Pergo’s SimpleSolutions Four-in-One Molding packages

By Louis Iannaco
With new technology producing more innovative products, moldings have come a long way in the last several years. With advancements in technology have come improved looks, better performance and ease of installation. Marketing of the category has also taken off as what was once sold separately has become an all-in-one, easy-to-sell package.

“Overall, moldings have significantly improved in both form and function,” said David Small, Pergo’s marketing director. “This is mostly due to the evolution of the foils and materials used in construction, as well as the heightened quality of laminate flooring in general.”

“Innovations like Simple-Solutions Four-in-One Molding, manufactured by Pergo—which packages all four laminate transition moldings together—have benefited retailers, distributors and professional installers alike,” he explained. “Retailers experience fewer out-of-stocks, which translates to happy customers and improved sales/profits for both themselves and their distributors.

“Installers are able to buy all their moldings in one package and never have to worry about not having the correct molding on site during a job. Consequently, they don’t have to continually return to their retailers to purchase different moldings—resulting in a savings of both time and money.”

Paul Puskar, national sales manager for Nova Distinctive Floors, agreed with Small, saying new, more precise milling and finishing machines aided by new computer technology have helped to produce more consistent shapes and colors for customers. “Also, the development of our wood composite technology offers a new and more durable yet less expensive alternative profiles that help protect the supply of natural resources.

“For our pre-finished moldings,” he added, “the biggest challenge is color matching or we like to use ‘color coordinating.’ With all the different manufacturers, finishes, and the many variations of natural wood species, we must all continually educate the dealers and end users on these natural variations.”

The problem for the molding category, according to Michael Johnsen, accessories manager for Faus, is inventory and managment logistics. “The problem is, a manufacturer does research and comes up with products it believes will sell. You then have to come up with the moldings to match. You also have to come up with some kind of predictability [of what you’ll need] because you have to develop an inventory. The crystal ball isn’t always perfect.

“So,” if someone in marketing says, ‘Purple is going to be the next hot thing in 2007,’ but 2007 comes around and it wasn’t purple, it was pink, now everyone has these huge inventories of purple lying around, all obsolete. That’s why inventory management is huge. How does the distributor minimize the $250,000 worth of inventory sitting on his floor? A big part of the technology base is providing logistical support. How do you set it up where wholesalers get product without having to stockpile inventories?”

On marketing, Small believes the future of the category lies within the “all-in-one” concept such as SimpleSolutions Four-in-One Molding. “Since ‘all-in-one’ moldings result in happier customers and higher sales, we should expect to see more such products hit the market.”

However, while many are coming up with all-in-one packages of their own, not all think this way. Puskar noted, “I feel the ‘all-in-one’ is a little too much in one package. The Pedross line has come up with a terrific alternative with its ‘2 in 1’ T-molding or Reducer called Combistar. Combistar is a veneered wood composite T-molding profile that’s easily site modified with a carpet knife into a Reducer (up to 1-in.) thereby easily solving many common installation problems of transitioning different floor heights and types.”