Q&A with Senior VP Reid Luepke

How did your career bring you to Ecker Textiles?

I started in the print industry with Japan Pulp and Paper in 2001. We had a warehouse in Stone Mountain, GA, and we were responsible for selling goods from four or five paper mills out of Japan across the United States.

Mike Ecker was also working for Japan Pulp and Paper at the time, and he left to take a position at Tara Materials in about 2002. A year or two later, he contacted me to join him; and that’s how we ended up at Tara Materials together. Ecker Textiles has since purchased the company and is now building on the prior success of the FREDRIX brand and expanding the innovations made through Tara Materials.

I truly had a great experience at Japan Pulp and Paper – it gave me great exposure to the print industry, and I was able to build a strong network among others in the industry. I still enjoy working with many of those contacts, who have also moved into the world of printable canvas.

What roles have you filled in your years at the company?

When I connected with Mike at Tara Materials, I served as the national accounts manager for the U.S. and Canada. I enjoyed that role for about 18 years until Ecker Textiles took over operations.

Now, I am the senior vice president and have a heavy concentration on sales, primarily in the US and Canada. I also provide international sales support for Europe, Asia, South America, and Mexico.

Who needs Ecker Textiles today?

Anyone or any company who is printing on canvas with a digital printer is one who needs the quality canvases we manufacture at Ecker Textiles. Our products are designed for anyone working within the range of a 24” aqueous machine or a 126” HP Latex machine. The scope of finished products is equally as diverse as we serve customers who work in the areas of:

• Art reproductions
• Photos to canvas
• Fine art
• Hospitality industry
• Personalization market
• Wall décor for home, office, or specialty venues

What differentiates Ecker Textiles from other companies?

The primary difference between Ecker Textiles and other companies in the industry is, first of all, we are a U.S. manufacturer. There are no more than three companies who make these products in the United States. The bulk of the product in the market is made overseas, and we all know the various concerns associated with that including quality, availability, and labor, just to name a few.

Another differentiation for us is we bring in our own raw, woven goods and apply our specialized product coatings ourselves. There are very few companies who can do all that we do, especially in an American manufacturing plant.

From the customer’s perspective, we offer tremendous flexibility when completing their order. We have four coating lines and five inspection machines, so we can produce a lot of product at once, or we can support multiple products at the same time, depending on the need of the customer.

Our warehouses have prioritized space for raw goods as well as finished products, so we can accommodate large and multi-faceted orders. By partnering together, Ecker Textiles can also help customers build an inventory and hold it in our warehouse until it is needed. This gives our customers a tremendous advantage in their cash flow. And, when it comes to delivery, we also own our own trucks. So, we can avoid delays in coordinating shipments – our trucks are at the ready to get products out the door as they are needed by our customers.

Not only are we making printable canvas, but we are also a textile company. Our relationships with vendors, suppliers, chemical partners, and raw fabrics allow us to produce more than just printable canvas. Our technologies facilitate our ability to create canvases prepared for use on a range of printing platforms including:

• Aqueous
• Solvent
• UV – curable
• Latex
• Dye sublimation

In addition to our printable canvas products, we are the exclusive manufacturer of the FREDRIX Artist Canvases, which have dominated the art world since 1868. Today, the complete line of these fine art canvases is available exclusively through our partner MacPherson’s Art Supply.

What makes it difficult to sell FREDRIX canvases in today’s environment / what factors make it easy?

Our manufacturing capabilities make it easy to buy FREDRIX canvases. It’s also why people come to us to test new concepts and technologies surrounding the textile industry. As noted previously, we have the flexibility to perform special runs – even long, complicated runs – to satisfy the needs of our customers.

However, we not only satisfy the needs of our customers, we build relationships with them. Because we’ve been around for more than 20 years, we have the institutional longevity that breeds trust and accountability that customers rely on. When longstanding buyers place an order, they know it will be completed on time and with uniform results when compared with previous shipments.

Two of our most notable characteristics are quality and consistency. Because we have always been strong in these areas, our return rate is less than one percent of all products going out the door.

How does “Total Cost of Ownership” factor in selling FREDRIX canvases?

We pride ourselves on several aspects of our product quality, namely:

• Low reject level
• Competitive rates
• Consistency our customers get in our product

People want to be able to put a roll of canvas on a printer, leave it, and print all 40 feet / 25 yards / or 100 yards with no errors or rejects. The ideal situation means that every square inch of printed canvas is profitable for the customer. But that isn’t always the case.

Inferior canvases result in rejects and malfunctions. That means costs increase because of the time and labor it takes to reprint that job. Ink costs go up. Material costs go up. Labor costs go up. Re-printing results in practically doubling your costs because of inefficiencies. Accordingly, the cost to reprint is extremely expensive when it comes to understanding the total cost of ownership.

Challenges to selling in today’s market include overseas manufacturers and products that don’t measure up to customer’s standards.

We have found that customers appreciate the lower total cost of ownership when they invest in a quality product – and a company that stands behind it. It may seem like FREDRDIX canvas costs more, but in the long run, our customers understand that just isn’t the case because of the savings achieved through low rejects and avoiding the need to reprint.

Looking five to ten years into the future, where do you see Ecker Textiles?

While art canvas and printable canvas have been a staple for our business, we hope that our customers see us as even broader in our capabilities. We are not just a canvas manufacturer, but we excel at innovating textile products as well. Our sustainability as a textile manufacturer is unparalleled in the industry.

Not only do we sell textile products, but we are a partner and a resource for our customers, especially when there is a specific need. Our research and development team has worked with numerous customers to innovate new products, positioning them ahead of their peers in their niche industries. We can also provide insight as customers seek to navigate the difficulties of the economy and market trends.

We are selling a partnership as much as we sell product. Having longevity in the market – having knowledge of product, industry, the location we are in, we have gone through all of the economic challenges anyone has gone through, and we have survived. When it comes to challenges, we have the ability to navigate through them and help others as well.

Who should be watching for what Ecker Textiles does in the future?

Anyone that is printing on a textile needs to be on the lookout for Ecker Textiles. Also, people who are looking to get into the business of printing on canvas should get to know us. Our experience working with companies in the industry has given us great insight into what works and what doesn’t, and we’re happy to share what we’ve witnessed with others.

When it comes to new technologies, we are working in numerous areas. One new technology where we excel is dye-sublimation, and we can definitely be a resource to those in and around that area of the industry. Another trend we see is outdoor canvas, and we are excited where those products can take our customers.

What makes Ecker Textiles interesting to you?

There are a number of facets that stand out to me. I appreciate the history and the legacy of our product – that FREDRIX canvas has led the industry from the U.S. for more than a century and a half. And through all that time, we have remained a U.S.-based manufacturer.

Our people make a huge difference. We have such tremendous industrial knowledge because our team has been working here for 20, 30, even 40 years in some cases. That gives us an amazing wealth of expertise in the textile industry because our people learn here, stay here, and pass that knowledge on to the next generation of Ecker Textile employees.

Any final/other thoughts to add?

The past few years have been challenging from an economic standpoint for everyone, but it’s especially true for our industry as we have become more global. And, I truly believe that it’s remarkable how Ecker Textiles has used the knowledge, wisdom, and expertise gained over the history of FREDRIX canvas to not only survive the recent economy but thrive through some of the more demanding times we have seen.

Because we have succeeded in overcoming these trials, I think we can serve as a better partner for our customers as our industry faces new challenges.