August 5, 2016
While its name may sound more like a high-tech startup than a paper/packaging company, Media Technology has been integrating precision technology with the medium of paper since it was founded in December 1991 by the trio of Tom Hale, Betty Hickman, and Rocco Santoro. Their original goal was highly focused: to provide roll paper products for high-speed Delphax Page Printers.
The requirements were stringent.
“The data centers that purchased Delphax printers were required to purchase their roll paper from a paper mill that had been approved by Delphax,” President Tom Hale explains. “That was because the paper had to have a certain moisture content and resistivity properties that would allow the ‘ion deposition’ charge to dissipate quickly. If the charge didn’t dissipate quickly, the sheets would cling together as they entered the multiple stackers on the end of the printer. And if the moisture level or smoothness of the paper wasn’t within spec, there were with the toner flaking off due to the cold pressure fusion technology. So the paper converter approval requirement was to ensure that only approved mills were used and that the paper rolls were consistently produced on a certain core, with very strict rewinding tolerances for tension and edge smoothness.”
Media Technology was one of only two companies in the United States at that time to receive Delphax approval. Yet within just two years, the company was forced to expand its mission when Xerox purchased Delphax Systems, manufacturing shifted to Canada, and the new parent company eliminated a number of suppliers, including Media Technology. In response, the company broadened its converting operation to include slitting and rewinding capabilities.
“The slitting/rewind evolved into printers wanting sheeted paper, so we added that,” says Hale. As the company’s reputation for superior quality and fast turnaround grew, so did the requests for converting other types of chipboard, claycoat, and gypsum products. In 1993 and 1994, management added another master roll slitter/rewinder, two sheeters, and two large guillotines. “Custom chipboard is still a lot of what we do,” Hale says. “We also do sheeting and dividers for brick manufacturers. And about 10 years ago we got into folding carton,” which led to the addition of equipment for die cutting, folding, gluing, and windowing. “Currently, our focus is on growing the folding carton business.”
Today, Media Technology has about 25 employees working in a 36,000-square-foot space. Many ofthem have been with the company for 20–25 years. In addition to Hale, co-founders Hickman and Santoro are also still with the company. “It’s really a family environment,” notes Hale.
Despite the company’s growth and expanded product line over the last quarter of a century, Media Technology continues to be highly focused on providing high-quality services for its niche markets; they are not attempting to be all things for all clients. For example, apart from a digital printer for product mock-ups, they offer no in-house printing. “We bring in rolls, sheet it, and then send it out to about a half-dozen printers we trust. Then we bring it back for die cutting and foldout,” Hale explains.
A smaller company typically serves only local and regional clients, yet Media Technology’s customers are spread out across the United States, due in part to the company’s unique niche in the marketplace. “We get orders for folding cartons from most states in the Union,” says Hale. “It’s not a large volume. But we fit the niche when people can’t go to a RockTenn or if they need a smaller quantity and fast turnaround. Customers know that if they need custom chipboard, or if they just need a skid, we can supply it.”
That focus is also what led the company to join AICC.
Even though Media Technology is one of the newest AICC members, the company has already begun to see the benefits.
“One of the other members here in Oklahoma called me up to ask if we had considered joining,” Hale recalls. Membership just seemed to make good business sense. “Most of our marketing is done with large packaging suppliers and corrugated suppliers—companies that are already members—and we were interested in the prospect of working more closely with those folks and, hopefully, growing our business through them.” Even though Media Technology is one of the newest AICC members, the company has already begun to see the benefits. “One of our salesmen has talked to a couple of other members,” Hale says, “and some information has gone back and forth. That kind of networking is the main reason we joined.”
Given the market changes he has seen over the last 25 years, Hale is reluctant to predict what the future may hold for the industry. But when it comes to Media Technology, his goal is straightforward: “Continuing to increase our business.”
Robert Bittner is a freelance writer based in Michigan and a frequest contributor to BoxScore.
