Company Collaboration: Moving the Industry Forward

Mohawk, a privately owned manufacturer of fine papers, envelopes and specialty substrates for commercial and digital printing in the US, has recently partnered with Arjowiggins Creative Papers, an international manufacturer of creative high-tech materials and papers, to create the new Curious Collection Digital with i-Tone^® papers for digital print applications. Manufactured by Arjowiggins and sold exclusively through Mohawk in North America, this new media is only one of the products born from their strategic alliance. In 2015, the two companies saw an opportunity to to work together to grow each of their businesses. “The partnership came about in a discussion with Jonathan Mitchells [Managing Director, Arjowiggins Creative Papers] and Tom O’Conner [Chairman and CEO, Mohawk]. Are there things we can do together?” said Bart Robinson, Senior VP of Marketing and International Sales, Mohawk. “As we got together and looked at opportunities, they saw us being very successful in digital papers as a whole — more than they were with their portfolio. We saw that they had a much more significant business in the packaging industry than we did. Really, the idea was that we could share our best practices, whether it’s manufacturing, sales or marketing.” That conversation led to creating products that were mutually beneficial to both Mohawk and Arjowiggins. “We taught them how to make Superfine paper and how to use i-Tone, and they taught us how to make Delos and Butterfly,” said Robinson. i-Tone by Mohawk is a surface treatment that improves toner adhesion on digitally printed substrates, specifically suited for the HP Indigo. Delos is a range of papers with a natural machine finish for litho offset and screen printing, and Butterfly is a line of natural papers for high-quality offset and screen printing that doesn’t require preliminary surface varnishing. “We manufacture [Delos and Butterfly] here in the US, and they manufacture Superfine for distribution through their channels. It’s unique from how those relationships have worked in the past — selling versus actually manufacturing,” continued Robinson. The collaboration brought together two heavyweights in the industry, with strong reputations to match, to expand product offerings within the paper industry in the US and Europe. According to Jonathan Mitchell, Managing Director at Arjowiggins Creative Papers, “This unprecedented ‘transatlantic’ alliance is a real exchange of expertise in fine papermaking between two well-established paper manufacturers. Mohawk’s i-Tone is arguably the world’s best technology for digital presses so we are delighted to be able to offer this technology in our product portfolio, starting with Superfine. We are happy as well to develop our very strong packaging brands in the US market through this alliance with Mohawk. A worldwide collaboration on this scale brings unique and far-reaching benefits, not only for our customers, but also for our companies.” O’Connor continued: “Mohawk’s alliance with Arjowiggins Creative Papers is a groundbreaking move to grow our businesses through better utilization of our respective sales, operational, marketing and manufacturing assets, without requiring a lot of additional investment. Arjowiggins has long been a respected leader in the fine paper and luxury packaging markets, and this exciting collaboration will celebrate our companies’ unique strengths and allow sharing of best practices and technologies. Ultimately, this union creates the largest premium paper and luxury packaging manufacturing entity in the world.” Aurora Specialty Textiles also has taken advantage of opportunities to expand their offerings by working with Mohawk, specifically finding ways that address their weaknesses within the marketplace. “We have struggled in the paper distribution channel because those guys are the last adopters of textiles in digital printing,” said Mark Shaneyfelt, Director of Sales and Marketing — Print Media, Aurora Specialty Textiles Group, Inc. “Mohawk is very well-respected in that channel where we need to work, and they do well on digital products, so adding printable textile to that portfolio is much easier for them than it is for us. It’s a mutual thing; a combination of their market knowhow and our expertise in developing products that are optimized for today’s digital equipment.” Partnerships like these have shown success for Mohawk, Arjowiggins and Aurora, but are they always a good idea, especially in overlapping markets? According to Robinson, the answer is yes. “Our view on collaboration is that it’s never a bad scenario. When you think about collaborating with a competitor, at the end of the day, it’s about keeping print alive. How do we make it more beautiful, effective and memorable? If we can elevate print, whether we get the business or somebody else, it keeps print going.” Shaneyfelt agrees. “You can’t be everything to everybody. Where you know there are gaps, you find a strategic partner whose strengths play to your weakness. [The partnership] is exceeding expectations, and it reinforces that this is the right thing.” [[{"fid":"5850","view_mode":"medium","fields":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Mohawk Curious Collection Digital with i-Tone ®","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Mohawk Curious Collection Digital with i-Tone ®"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"medium","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Mohawk Curious Collection Digital with i-Tone ®","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Mohawk Curious Collection Digital with i-Tone ®"}},"attributes":{"alt":"Mohawk Curious Collection Digital with i-Tone ®","title":"Mohawk Curious Collection Digital with i-Tone ®","class":"file-medium media-element","data-delta":"1"}}]]