Rodney Brown
InteliCoat Technologies Inc. has won a $150,000 grant from the New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (NETAAC), which the company says it will use to streamline its operations and manufacturing processes and implement a cloud CRM strategy.
South Hadley–based InteliCoat, which makes coated paper, film and specialty substrates for digital imaging applications, has been on a path toward lean manufacturing and operation since Oct. 2007, and in September 2008 landed a $380,000 grant from the state of Massachusetts to implement lean manufacturing practices. At the time, the company said the practices implemented helped it accelerate time–to–market for new products and increase customer service levels, as well as start training on waste awareness and elimination, and “5S” training (simplify, straighten, scrub, stabilize, self disicpline).
The NETAAC Financial Assistance Grant comes by way of the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Trade Adjustment Assistance for FIRMS program, which is aimed at funding business–building consulting projects, according to a release from InteliCoat. Under this new grant, InteliCoat will link its business system into a Salesforce.com implementation and undergo a major initiative to improve coating–machine speeds in order to fight “material price increases with savings from machine efficiencies.”
Founded in 1932, InteliCoat also has manufacturing facilities in Portland, Ore., and in The Netherlands, with sales and marketing operations in Australia, The Netherlands, and North and South America. On its website, InteliCoat describes itself as “an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners,” a private investment firm.
