Relationships with customers are built at every touchpoint. Monument’s growing participation in critical industry trade shows and events has created opportunities for successful networking “touchpoints,” especially for some of our newest relationships.

As a recent example, in November, a Monument team attended the Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) Fall Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. The event brought together diverse foam manufacturers and suppliers to share research and best practices – and to create opportunities for dialogue about industry and customer-specific challenges. The customer connections the Monument team made during the event have led to a series of site visits and potential growth opportunities.

“We hosted a reception the second and final day of the event, and we were very pleased with how many attendees joined us to learn more about Monument’s capabilities,” said Sibel Selcuk, Vice President, Global Research & Development. “Since our reception was late in the day – kind of like last period in school – it was even more impressive that so many customers and partners were there to keep the dialogue going.”

Vijay Nadgir, Principal Scientist, Brandenburg, had originally suggested that Monument attend this event to build our reputation even more in the polyurethane foam industry.

“Vijay is a very experienced foam chemist, and he’s a bit a of a celebrity in this market,” said Sibel. “Thanks to his advice – and our success at the show – Monument’s own ‘celebrity’ has increased in this critical market as well. We’ve typically been a ‘go between’ for some customers, and we were able to showcase our capabilities at the event – and let customers know that they can work directly with us.”

Several of the customers who met with the Monument team at PFA requested follow-up site visits at the Brandenburg site. One North American-based foam manufacturer, for example, had discussed issues they were experiencing around air flow with some of their foams at the event. They soon visited the Brandenburg site and were impressed with the team’s capabilities – and have asked to see samples for a new foam they want to bring to market.

“A leading Japanese-based firm was also impressed with our samples,” said Mike Purvis, R&D Director Brandenburg. “They have firm hold of the market in Asia and are looking to grow in the U.S. – and they also expressed a possibility of our team supplying polyols into Asia, which is something we haven’t done before, but are definitely willing to investigate possibilities for growth.”

And the opportunities either sparked or nurtured at PFA continue to grow! Monument will even be teaching a Polyol 101 class to one of the world's largest bedding providers, partly as a result from a good dialogue with the customer’s team at the PFA event.

“We’re learning at these trade shows and events that there are definitely more opportunities out there for us that will stretch our capabilities, and in turn, boost our growth potential,” said Mike. “Whether we’re expanding into new territories or supporting a big customer with an exciting product launch, every win we collect further cements our growing reputation in the industries we serve.”