Profile extruder Tri-Ex Composites Corp. has shifted its primary distribution of deck, porch and patio railing to a third party from its traditional network of fence fabricators.
Tri-Ex uses a three-layer extrusion process to manufacture the railings with a weatherable, high-impact PVC exterior and foamed wood/ABS core. Hughes Processing Inc. of Costa Mesa, Calif., supplies the core material.
The third-party private-label program allows the company to sell at both big-box and lumber-supply distribution outlets, said Kevin Fidati, Tri-Ex president and chief executive officer.
The company also is ``displacing the traditional PVC railing products currently distributed to the multifamily industry,'' he said.
Tri-Ex now distributes through Dixie-Pacific Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Gadsden, Ala., using Dixie-Pacific's QuickRail brand for the railings. Dixie-Pacific is a unit of SBR Inc. of Parkersburg, W.Va.
Tri-Ex employs 15 at its 42,000-square-foot site in Newnan and operates three twin-screw profile extruders.
Tri-Ex plans to introduce a composite deck board in early 2006.