our first PVC customer emerged about three years ago. We are focused on LVT because it is now the single-largest flooring category in the U.S. We want to leverage that. We think we bring some things to the table that others can’t necessarily do. We have taken our core competencies in our traditional business on the decorative paper side and applying that into this new market.”
It makes complete sense given that the printing process for LVT vs. laminate is essentially the same, according to Sheehan, just different inks and a different canvas. We utilize the same equipment to print both products.”
The appeal of being able to print domestically is fueling interest from many companies, he said, coupled with its stellar reputation on the decorative paper side. “We have two high-end machines, but if we wanted to expand we could put in a third very easily. We’ve already had companies ask how quickly could we scale up. We intend to get as much of the domestic LVT print film business as possible.”
As a global company, Sheehan said Schattdecor has a unique opportunity by calling on designers and product leaders in the U.S. who make decisions not only for flooring that’s produced here, but also in Asia. “We also have Asian printing capabilities,” he said. “Only 70 million square meters are made here in North America. The other 270 million square meters are coming from Asia. So a decision maker could see a design we produce here and choose to use that on an SPC construction made in Asia. Our facilities in Asia could produce that same visual with the same exact quality.”
How it works
Everything begins with design, and Schattdecor has an extensive global design team that excels in trend analysis. “Trends in North America are different than what you might experience in Europe, Brazil or China,” said Claire Froschauer, North American sales manager. “We have a central approach to design where the independent countries and regions will provide the trends respective to their market.”
The design team visits trade shows within their respective regions but also attends the bigger trade shows around the world. “We’re looking at the emerging trends in interior home fashion design and what patterns and colors are now supporting those trends,” she added. “We then actively convert those ideas and concepts into products, separating them, creating the patterns and colors.”
The process then becomes interactive. “We’ll invite customers here for a two-day workshop with our designers across the flooring, cabinet, furniture and commercial interiors worlds and show them the trends we’re seeing at the fairs and through our global and local analysis,” said Rachel Kornhardt, design manager. “We’ll talk to them about the concepts and drivers behind the trends, then show patterns and colors that support those trends.”
With a library of on-trend designs, Schattdecor then works with its customers who either select what they like or collaborate with Schattdecor’s team to refine them. A designer may also come to Schattdecor with his or her own source material and separations. “Our décor development team is one of our secret weapons,” Kornhardt said. “We’re very adept at creating customized décor and color solutions.”
After creating a final layout, Schattdecor can then go one of two ways: rotogravure printing, which is what happens in Missouri, or it can go directly digital. “That’s what we do in Germany,” Sheehan explained. “Companies buy the digital print from our facility in Germany, and it is shipped to countries like Vietnam, where it’s converted into laminate.”
Competitive advantages
Schattdecor’s digital lab capability is one of its greatest differentiators. Its high-end printers are calibrated in such a way that when the paper comes off the machine it will exactly replicate the material that will come off its production line. “We’re using the same decor base paper as we are in production and the same pigments of our inks,” Sheehan said. “There is a primer on our paper that allows the inks to sit on top of the paper because digital and rotogravure are different processes, but the inks and the paper base are the same. So, it makes going from digital lab to production seamless rather than having to go into an intermediate step of the rotogravure lab.”
Sheehan said this has been a big hit with customers. “New customers gravitate toward it. This is something unique and it helps us bring products to market quicker. Manufacturers spend so much time, energy and effort to show products at Surfaces. The sooner they can actually deliver those goods to hit that spring selling season, the better. This is one of the secret sauces. It was built for the decor paper side of the business, but our goal is always to take what we do well there and make it available on the PVC side.”
Other competitive advantages:
Made in the U.S.
“If domestic LVT or laminate flooring manufacturers do not have to wait on paper that is coming over from Asia or Europe, think about the shortened lead times,” Sheehan said. “When a domestic supplier buys film from Taiwan or China, from the moment they place that order it will be 18 weeks before that film shows up on their doorstep. To mitigate those long lead times, they have to maintain deep inventory of print film, which means tying up cash in raw materials. With us, they can place an order and within three to four weeks they have that paper or film. They can reduce their inventory and no longer have to tie up their cash. Also, lower shipping costs; because you’re not having to import from either Asia or Europe, you’re just dealing with domestic freight and logistics.”
Reliability.
“Tariffs have caused unpredictability in the supply chain,” Sheehan said. “Right now, containers are not available. Containers are left here and you need the film to be brought over from Asia. So that logistical unpredictability has become a primary outcome of the tariffs.”
Geopolitical concerns.
The bulk of PVC film that is sourced from Asia is coming from Taiwan. “Taiwan is uncertain in terms of what China is going to do,” Sheehan explained. “And as a result, many U.S. companies believe they need to diversify and have domestic print capability. That’s where we come into play.”
Design leadership.
Schattdecor is a global leader in design and is proud of it. “There’s no one better and no one has more passion about creating on-trend, beautiful designs that are proven, demonstrated sellers in the market,” Sheehan said.
Quality.
“Schattdecor is a German company, and Germans are focused on quality,” he said. “The ISO standard that’s utilized globally by many other companies was not good enough. So, we created our own quality system. And it’s universal. All of our facilities follow those same print standards. The benefit? Lack of claims. The last thing any manufacturer or retailer wants is to have a callback. So, it goes to customer satisfaction. We have to make sure we’re delivering products that are going to support our customers’ brands. They have high standards, and we need to ensure our quality is lining up.”
Sustainability.
Schattdecor is an environmentally conscious company.
In illustration:
- All of the paper it utilizes is FSC certified.
- All inks are water-based, which don’t create VOCs.
- Electron-beam curing means no release of formaldehyde.
