Materials supplier Nickel City Polymers Inc. is working to find new customers on Discord, an online chat platform first used by video gamers.
Buffalo, N.Y.-based Nickel City, a distributor of engineering resins, compounds and other materials, began posting on Discord earlier this month, owner Larry Welnowski said in an Aug. 23 phone interview with Plastics News.
Discord began as a chat platform for gamers, he added, but last year began to expand into other areas. The platform was founded in 2015 and now has more than 140 million monthly users, company officials said in a news release.
"We thought it would be a good way to reach buyers and sellers," Welnowski said. "It lets us do an easy exchange of information on different material types."
Nickel City already has been in contact with more than 30 potential customers on Discord. Welnowski said Discord can be "more specified" than other social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter.
Welnowski founded Nickel City in 2003. The firm supplies several grades of nylon as well as polycarbonate, ABS, acetal and other engineering resins. Nickel City also has done some work in commodity resins polypropylene and polystyrene.
Nickel City serves as a distributor for compounders Pier One Polymers of St. Clair, Mich., and Plastics Group of America in Woonsocket, R.I. The firm also offers toll compounding services through Pier One.
In addition to distribution and compounding, Nickel City buys and sells recycled material in scrap or regrind form. Primary end markets for the firm include non-automotive industrial, such as gears and furniture.
Nickel City operates a sales office in Buffalo and uses public warehousing nationwide.