PPB August 2019

B eing named a top supplier is one thing; being voted as the best in class by your customers is an over-the-top compliment, and a reliable indication that your company is operating at the top of its game. Nineteen PPAI supplier companies reached that elite level in January 2019; 11 earned the Supplier Star award and eight received an Award of Merit. The PPAI Pyramid Supplier Star competition is an annual opportunity for all PPAI member suppliers in good standing, who update their sales volume with PPAI every two years as required and who have earned a SAGE Supplier Rating of an A or higher, to be included on the ballot. All PPAI distributor members are eligible to vote for two PPAI member supplier companies in each of the 11 categories. Voting takes place online during the designated period; this summer voting took place from July 1-19 for the Supplier Star awards that will be presented in 2020. The 2019 winners include some familiar names and some relative newcomers that have quickly earned their customers’ admiration in the areas of communication, customer service, top-quality products, excellent decorating and packaging. Read on to find out what makes these companies outshine their competitors. NewPPAI SupplierMember —— SUPPLIER STAR —— Insights from Ray Jabro, director of wholesale operations Years in business: 10 Primary product category: Custom apparel, mostly holiday sweaters and accessories like beanies, scarves and more. Company philosophy on communication and customer service: To never deny a request without a compromise. Always try your best to make a client happy regardless of the difficulty of the task, make yourself available to distributors in different time zones and communicate quickly. How it keeps product and packaging offerings fresh and in-demand: It starts with keeping in contact with the hard-working distributors that produced orders since the beginning. Showing appreciation to these men and women has helped big time. Our graphic designers continue making unbelievable, on-demand virtual concepts for distributors and our creative department produces media that really captures how nice our apparel is. Why it excels among industry suppliers: We provide quality threads on all our products. The designs we produce are carefully produced to match the client’s colors and industry. For example, we apply cars to the virtual concept if it’s being made for a car company. Our employees are eager to see the finished product as much as the recipients because we really care and work hard to ensure it is done correctly. Plus, it’s our objective to meet urgent demands in this demanding industry; rush projects are accepted until the very end. —— AWARD OF MERIT —— FEATURE | PPAI Pyramid: Supplier Stars | AUGUST 2019 | 21