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Custom Awards Manufacturer Celebrates Silver Anniversary

With the present here-today-and-gone-tomorrow approach of so many businesses, ATdesigns is proud that 2001 marks its Silver Anniversary as a Custom Awards and Promotional Products Manufacturer.

As it was when company owner Trevor Temple began his business in the basement of his Toronto home, ATdesigns remains committed to providing a superior design, quality finished products and unmatched customer service. For the 25 years of its existence, the company’s guiding principal has remained,” Always treat your customer the way you wish to be treated.”

ATdesigns initial product line consisted mainly of lapel pins and key tags made overseas, along with a small selection of domestically made spin-cast products. However, within the first five years, demand for the spin-cast items had grown significantly, thanks to the efficiency of their domestic production when compared with import costs and delivery times. That growth was sufficient for Temple to move the company into its first manufacturing facility and items produced overseas became a smaller fraction of ATdesigns sales.

With total control of their production now under one roof, ATdesigns had established itself as a principal supplier of Promotional and Recognition products, later expanding more heavily into the Custom Trophy and Awards market.

Always the innovator, ATdesigns was one of the first companies to offer its customers no die or set-up charges on its spin-cast products. Bob D’Andrade, ATdesigns’ director of marketing, explains that unlike processes requiring metal dies-which can cost several hundred dollars-spin casting utilizes a less-expensive rubber mold.

“You can get tremendous results, if you know what you’re doing,” he says.

That’s not where the company’s selection ends. ATdesigns also offers hard-enamel, soft-enamel, die-struck and die-cast processes, some of which allow the company’s customers to color-match using the Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors.

“The need for PMS colors isn’t perhaps as heavy in the awards industry as it is with promotional products,” D’Andrade says. “But, universities and schools are quite particular about their colors and when you get into promotional products, your clients in the corporate office are going to demand you match their company colors.”

In an effort to provide the best customer service possible, the company opened a second shipping facility and warehouse in Tonawanda, N.Y., and later-when a second manufacturing plant was needed-it was located in a free-trade zone shipping out of McAllen, Texas.

“Unlike most in the industry, we are able to shift production to whichever plant can handle the volume; we’re not limited to a single plant,” says D’Andrade. “The work will be done where it best fits our production cycle or minimizes our customer’s shipping costs.”

To further facilitate the flow between its customers and production, the company will soon provide 24/7 access to production in both its plants via the Internet, with co-op marketing-including access to the company’s generic Website and digital catalog images-already available.

Most important of all, though, is the company’s knowledgeable and devoted sales and support department.

“We spend a lot of time and money in training our staff, and we have specifically dedicated people to each industry,” D’Andrade says. “That guarantees they will have the product knowledge that the customer requires. We view what we do as a partnership with our customers.”

As ATdesigns heads into its second 25 years, D’Andrade says the company remains committed to giving its customers the quality they want, when they want it.

“We aren’t willing to rest on our laurels,” he concludes. “We always expect the best from ourselves and you will always receive the best we can deliver.”

For more information on ATdesigns’ entire line of Custom Awards and Promotional Products, including its new Golf and Pewter Desk Accessory lines, call the company toll free at (800) 288-0111; e-mail to info@ATdesigns.com; or visit the Website at www.ATdesigns.com.