Changing the name of Transilwrap Co. Inc. to Transcendia Inc. is a nod to the past, a recognition of what the specialty films company has become and a look to the future.
Finding a new identity is a move the Franklin Park, Ill.-based company has been contemplating for a couple of years now.
“Transilwrap, since its inception, has been constantly evolving. But that evolution has become more of a revolutionary-type change the last three years as the company went through significant change,” CEO Andy Brewer said.
“We nearly doubled in size. We significantly changed ... the end-market focus that we have. We have significantly expanded in healthcare, as an example,” Brewer said. Sales in that market have grown from less than 1 percent to now about 15 percent.
The company also has greatly expanded its geographic footprint outside of North America. That business now accounts for more than 20 percent of Transcendia's business, up from less than 1 percent three years ago, the CEO said.
“So much has changed: our size, who we serve in the markets, what we serve them in our capabilities and where we serve them has changed,” he said. “We have made some significant acquisitions over the last three years.”
Transcendia hired an outside firm to help find a new identity, and Brewer was surprised the new name had not been taken by another company already.
“When we worked up the options and laid them out in front of us, this was a clear winner the first time we saw it. Transcending, moving forward as an entity is truly who we are. And, obviously, getting the ‘trans' part up there in that ... with our legacy of Transilwrap just fit perfectly for us,” the CEO said.
The company began in 1931 as the Transparent Sylvania Wrapping Paper Co. The firm calls itself “one of the first converter/distributors of film in the plastics industry.”
The company, since 2013, has been owned by the Jordan Co., a private equity firm. Under Jordan, the company has made a series of acquisitions, including a 2014 deal for MetPro Group, a 2015 acquisition of Clear Focus Imaging Inc., and this year's purchase of Dow Chemical Co.'s specialty films business.
“We thought it was a great way to continue to link ourselves to our successful rich history, yet recognize the change the company has gone through and who we are becoming as an entity,” Brewer said of the name change.
Transcendia has more than 8,000 products it sells to more than 5,000 customers around the globe. Aside from health care, key markets for the company are point-of-purchase display, protective and aesthetic, industrial, food and beverage, window, anti-corrosion and security.
“By this,” Brewer said of the name change, “we hope to achieve that our customers get a better appreciation of the full breadth of capabilities and geographies and solutions that Transcendia can bring to the market. And we expect to expand our position with our existing customers through this.”