Questions: Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Answer: Universal Wire Cloth Co. located in in Morrisville, Pennsylvania is a family owned and operated business. Established in 1976, we have over 45 years’ experience in the wire mesh industry. We are an industrial wire cloth supplier, wire mesh manufacturer and we offer a variety of accompanying fabrication services.
Questions: What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Answer: After years of working within this industry for a wire mesh company that had very limited capabilities and no interest in expanding, we capitalized on our experience and branched out to start Universal Wire Cloth Co. Our vision was to offer not only comprehensive products, but full-scale services as well. We expanded our inventory dramatically, which is still considered one of the largest inventories in the country and further invested in various equipment to offer in house fabrication services. As time moved on, we saw another opportunity and added crimping machines & weaving looms which allow us the capability to manufacture wire mesh.
Questions: How important have good employees been to your success?
Answer: Good employees are crucial to our continued success. We are lucky to have many experienced team members who have been with us for decades. Like a clock, each department of our team works together to keep our operation running smoothly, without them over the years we wouldn’t have been able to grow into the name we are today.
Questions: How did you decide on the location for your business?
Answer: Having rented in different parts of the Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs, the opportunity arose to break ground on a permanent location that was in a great area close to home. Owning was the best option since we were continuing to grow and gained the equity of owning a building. It also allowed us the opportunity to expand the building when needed as we also owned the ground which the building is situated on.
Questions: How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
Answer: Unfortunately, mistakes do happen that are sometimes unavoidable. We here at Universal Wire Cloth Co. take mistakes as an opportunity to understand exactly where the issue occurred and improve our processes to prevent it from happening again in the future. In terms of damage control, we do everything possible to rectify the issue as quickly as possible. Sometimes this is on us, while other times it may be on a company confirming an incorrect detail on a purchase order or even a package getting lost in transit. We will work with you to get the detail fixed and do our best to track down your package.
Questions: What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Answer: Back in 1989 when we finally made settlement and built our first 10,000 square foot building at our current Morrisville location. Since that time, we have expanded twice to be nearly 10 times our original size! The additional space allowed us to add significantly more inventory as well as manufacturing equipment which brought us many new areas of business. Since we are able to keep our entire manufacturing under a single roof we have greater control over our products, quality and production.