With the Entertainment Industry recovering from the effects of the pandemic, touring, events, and film productions are re-opening around the world. There is a renewed, even increasing, demand for adhesive tape expendables.

But with recent supply chain crises and raw material shortages, the management team at Pro Tapes® understood that we would need to invest in new and improved solutions to remain a dependable supplier.

That is why Pro Tapes® leadership has recently invested in technology and productivity across our company in order to continue supporting our global distributor network to the best of our ability.

In today’s blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the investments Pro Tapes® has pursued so that we can continue to support our distributors and the Entertainment Industry at large.

Expanding our Manufacturing Space to Stay Ahead of the Supply Chain

Since 2008, Pro Tapes® has been headquartered in North Brunswick, New Jersey in the US. We currently operate out of a 150,000 sq. ft. facility. This facility is equipped with a complete series of state-of-the art converting and custom packaging equipment.

With the uncertainty on lead times of all raw materials, many suppliers have struggled to keep key items in stock when their customers most require them.

That is why Pro Tapes® has recently invested in an additional 25,000 sq. ft. of warehouse and manufacturing space. This investment is part of our strategy to better weather the peaks and valleys in the current global supply chain.

When you offer Pro Gaff® in 21 colors and hundreds of SKU’s, you require a sizable inventory level on raw materials and finished goods! The investment in additional space will allow for greater inventory levels on all of our key raw materials.

Our most popular tapes – including Pro Gaff®, Pro® Console, Pro Glow®, and Pro® Spike to name a few – are all in stock and ready to ship.

Improving our Packaging and Converting Technology to Add Value for Distributors

Pro Tapes® has also invested in new, high-speed automated packaging lines. These new lines can greatly speed up the process of packaging our Pro Gaff® in the most popular sizes.

Now, we are also packaging Pro Gaff® shrink wrapped with a scannable UPC label. This new packaging setup adds values for our distributors, who can display our tape straight out of the case and while staying presentable.

The scannable UPC labels also allow our customers that sell online to use our GS1 registered UPC numbers to sell our high quality items easily and in an organized fashion.

These investments in our converting technology are custom made to fit our unique needs. To learn more about the converting capabilities Pro Tapes® offers, check out this virtual tour of our headquarters.

Investing in our People

Pro Tapes® continues to invest in the future to ensure we can meet the demands of our customers. We are continuing to hire more customer success representatives, IT personnel, machine operators and warehouse personnel.

Improvements to our IT Infrastructure

Additionally, Pro Tapes® has invested in upgrading our IT and computer systems. Information technology, when managed properly, lowers the costs of every financial aspect of the company.

Our online security was and still is a priority and will continue to be one. It is imperative that we protect our data and intellectual property, as well as our customers.

Pro Tapes® is Here for You.

The show must go on. We at Pro Tapes® are committed to supporting our distributors to the best of our abilities.

The investments we’ve reviewed today are helping us minimize increases in raw materials in every aspect of our business. This is how we at Pro Tapes® thank our valued customers for their business.

If you have any questions, you can reach out to me any time at dennism@protapes.com.

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Peek Behind the Scenes into the Quality Control Lab

With Chris’s help, we also filmed a Behind the Scenes video of the QC Lab, so you can get a peek into some of the processes and tests we run on a daily basis. Check it out:

Hey Chris, thanks for talking with us today! Tell us a little about yourself, first.

Hey there! I am a Quality Control professional with more than ten years of experience in the manufacturing industry. Despite a few industry and job changes over the years, “quality” seems to have ultimately “stuck” with me (tape pun intended!)

I believe “quality” found me during my undergraduate business history studies of Henry Ford and J. P. Morgan and while learning about modern enterprise business systems. I went on to study and seek certification within Integrated Lean Six Sigma (IL6S.)

What do Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) mean to you?

Quality is a developing theory through modern descriptive business systems. Formally, “quality control” is typically regarded as the validation and qualification of physical items produced through the manufacturing process.

Whereas “quality assurance” is the qualification of the process itself; leveraging risks and evaluating possible outcomes. It is often “end-to-end,” encompassing suppliers/vendors, internal functions, external requirements, and customer demands.

I think of quality control as a “business philosophy” (a la Deming, Crosby, Juran, and other great titans of industry.) I believe the IL6S philosophies hold true across the span of the manufacturing industry, no matter how simple or complex the finished product is.

To me, “quality” means synthesizing a learned understanding from various business minds and attuning this knowledge to the company’s internal culture, brand reputation, and actionable plans for continued improvement.

This helps us focus beyond the trajectory or ‘desired/future state’ of the company, through to the bottom-line actuals that make up the future. It may seem a bit dreamy, but that’s my perspective.

Identifying and filling execution gaps (DMAIC), managing programs and projects via QA process tools, and executing opportunities for improvement are much more difficult in reality than I may describe them to be!

But quality tools like these assist us in being the architects of our own success.

What does Quality Control look like at Pro Tapes^® specifically, and why?

At Pro Tapes^®, Quality “management” encompasses the activities of both QC and QA, with the inclusion of modern business systems thinking, and the philosophical approach I described earlier.

We define a forward-thinking, positive future-state, in order to identify risks, opportunities for improvement, and to discover how to “close the gap” between our current-state and our desired-state.

This knowledge is used to generate positive outcomes externally (timely and desired product to market delivery, profitability, end-user satisfaction) and internally (employee engagement, systems implementation.)

With the help of our program and project management systems, we can produce repeatable outcomes, bring uniform, high quality products to market, and exceed yesterday’s vision of the future, as a team.

Are there any standards we “stick” to when manufacturing and QC testing our adhesive tape products?

We follow the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC, www.pstc.org) standards for substantiating test data, i.e. defining characteristics of the adhesive tapes we manufacture. The PSTC is a trusted standard for more than sixty years and counting!

The PSTC standard is fairly commonly cited within the PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) industry, and accompanies ASTM, MIL specs, UL and other third-party standards and certifications.

The North American trade association for tape manufacturers, which established and updates the PSTC, has a global fingerprint spanning beyond North America.

Does Pro Tapes^® have any other special certifications for Quality Control?

Pro Tapes & Specialties^® is a 9001:2015 certified company. We are not ISO/IEC 17025, or otherwise “lab certified,” but we keep up with modern technology brands like Thwing-Albert, ChemInstruments, etc. to keep our capabilities accurate, repeatable, and recorded for accuracy, and reliability.

Thanks for sharing that with us Chris! Share one more fun fact with us: What’s YOUR favorite Pro Tapes^® product?

It’s a toss-up between UGlu^® and Pro^® Artist Tape for my favorite Pro Tapes® product!

UGlu^® is awesome for its functionality and universal applications (product and point of sale display assembly, party décor, so much more), but Pro^® Artist Tape is also great for the savviness and range of colors it provides for craft projects.

The post Quality Control Management at Pro Tapes® – an Interview appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

3M Durable Protective Film

These days, facility managers in schools, universities, gyms, medical offices, and more, have implemented expansive new sanitizing procedures to combat the spread of Covid-19 and other communicable diseases. 

Unfortunately, harsh cleaning chemicals used in these processes can wear down surfaces over time. For this reason, 3M has developed a new product which tackles both issues at once.

Protect Sanitized Surfaces with 3M Technology

Introducing: 3M Durable Protective Film.

3M Durable Protective Film is engineered with an EPA-registered silver ion antimicrobial hardcoat. The hardcoat has been put through the Taber Test Method, and is confirmed to give your surfaces a boost to their abrasion resistance.

In addition, the antimicrobial agent interferes with the growth of bacteria, mold and mildew, to protect surfaces longer between cleanings. 

Watch our Demo Video:

Frequently sanitized surfaces where 3M Durable Protective Film could be used

There are many surfaces which can benefit from the additional protection of 3M Durable Protective Film. To give you an idea, here are a few key surfaces that are often “high-touch” areas which require additional sanitation:

• ATMs, Point-of-Sale keypads
• Door handles, elevator buttons, light switches
• School desks, benches, handrails
• Shopping carts
• Phones, tablets, and other touch screens
• Airport kiosks
• Restaurant tables and counter tops
• Medical/dental tables and counter tops

Two product options:

Different surfaces and applications require different approaches. To this end, we provide two versions of 3M Durable Protective Films to best suit your end application.

3M Durable Protective Film 7750AM (Permanent)

• Utilizes 3M Adhesive 400 for clarity and resistance to yellowing (when exposed to UV light)
• High clarity/transparency
• Excellent for permanent to semi-permanent applications

3M Durable Protective Film 7760AM (Removable)

• Utilizes 3M Adhesive R3500 for good initial tack
• Offers excellent UV resistance
• Excellent removability; removes from most substrates*

*The user will have to determine if this product is suitable for the intended application

For additional guidelines on sanitizing protocols to follow in your facility, please visit the CDC’s page on Cleaning and Disinfecting your Facility.

Combine with Pro Tapes^® Converting Technology

In addition, Pro Tapes & Specialties^® offers an expansive array of converting capabilities. For this reason, 3M has partnered with us to offer their 3M Durable Protective Film.

We now offer standard stock sizes, as well as the ability to cut custom widths, lengths, and die-cut shapes. Check out our Virtual Tour to discover all of our capabilities!

Questions? Reach out to our sales team anytime at sales@protapes.com.

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Click Below to Watch our New Video Tour:

Pro Tapes and Specialties® is a worldwide leader in manufacturing and specialty converting with over 42 years of experience. We offer a full spectrum of converting capabilities and end-to-end manufacturing solutions for our customers.

Pro Tapes’ facility is FDA Registered and ISO 9001 certified. We follow strict quality guidelines to ensure the highest quality products.  We frequently partner with national retail brands to produce their finished product lines.

Our high-volume slitting department consists of ten wide web slitters with the capability to slit up to 79-inch widths. Some with completely automated inline wrapping and packaging equipment. Pro Tapes® s also has four fully automated lathe slitters that have the ability to slit large outer diameters up to 28 inches.

Pro Tapes & Specialties®  offers finished goods on all three industry standard core sizes and pride ourselves in minimizing waste – in most cases go far beyond our customers’ expectations and what other converters can provide. With several state-of-the-art slitters, Pro Tapes® has capacity to slit very high-volume jobs.

We invite you to take this virtual tour of Pro Tapes® s and we hope to host you for an in person tour in the near future, but until then, please feel free to contact us with any opportunities we can assist you with.

The post NEW Video Tour of Pro Tapes® Facility and Contract Converting Capabilities appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Who are we, and how can we help the medical community?

Pro Tapes® is a specialty tape manufacturer with unique converting capabilities. We stand ready to lend our services and equipment to any organization aiding in our nation’s medical response to the current pandemic.

Whether you are in the medical materials, medical device, or medical adhesives markets – we can help!

Pro Tapes® can lend support in the areas of wide web slitting and converting of flexible medical grade materials, laminating of medical grade adhesives, shrink packaging and labeling of medical grade rolls and materials.

We can supply tapes for self-sealing sterilization bags. We can supply long length rolls, minimizing change over for automated applications in the manufacturing process of the bags.

We offer inventory management solutions as well! Give us your blanket orders with scheduled release dates and we will ship as needed, on time (every time!) we handle order fulfillment for you.

To find out more about our services and products, please use the form at the bottom of this page to contact us.

New Jersey essential businesses and residents: We stand together during this crisis.

Pro Tapes® proudly supplies products that are made in America, and supports thousands of American families.

Pro Tapes® is a diverse and resilient company, well positioned to address various challenges. We are committed to our customers and partners, and stand prepared to help each other weather this storm.

Our priorities center on the protection and safety of our employees, and service and support for our business partners and customers.

Our Production, Shipping & Receiving Departments remain operational. We are committed to maintaining our standard service levels and providing our customers with continuous timely communication.

To get in touch with a Sales Representative, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

Our best thoughts to all of our customers and partners, our Pro®’s, and your families. Together let’s push through this.

Ed Miller

President, Pro Tapes & Specialties, Inc.

#essentialbusiness #medicalconverting #newjersey

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Here are some key features and benefits this new G&A slitter (our 6th!) brings to the table:

1. The ability to slit 12mm to 78.74” wide materials from single coated or double coated products with or without a liner fully automated.

2. Inline shrink wrapping and automated labeling system from single rolls to multi roll 2, 4 or 6 roll configurations.

3. Increased capacity = shorter lead times and better service levels for our customers.

4. Increased cycle times = best possible pricing for our customers.

5. Core ID options 1.5” ID & 3” ID.

6. Universal tooling group to produce high volume non-standard roll widths.

7 Inline fully automated double coated tabber for interlined products.

8 Advanced tension and torque controls combined with a programmable PC provide our operators with the tools needed to slit some of the toughest materials.

This FA300 wide web slitter Wider jumbo rolls, faster cycle times equal increased output combined with packaging automation and a programmable PC to store recipes all allow us to service our customers at a very high level with the most competitive pricing possible join us at our upcoming open house and see firsthand why we are the talk of the industry. You will see our new machine as well as a complete plant tour with over 20 slitters in operation!

Learn how we can help improve your wide web slitting productivity with fully integrated converting solutions. Please contact Pro Tapes^® Chris Hart 732-743-4164 or chart@protapes.com to schedule your appointment for a plant tour.

The post Pro Tapes® latest investment, our new G&A FA300 Wide Web Slitter appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Here are three of the top reasons you should consider partnering with the Pro’s® at Pro Tapes®:

2. Effective:

Pro® continues to invest in the latest converting technology to ensure we provide not only the best quality but also to:

• Ensure repeatability and competitive pricing. All while maintaining ample converting capacity to react to any need.
• Our 150,000sqft facility houses over 40 converting machines and stocks millions of sqyds in raw materials ready to fill your needs.

3. Efficient:

Pro® has tailored its infrastructure and converting facility to exceed our customer’s needs. We pride ourselves on providing knowledgeable technical support, 24hr price quotes on non-standards, and rapid order turn arounds.

Pro Tapes® G&A RT 800-K wide web slitter features torque and speed tension control to guarantee the best rewinding quality poss from ProTapes & Specialties, Inc. on Vimeo.

The post 3 Reasons Operations Managers Should Partner With Pro Tapes® appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Here are 4 Ways the Die-Cutting Services at Pro Tapes® Can Help Your Business Succeed…

1. Custom die-cutting helps speed up your production and improve efficiency:

Let’s say you’re application calls for a very specific and precise surface to be masked off to protect it during a painting or coating process. You can spend time having someone try to mask the area off by hand, cutting the tape so that it covers the desired portion of the surface. Each time the masking process is repeated, it becomes less accurate and takes more time. With customized die-cut pieces, the same precise masking area is covered each time and applied in half the time it takes to cut the tape by hand.

2. Interlined pre-slit strips are much easier to work with:

Have you ever tried to lay a strip of tape down in a very small or narrow cramped area that needed to be very precise? Working with a pre-determined die-cut strip makes applying tape just that much easier, plus by adding a liner it makes it much easier to reposition the tape so that it’s applied exactly in the desired place.

3. Combining multiple tape products into one easy to use die-cut part or piece:

Many times applications call for the use of two or three different types of adhesive tapes. For example, your application may call for a clean removing sensitive adhesive system but with a high strength chemical resistant backing. Our clients often come to us with request asking for a tape with an adhesive like one product, but with the backing like another. Good luck asking a manufacturer to mix & match their adhesives with their various backing materials! With Pro Tapes® specialty fabricating and laminating services, however, combining multiple tape products into one user friendly solution is much easier than you would think.

4. Printing, perforating and scoring:

Being able to have the tape you’re using tear in the exact same place every time you need it to may sound like a pipe-dream, but with Pro Tapes® perforating capability we can make sure each roll tears exactly in the same place every pre-determined length. Need instructions or a logo printed on your product? No problem, Pro Tapes® can print on just about any tape product or release liner there is! Need that same liner to split down the middle so it’s easier to work with during an assembly process? Our score cutting process makes it much easier to remove liners and apply products.

With our 40 years of specialty converting experience, Pro Tapes® specializes in not only providing our customers with the correct adhesive tape for their specific application, but we also help provide the product in the most user friendly put-up possible.

Pro Tapes® has multiple machines with high speed rotary die capabilities. from ProTapes & Specialties, Inc. on Vimeo.

Flatbed Die Cutting Thick Medical Foam from ProTapes & Specialties, Inc. on Vimeo.

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The standardized layout of our new labels are designed to help you quickly identify the various Pro Tapes® products in your inventory and improve your experience with Pro® products.

Here’s 5 reasons how our new individual roll packaging will help your business…

1. Helps maintain brand integrity:

The Pro® Brand is synonymous with High-Quality, and you want a roll package that reflects the quality inside and the value it delivers.

2. Helps improve engagement with your customers:

Clearly explained benefits and features of each roll of the Pro® Branded tape offering.

3. Helps maintain regulatory standards:

By clearly listing the size and content on each roll label, we make it easier for you to certify exactly what you can expect in each roll.

4. Helps maintain a cost effective inventory management system:

Each roll provides barcode traceability making your inventory easier to manage.

5. Helps keep each roll in your inventory clean, fresh and looking professional.

Each roll is protected by a clear PET film, keeping your colors bright, clean and ready for use.

Please visit our website to view all our products with the newly designed labels such as Artist Tape, Pro® Console Tape, Cable Path, Pro® Duct series, Pro Gaff® and Pro Glow® tape just to name a few.

Pro Tapes® Packaging Solutions: Shrink Wrapping from ProTapes & Specialties, Inc. on Vimeo.

The post 5 Ways Our Newly Upgraded Individual Roll Packaging With UPC Labels Will Improve Your Business appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

With our recent additions to our production line-up, our new G&A RT800 and ALS dual mandrel automated lathe slitter, Pro Tapes® is taking it to a whole new level of speed and flexibility when it comes to service and quality.

Here are some of the key features that our latest investments bring to the table:

G&A RT800 WIDE WEB SLITTER:

• Can handle from .625″ to 74″ rewind widths.
• Maximum outside roll diameter is 31.5″ on the rewind side.
• Laminating station for full width laminations.
• Automatic score blade positioning system that dramatically reduces setup time while improving slit width tolerances and flexibility.
• Can slit multiple widths within the web allowing customers to purchase smaller minimums per size all slit from the same web.
• Automatic finished roll discharge system.
• Programmable PC store recipes for repeatability.

ALS DUAL MANDREL FULLY AUTOMATIC
LATHE SLITTER:

• Dual mandrel doubles the capacity of standard lathe slitters.
• Programmable PC stores recipes for repeatability.
• Multiple core ID options 1”, 1.5” and 3” inside core diameter options.
• Can slit multiple widths within the web for increased flexibility and smaller minimums.
• Tight slitting tolerance plus or minus .030”.
• Can slit from .062” to 62”.

As the premier converter of pressure sensitive tapes, we are excited about these additions to our already impressive converting lineup. These units will help enhance our converting services to our customers. Current equipment includes 6 fully automatic wide web slitters, 5 semi-automatic wide web slitters, 4 fully automatic lathe slitters, 12 state of art narrow web slitters and several rotary and flatbed die cutters as well as several flexographic printers.

Consider Pro® for your next converting opportunity, we have the right equipment to get it done cost effectively and on time!

G&A RT 800-K Wide Web Slitter from ProTapes & Specialties, Inc. on Vimeo.

Programmable Lathe Slitter Producing Quality and Consistent Slitting of Foam Every Time from ProTapes & Specialties, Inc. on Vimeo.

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