Three plants that make vinyl frames and sashes for Royal Building Products have been certified as Made in USA facilities.
The Ontario-based subsidiary of Axiall Corp. put all of its U.S. plants through a supply-chain audit to verify that material components and finished goods were processed in the United States.
John Vukanovich, marketing director for Royal‘s window and door profiles, says the company pursued the certification because its importance is growing in the U.S. market.
“There are products coming in from China that compete with ours in the US that don't have the same standards or quality that our products go through so it just seems there's an advantage to buying made in the USA products,” Vukanovich says.
The profiles are made in Everett, Wash., Delmont, Pa., and Bristol, Tenn., and sold to window and door manufacturers. The frames and sashes will carry the certification seal of a blue checkmark over the stars and stripes of the U.S. flag on boxes shipped to customers.
Customers of the three plants now can pursue their own Made in USA certification more easily, which should bode well for all the businesses, Vukanovich says.
“We feel helping them achieve the certification is probably the path to the consumer market,” he adds.
The three plants were audited by Made in USA Certified Inc., an independent company started in 2008 to validate product claims for consumers wanting to support American jobs and the American economy.
Vukanovich says Royal chose this certification because it is issued after a comprehensive program. The frame and sash makers got their seals of approval relatively quickly, he adds.
“We're vertically integrated,” Vukanovich says. “We source our resin through our parent company and that simplifies our supply chain.”
Axiall has its headquarters in Atlanta and chemical manufacturing operations all over North America and Asia.
Julie Reiser, co-founder of Made in USA Certified, has said Royal facilities provide several hundred jobs at the three U.S. plants and are committed to manufacturing innovative window and door frames domestically.
