Transcendia History
Transcendia, formerly known as Transilwrap Company, Inc. was founded in 1931 as one of the first converters and distributors of film in the plastics industry. Originally located at 2814 W. Fullerton Avenue in Chicago, we began converting large cellophane rolls into smaller rolls for the candy industry and continued our focus on food wrapping applications until World War II when we began converting and distributing heavier gauge acetate film and sheet for screen printing applications.
1970s and 1980s - Expansion into New Markets and Geographies
Decades of steady growth primed the Transcendia business for significant expansion into new markets and geographies in the 1970s and 1980s. We began offering products used in the graphic arts industry and started producing our TransKote line of thermal laminating films, which we began exporting to Western and Eastern Europe in 1973. We continued expanding by adding sheet extrusion capabilities in 1981 producing products that included multipolymer alloy materials and high impact styrene synthetic paper.
1990s - Early Facility Expansion
The 1990s represented one of our most transformational decades as we invested heavily in streamlining operations and expanding facilities to pave the way for future growth. During this time we invested $1.3M in our Richmond, IN facility to support the introduction of a new product line and an additional $700K for a 38,000 square foot expansion that bumped the Richmond footprint to 173K square feet. We also increased its thermal lamination operations to support exporting TransKote products into additional markets throughout Europe for ID, security and credit card, book jacket, advertising and display applications. In late 1998 we built our 95,000 square foot facility in Strongsville, OH and moved our headquarters from Chicago to Franklin Park, IL. By the end of the 1990s, we were operating 14 locations in North America.
2000s - New Product & Capability Expansion
In the 2000s, Transilwrap invested in improvements at its Franklin Park location, built new distribution relationships to support entry into the United Kingdom and focused on new product introductions including an improved version of its MXM synthetic paper. To support new domestic and international growth and build upon our existing foundation, we partnered with private equity firm Nicolet Capital Partners LLC in 2007. We then added to our thermal lamination capabilities in 2009 through the acquisition of Quest Films in Woodstock, IL and entered the healthcare market at the end of 2009 when we began supplying sheet material to Kimberly Clark for surgical masks.
2010s - Strategic Acquisitions
The next decade marked a period of heavy strategic acquisition activity that further strengthened our capabilities and presence in multiple markets and expanded our business globally. Our acquisition of Interfilm in 2011 broadened our thin gauge film portfolio and added brushed and metal adhesion films to our portfolio. We solidified our presence in Europe and entered the specialty industrial active packaging market in 2014 when we purchased MetPro Group, a vertically integrated manufacturer of VCI film that protects metal substrates and products from moisture and corrosion. The following year we acquired Clear Focus, which gave us access to their portfolio of One Way Vision indoor and outdoor films for display advertising used primarily on buildings and transportation vehicles.
In the second half of the decade we added several new manufacturing capabilities through our acquisitions of the Dow Specialty Films business, Marshall Plastic Films and Precision Poly all of which were supported by our new partnership with Goldman Sachs. The Dow Specialty Films acquisition added another European manufacturing facility located in Drusenheim, France that produced multilayer barrier films utilizing Saranex® technology that are sold into the ostomy market as well as blown oriented styrene film manufacturing for envelope window films and labels in its U.S. location in Hebron, OH. In addition to the Saranex brand, this acquisition also added the Opticite® and Procite® brands to Transcendia’s product portfolio.
The acquisition of Marshall Plastic Films in 2017 added six new blown film extrusion lines to our manufacturing portfolio and further expanded our healthcare product offerings with the addition of pharmaceutical manufacturing films and bags. It also increased our specialty industrial product portfolio with the addition of manufactured films customized with additives like UV protection, anti-stat and non-abrasive properties for a wide variety of applications. as well as films used in multiple industrial applications.
We added three layer blown film extrusion and bag making capabilities with our acquisition of Grand Rapids based Precision Poly in 2019. As a custom blown film manufacturer of flexible films and bags for food and beverage and industrial applications. We added three layer blown film extrusion manufacturing and new converting capabilities with our acquisition of Grand Rapids-based Precision Poly in 2019. As a custom blown film manufacturer and converter of flexible films and bags for food and beverage and industrial applications, Precision Poly added a streamlined set of capabilities and services including inline bag machines and individually cut bag capabilities to our growing business portfolio.
2020+ Transformative Expansion
From 2020 - 2023, we made significant investments in our Hebron, OH facility through the addition of a new 7-layer blown film line in our existing manufacturing space and the construction of a new building to house our new 9-layer blown film extrusion and cast film extrusion lines, all of which will enable us to produce customized solutions for customers seeking films with more advanced barrier properties to meet demanding application requirements. In addition to the food and beverage market, our new 9-layer cast line establishes us as a reliable supplier of barrier films used in SUT and SUS applications.
In 2023 we expanded our Grand Rapids facility by incorporating additional blown film and converting assets into our existing facility, building a 3rd clean room and adding a new warehouse space. We also added a state-of-the art laminating asset in our Richmond, IN facility that will expand our food packaging capabilities and a converting asset in our Strongsville location to support our growing VCI film and paper business.
Most recently, our ownership changed from Goldman Sachs who has supported our Invest to Grow strategy since 2017 to Industrial Opportunity Partners located in Evanston, IL. We look forward to continuing our business and capabilities expansion with our new owner and partner.