A New Day for Excel After Acquisition by Georgia-Pacific Corp. (OPINION)

It’s an exciting new day at Excel Displays & Packaging.

We have been designing and manufacturing point-of-purchase displays, high-graphic retail packaging, in-store signage and industrial packaging for over 25 years. Based in Aurora, Illinois, and with a sales and design office in Bentonville, the key to our success has been our quality, speed and agility. As a relatively small, boutique firm, our speed to market has been spectacular. We have been able to turn estimates for pricing and manufacturing far more quickly than the industry standard.

This past March, Excel was acquired by Georgia-Pacific Corp., one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of paper-related products. Based in Atlanta and owned by Koch Industries, Georgia-Pacific employs approximately 35,000 people directly and creates nearly 92,000 jobs indirectly — the very opposite of a boutique firm.

If you think this acquisition has negatively impacted our speed to market, you are very much mistaken. It’s been more like having rocket boosters strapped to our backs. Excel is still quick and agile. We still turn quotes and manufacturing runs quickly, but as a division of Georgia-Pacific, we can now leverage our size and offer customers more product offerings, better pricing and decreased freight lanes. This is one of a number of reasons that we are very excited to be part of Georgia-Pacific.

Another reason is Georgia-Pacific’s longstanding commitment to innovation. Whether it’s creating new materials or new manufacturing processes, the company is constantly thinking of ways to improve and create value for its customers.

For Excel, the future is truly exciting. Digital printing is one new frontier. Excel was one of the first to use it with the purchase of the HP Sitex 15500 though many packaging and display companies are still not exploiting the many advantages digital printing offers.

We are also very intentional about expanding our shopper marketing capabilities. Georgia-Pacific has many consumer brands and many shopper marketing experts within each brand, all with a deep understanding of the consumer.

By combining Georgia-Pacific’s shopper and retailer intelligence with our manufacturing and logistic expertise, Excel’s customers can look forward to increased innovation, intentional focus on project management and even faster speed and service than before. 

Bryan Perry is SVP, Sales and GM, Bentonville Operation, Excel Display/Georgia-Pacific. Perry has been in the Northwest Arkansas area and in the industry for over 20 years. He can be reached at [email protected].