Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/100667
Right now, plastic strapping is an $800 million industry ��� what percentage of that can we replace? I don���t know, but it���s exciting.��� To get to that next level, Dever says the company will likely add another shift of workers. Although the company is small, Dever says everyone is treated like family and he strives to treat workers like he would want to be treated. ���Our faith is very strong in our lives and we live by that and it is central to everything we do,��� he says. The Devers share their Christian faith on the company���s website under a section called beliefs/values. While some businesses may put a mission statement there, SDF Strapping has a Bible verse and offers up a thanksgiving to God for what he has brought the company. Faith ���isn���t something we shy away from,��� says Dever. The company���s name is faith inspired, he adds. Sitting around his then home in Jacksonville, Fla. in the early 2000s, thinking of a name for his new company, Dever threw around a bunch of initial combinations using his name, his wife���s and his son���s. But then, he was struck by an idea. He remembered a saying his mother used to say in Spanish, ���Salto de fe,��� which translates to ���leap of faith��� in English. ���I took the first letters of that and came up with SDF. It was a perfect fit because we were really taking a leap of faith with this business. We left our home in Florida, we left our jobs and came up here to work on this new venture. At the same time, it reflects our faith and the way we do things.��� Developing the strap definitely was a leap of faith, Dever says. It���s ���more than paper and glue. We had some bumps in the road as we developed the product and process. We have now honed our manufacturing process, which will allow us to better respond and meet the demand out there.��� One challenge along the way was creating a paper product that stretched w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m SDF Strapping Inc. Founded: 2003 What they do: Manufacture and distribute industrial paper straps for use in manufacturing, logistics and the commercial laundry industry. Headquarters: Brillion Leadership team: Ed Dever, president and CEO; Diane Dever, environmental stewardship liaison Number of employees: 8 On the web: www.SDFstrapping.com as much as plastic ones, but Dever kept at it and found success. The machine developed by Dever that creates the unique paper strips takes just two people to operate. One person can run all three winders, including the new one, which handles the narrow strips necessary for the commercial laundry industry. The straps made by the company range in width from five millimeters to 19 millimeters. The straps are stretchable, electrostatic discharge free and can hold a tensile strength of up to 450 pounds. Despite that strength, the straps can be recycled along with other paper products. Diane Dever says the strap���s ���green��� factor definitely attracts customers. ���There are so many companies that have waste reduction goals and since our product can be recycled, it���s a natural fit,��� she says. ���By using our product, you���re keeping something out of the garbage bin in the back of a business.��� Ed Dever holds a spool of paper strapping that is being used by hose manufacturer Flexon to keep its hoses coiled up while sitting on the shelf waiting to be sold at Wal-Mart. ���Wal-Mart has said that if there are two products that are basically the same and cost the same, they will choose one with the paper strapping rather than the plastic strapping,��� he says. ���It���s very exciting. We are a small company by anyone���s standards and yet we���re working with the biggest names in business, such as Wal-Mart, Boise-Cascade and Amazon.com.��� Wal-Mart features SDF Strapping in a packaging success story it shared with consumer product manufacturers, focusing on how the paper straps can be used to replace plastic wrapping in secondary packaging applications (i.e. the way goods are packaged on their way from manufacturer to the store). Wal-Mart highlights that the straps are made from material that���s 100 percent forestry certified as a sustainable natural resource and that the straps are recyclable. ���Once we get beyond the secondary packaging market, there���s the whole consumer packaging market ��� think of the little wires or plastic you have to cut through as you open something you bought at a store,��� Diane Dever says. ���The opportunities are endless.��� J a n u a r y 2 013 ��� Insight | 27