Synergy Thermal Foils

We just returned from the sold-out AWFS Fair where we rolled the dice and displayed at our own exhibit booth in Las Vegas for the first time.

Boy, are we ever glad we did!

Show organizers say more than 10,500 wood products professionals registered to attend the show. That’s a whopping 15% increase from the 2013 show!

We entertained a steady stream of woodworkers at our booth over the four days of the show. They seemed genuinely enthused to learn more about what Synergy Thermal Foils has to offer, especially our matching American 3D laminate (3DL) programs for thermally fused laminates (TFL) and high pressure laminates (HPL).

One of our new products that generated the most buzz was Memento 3DL. It matches Uniboard’s Memento (H67), a TFL featuring Uniboard’s Rio texture. We learned at the show, that KML will soon be carrying Memento as a new addition to its Edgewood TFL collection to serve west coast customers. Our Memento is also a perfect match with Lamitech’s Rustico HPL (1464).

Another new product that drew a lot of attention was our Milk Chocolate 3DL that matches the Milk Chocolate TFL (L493) made by Tafisa, another one of our Canadian partners. Milk Chocolate is a new design flavor of teak and is part of Tafisa’s Urbania textured TFL collection.

We’ve got our work cut out following up to all of the inquiries we received at our booth. Needless to say, we already plan to be back – in our own booth – at the AWFS Fair in 2017!

New data released by the U.S Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that the sale of new single-family houses in July 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 507,000. This is a 25.8% increase from July 2014 and a 5.4% increase from the revised June 2015 sales.

More than 14,000 woodworkers from throughout North America and beyond came to the 2014 International Woodworking Fair (IWF) in Atlanta to explore nearly 450,000 net square feet of woodworking machinery and supplies.

Synergy Thermal Foils was one of the 920 exhibiting companies and we were more than ready for the crush of next wave of discoverers. Our booth highlighted several new 3D laminates (3DL) paying homage to great New World explorers like Christopher Columbus, Henry Hudson and Meriwether Lewis.

Our ode to Columbus included Santa Maria a 3DL match for Funder America’s Santa Maria Maple thermally fused laminate (TFL) (#215) and Lab Designs Clark high pressure laminate (HPL) (#215T).  We also launched Nina Maple a match for Lab Designs’ Nina HPL (#224).

We think our booth visitors quickly discovered that Hudson  goes nicely with TFL Hudson panels offered by KLM (KMD #7342) and Funder (#222). With Lewis Cherry 3DL, we paid homage to Meriwether Lewis of Lewis & Clark fame; it’s a great match with many leading TFL products including Flakeboard Ankara Cherry (#WF236), Funder Lewis Cherry (#214), KML Lewis Cherry, Lab Designs Lewis Cherry (#214), Roseburg Chocolate Cherry (#207) and Uniboard Choco Cherry (#207).

One other new product we were proud to showcase at IWF was Shark Grey Gloss a cool contemporary color that caught the designer’s eye of many of our booth visitors. It’s quickly risen to our third best-selling gloss color after white and black.

Of course these new 3DLs barely hint at the full range of products that Synergy Thermal Foils stocks for quick delivery.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more not only about our 3DLs, but 2DLs, deco foils and light weight basis papers.

We rolled out a pair of sweet treats for our first showing at Canada’s largest woodworking event, the Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo (WMS) held at the International Centre in Toronto.

Our Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate 3D laminates are new items of our thermally-fused laminate match program for Tafisa’s Dark Chocolate (L494) and White Chocolate (L492). We were beyond flattered when one of our colleagues at Tafisa told us that our White Chocolate “is the best match he has ever seen.” (Be still our hearts!)

Nearly 4,000 woodworkers attended WMS. Participating as an exhibitors provided us with a great opportunity to meet and greet Canadian manufacturers of cabinets, closets, store fixtures, commercial interiors and more. We made a lot of new contacts – and gained some new customers – while showing off product samples and explaining our stock and custom programs to visitors at the Synergy Thermal Foils booth.

We’re excited to build on what we learned and the contacts we made at our first Canadian show. No doubt we’ll be back at International Centre with a fresh batch our 3DL eye candy for the next edition of WMS in November 2015.

The big news at this year’s International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta was the return of the big woodworking machinery exhibitors who sat out IWF 2010 because of the economic crisis.

We were thrilled to see them back in the show. Their presence had a dramatic impact on lifting attendance, including traffic to our booth.

Show management pegged attendance at more than 15,000 woodworkers and other industry professionals. This is before adding some 8,000 exhibitor personnel to the final tally.

Not only were there more attendees at the show, but the overall mood was decidedly upbeat – a sharp contrast from IWF 2010. It seemed obvious in talking with people that the worst of the Great Recession is over and everyone is eager to get back to work, including dusting off expansion plans and new programs that had been put on the back burner.

Our display was dominated by cabinet door samples of five new 3D laminate (3DL) colors all geared to match thermally-fused laminate (TFL) panels manufactured by KML as part of its exciting new Edgewood series. Since IWF 2012, several other leading TFL manufacturers have come out with matching products. There are also high pressure laminates (HPL) available to match our program.

Our new matching 3DL products include:

• Zanno Wenge a match for KML’s Edgewood dow Oak (1759), Arclin’s Cordoba Pine (7777), Dixielam’s Espresso (498) Flakeboard’s Medina Libretti (208), Funder’s Sabatini Dixielam Tenino Wenge (229), Uniboard’s Rio Shadow Oak (762), Uniboard’s Rio Velvet Wenge (G15), Steven’s Industries’ Aritka Midnight Espresso (632) and Panolam’s Nightfall (292). Lab Designs offers a matching HPL called Tenino Wenge (229).
• Moderna Grigio a match for KML’s Edgewood Tenino Grey (7130), Arclin’ s Grey Lines (7757), Flakeboard’s Medina Queenston Oak (344), Funder’s Sabatini Dixielam Tenino Grey (233), Steven’s Industries’ Artika Nora Creek Oak (W83), Tafisa’s Alto Spring Blossom (L543) and Uniboard’s Rio Milano Oak (G16). Matching HPLs include Lab Designs’ Tenino Grey (233) and Wilsonart’s Asian Night (7949).
• Tenino Walnut a match for KML’s Edgewood Tenion Walnut (7126), Flakeboard’s Medina Seria (203), Funder’s Sabatini Dixielam Tenino Walnut (234) and Steven’s Industries’ Artika East Indian Laurel (W72). Lab Designs’ Teninon Walnut (234) is a matching HPL.
• Tenino Oak a match for KML’s Edgewood Tenino Oak (7127), Flakeboard’s Medina Ecru (347) and Funder’s Sabatini Dixielam Tenino Oak (231). Lab Designs’ Tenino Oak (231) is a matching HPL.
• Rosewood a match for KML’s Edgewood Tenino Rosewood (7128), Flakeboard’s Medina Burma Cherry (121), Panolam’s Iwantoo Savatre (234) and Steven’s Industries’ Western Red Cedar (89). Matching HPLs include Lab Designs’ Tenino Rosewood (231) and Wilsonart’s Asian Sun (7951).

IWF once again felt like North America’s most important woodworking event. Even a continued slow but steady improvement of the economy will bode well for the wood products industry and IWF 2014.