How many vinyl manufacturers.......really

[Colin]

Many years ago, I remember hearing the factoid about how, even though there appeared to be many brand names on the shelves, there were actually only two manufacturers of spark plugs. So does anyone know for sure just how many manufacturers there are for the various brands of vinyl and digital media that we all use?

 

[BigfishDM]

Not as many as people would think, there are alot more coaters out there then true manufacturers and thats what people do. They buy the base vinyl and then send it off to a coater and sometimes they send it off to an adhesive guy. Same thing overseas not many manufacturers even though they all say they are there are only a few true mfg's out in our field.

 

[Marlene]

there may only be a few but it's all about the specs for the company they make it for that matter. store brand soup is made by Campbells or Heniz but the product isn't the same. in the store brands you might get peas that are big and a little tough where the branded soup would have a better grade of peas, etc.

 

[Colin]

They buy the base vinyl and then send it off to a coater and sometimes they send it off to an adhesive guy.

Really? I didn't know that. Seems like a lot of transport costs.

 

[BigfishDM]

Really? I didn't know that. Seems like a lot of transport costs.

Yeah it all depends on what your trying to do, some guys have lower base vinyl costs but are higher on the adhesive or coating so you end up sourcing one product through 2 sometimes 3 people before you have a finished product.

 

[MontereySigns]

All vinyl "manufacturers" (except one) buy their calendered vinyl from the same source- Renolit. They then take the uncoated PVC film, coat it with adhesive, add release line, convert it down to the size the market wants, and put it in their box with brand label on it.

The opposite is true for cast vinyl films- almost everyone makes their own.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

and sometimes they send it off to an adhesive guy.

Am I to believe that Avery doesn't roll their own?

 

[AUTO-FX]

With no filter...

 

[GAC05]

I thought Avery skipped the "applying adhesive" step to their products to help contain production costs.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[astro8]

All vinyl "manufacturers" (except one) buy their calendered vinyl from the same source- Renolit. They then take the uncoated PVC film, coat it with adhesive, add release line, convert it down to the size the market wants, and put it in their box with brand label on it.

The opposite is true for cast vinyl films- almost everyone makes their own.

Interesting....I actually heard it the other way round at a seminar given by Grafityp (they are huge in Europe, they were the first company to launch a cutting system completely steered by PC named CSR : Computerized Signmaking Robot), then they moved into producing self adhesive films.

They source the adhesive liner and coat that with their vinyl, cast or calendered. This didn't sit well with my way of thinking so I specifically asked about the procedure and was told that's the way they do it and it's done that way throughout the industry.

I was told that self adhesive vinyl manufacturers are 'paper coaters'....