Allied Awarded Family Owned Business Award

We are proud to announce that Allied Wire & Cable has won the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Family Owned Business Award for the Best Medium Sized Business in Philadelphia and it’s surrounding areas. This is Allied’s third year of winning achievements in this specific award category.

Company Co-owner, Tim Flynn, was also invited to discuss his successful business philosophy during a special panel at this year’s 2018 award ceremony. There he spoke at great lengths about his guiding motto… “Common sense before dollars and cents.” Here is a brief excerpt from the panel.

Tell us your story

Allied Wire & Cable was started with my two brothers and friend Chris Burke in 1987 in my parents’ basement in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Like many entrepreneurs, we had limited resources but big dreams and an unbeatable work ethic. We had to – because we were responsible for sales, marketing, purchasing, operations, invoicing and collections. Our parents helped us with billing, operations and fed us nightly or, most likely, we would have starved. Today, our Allied Wire & Cable family has grown to almost 300 team members. We have locations throughout the country and have received two presidential awards for business excellence. We have always known that, if you treat people well, great things can happen. We are blessed with a great group of team members who work with us and care deeply about the company. This is one of the biggest reasons Allied Wire & Cable still prospers.

We were taught early in our lives to help the less fortunate. If you can’t give money, give some of your time to help make a difference. I am delighted to say Allied Wire & Cable has given millions of dollars back to the community, supporting organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and providing scholarships for at-risk Greater Philadelphia youths. Recently, we raised $65,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

What is your biggest challenge and how are you working to overcome it?

Our biggest challenge has been finding and hiring good people. We are offering bonuses internally to team members who help us recruit good individuals. We also use recruitment services, ads, signs—anything that draws in prospective employees.

What is the proudest moment in running a family business?

I have so many to share over a 30-year career. One of our highlights is when we could finally afford to move out of my parents’ basement. After four years in our parents’ basement, we moved to Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, in an old 10,000-square-foot warehouse in which built our own offices.

Why should readers patronize family businesses in the region?

Family businesses care. They care for their employees; they care for their customers; and they care about the community.

As a Family Business of the Year winner, what is your family business motto?

This is the motto we have been using since we came up with it in 2008 during the last recession. This motto shows why we are better than most companies:

“Common sense, not dollars and cents.”

We do what it takes to make you successful.

Allied Wire and Cable Is Primed to Meet Demand for 5G Networks

5G networks, which promise to deliver faster internet access on mobile devices, are coming to select U.S. markets such as Houston as early as this year, with nationwide availability rolling out in 2020. Allied Wire and Cable is a key player in this 5G technology revolution, providing cables to companies constructing parts for cell phone towers that will soon be used by the nation’s wireless service providers.

5G Networks to Boast Blazing Speeds, Changing How Technology Is Used

5G is short for fifth-generation mobile and represents the next evolution in wireless communications technology. Touted as offering the next generation of internet speeds, folks can expect 5G internet download speeds that are at least 10 times and as much as 100 times faster than 4G capabilities. One description of what this kind of speed looks like to an internet user is to picture a movie that takes a few minutes to download on a 4G LTE network today taking only seconds to pull down from the cloud using 5G internet’s blinked-and-you-missed-it speeds.

What these 5G internet speeds could mean is a complete transformation in the way people utilize and engage with technology. Some have envisioned cities better managing electrical grids and energy consumption as well as vehicular traffic flow. Some have illustrated that sensors on 5G-connected water mains, for example, could tip off water authorities about leaks far before pipes burst. Another example highlights smart streetlights, which could lead drivers to empty parking spaces. In the home, many more smart devices utilizing inexpensive transmitters and cloud-based apps, known as the Internet of Things, will be launched. Imagine ingestible health monitors and the rise of smart clothing in the same way stretch clothing has taken over the fashion industry.

Allied Wire and Cable Is an Attractive Company for Helping Build 5G Networks

Allied Wire and Cable is providing multiple wireless providers with first-rate solutions and speedy turnaround times for their 5G networks. With the race on to get 5G networks in place for mass consumer use, cell phone providers are attracted to companies with reputations for providing outstanding quality, service and pricing as well as industry-leading shipping speeds.

Since late May, Allied Wire and Cable began leasing 34,000 square feet adjacent to its Collegeville, Pennsylvania, headquarters. In this space, team members are cutting and shipping hybrid copper and fiber optic cables for use in terminated assemblies for cell phone towers for a major wireless service provider. Allied Wire and Cable is ready to meet the call and scale up production to serve more wireless service providers.

The company developed five years ago a unique fiber optic cable featuring a copper tape shield for ground lightning protection. This special copper tape shield cable isn’t utilized for shielding purposes but for lightning protection. Soon afterward, Allied Wire and Cable made major inroads in building components for cell phone service providers when an Allied Wire and Cable partner company created a “plug-and-play system” to build cell phone towers. This system enabled fiber optic cables to be placed in terminated assemblies, which are part of cell phone towers. Before the advent of this system, contractors would connect the fiber optic cables on site.

The Building of 5G Networks Is Foreseen to Be a Lucrative Business

The cell phone tower business is going gangbusters. About 300,000 new cell phone antennas will be installed for 5G networks in the United States. This number equals the number of cell phone towers built in the country in the past three decades. This many new cell phone towers are needed, industry leaders say, because 5G technology’s high-frequency waves are faster but travel smaller distances compared with existing cell phone towers. All this comes with a hefty investment. Deploying 5G technology in the United States will cost as much as $200 billion a year for the next five to 10 years.

Getting 5G networks’ capabilities into the hands of cell phone and gadget users as well as all the industries 5G internet is poised to transform will require coordination of federal, state and local governments. The Federal Communications Commission is making available radio frequencies that 5G uses, and Congress green-lighted legislation to stimulate 5G deployment on federal properties.

Even in 2018, almost 20 million Americans still are not able to tap into broadband internet. For all the high-tech ways 5G technology is projected to change the world, 5G networks might finally bridge the digital divide as well as give consumers more choices in the services they use to access the internet.

For more than 30 years, Allied Wire and Cable has helped power the world. Now the company is instrumental in the 5G revolution and equipped to serve companies requiring wire and cable products for 5G cell phone towers.

Allied Wire and Cable Answers the Call for 5G Equipment Production

5G cell phone towers are coming, with 5G cell phone service projected to launch in some U.S. cities late this year. Allied Wire and Cable is answering the call for 5G cell phone tower equipment production, supplying cables to companies building terminated assemblies for providers’ cell phone towers.

To take on this major job, Allied Wire and Cable had to expand its Operations space. In late May, the company took over about one-third of the 34,000 square feet it began leasing next door to its Collegeville, Pennsylvania, headquarters, said James Thivierge, Allied Wire and Cable vice president of Operations. There, team members are cutting heavy-gauge hybrid copper and fiber optic cables to length using four high-capacity, heavy-duty machines, including two shaftless, one shafted and one rim drive machine. The space has quickly turned into a receiving, production and shipping facility. By the time the space is fully utilized and requests for production are ramped up, it could employ six to 10 team members.

“Allied Wire and Cable is no stranger to providing equipment used in cell phone towers. With this job, the company received multiple purchase orders for cables from a longtime Allied Wire and Cable partner company,” Thivierge said.

Allied Wire and Cable has grown markedly beyond the size of its 80,000-square-foot headquarters, which opened in 2008. An addition to this building in 2012 added 21,000 square feet. Allied Wire and Cable bought and expanded a building across the street, creating 22,000 square feet of extra Operations space, in 2016.

“We’re running out of buildings in the business park to buy,” Thivierge said with a laugh when asked about where Allied Wire and Cable might expand once it completely utilizes the 34,000 square feet of recently leased space. “We already almost own the corner here, so it’s a good problem to have. It’s a pain in the butt to have to run three locations on a block. We’re all losing weight from running back and forth, back and forth.”

Kansas State SAE Team’s Car Competes in Canada

Sporting wire and cable products donated by Allied Wire and Cable, Kansas State University’s Society of Automotive Engineers formula race car and the talented academic design team, Powercat Motorsports, behind it competed in Formula North in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, on May 31 against some of the highest-ranked North American teams.

Thanks to Allied Wire and Cable’s donation, Powercat Motorsports’ car, named Ocelot, benefited from high-quality wire and cable products as opposed to off-the-shelf parts from years past. In writing Allied Wire and Cable last fall in its request for wire and cable products, the team expressed its desire to raise the bar in terms of quality and performance.

“This year, we want to … have a thoroughly designed electrical system with state-of-the-art equipment that meets or exceeds industry standards,” the team wrote in an email. “The electronics team’s goals are to create a reliable, high-quality harness that cuts down on weight, and meets Mil-Spec standards.”

At the Formula North, Ocelot successfully made it through a series of static events and received tech stickers after passing thorough inspections by a team of judges. These inspections encompassed a brake test, sound test and tilt test, the latter to ensure the car doesn’t leak liquids. The vehicle also successfully competed in Formula North’s first three dynamic events: skid pad, acceleration and autocross. Ocelot didn’t finish the overall competition because of a non-wire-related issue.

“We are already working on better design options for next year’s car and have used the experience to better our understanding of weak links and how to prevent failures,” wrote Brett Cook, Powercat Motorsports president, in a letter following Formula North.

“Thank you so much for your help!” Bailey Martin, Powercat Motorsports’ electronics design leader, wrote in an email to Allied Wire and Cable in late June. “As a first-year leader, it was a huge help! It is difficult to find wire in the small quantities we need for each year. Thank you for being so helpful and flexible.”

Each year, Allied Wire and Cable supports a number of college and university design teams by supplying wire and cable products to help power their cars. The company supplied GXL, SXL, TXL, Expando and HST products.

“The experience gained from the process of designing, building and competing for Formula SAE is incredibly valuable for aspiring engineers,” Cook wrote. “… As sponsors of this team, you are helping to prepare us students to succeed and propel our career as engineers.”

Allied Wire and Cable Receives Presidential “E” Star Award for Exports

Allied Wire and Cable has received the Presidential “E” Star Award for Exports, representing the premier recognition any U.S. company or organization can receive for significantly contributing to the expansion of U.S. exports. Tim Flynn, Allied Wire and Cable co-owner and co-president, was presented the award by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross at a ceremony May 21 in Washington, D.C.

The Presidential “E” Star Award for Exports signifies to our overseas customers that Allied Wire and Cable has a proven track record of shipping wire and cable products—and a lot of them—globally. Only 43 U.S. companies and organizations were given the President’s “E” Award this year for their role in strengthening the U.S. economy by sharing American ingenuity outside our borders. Of those, just eight received the prestigious Presidential “E” Star Award for Exports.

“Our company is marking our 30th anniversary, and it’s remarkable to look back and consider that Allied Wire and Cable has grown from a basement operation to not only a sizeable organization with sales and warehouse locations across the country but making a major impact in international trade,” Flynn said.

Allied Wire and Cable has enjoyed past recognition for its trade impact. The company received the Presidential “E” Award for Exports and a Pennsylvania Faces of Trade award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, both in 2014.

Looking for this kind of expertise? Get in touch with one of our helpful Sales Rep’s or order online today!

Allied Wire & Cable Is Recognized for Commitment to Supporting BLOCS

Support Helps Many Receive Catholic School Education

Allied Wire & Cable was recently recognized by the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, for its longtime support of Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools, commonly known as BLOCS. Allied Wire & Cable has donated more than $1.2 million in the past five years in support of Greater Philadelphia’s Catholic schools.

Allied Wire & Cable received a letter from Archbishop Chaput in mid-April 2018 thanking the company for its support. “On behalf of administrators, teachers, parents, and students, I want to personally thank you for your generosity and commitment to Catholic education,” Archbishop Chaput wrote. “Without the assistance from local area business leaders like yourselves, many families would be denied the opportunity to take advantage of a faith-based, Catholic education.”

Allied Wire & Cable has funded more than 100 scholarships for students in need at schools such as Pope John Paul II and St. Francis of Assisi. Allied has also supported the GESU school, located in one of Philadelphia’s most marginalized neighborhoods. Most students currently enrolled at the GESU school would be forced to attend one of the poorest-performing schools in the city if left in the public school system.

Company Has Had ‘Enormous Impact’ on Education

With the support of BLOCS and companies like Allied, more students have access to high quality, values-based education, helping them succeed not just in academics, but in becoming well-rounded, active members in their communities.

Founded in 1980, BLOCS is supported by individuals, companies, firms, and foundations throughout Philadelphia and Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. BLOCS has helped as many as hundreds of thousands of children throughout Greater Philadelphia receive high-quality, values-based education. BLOCS reaches more children in more communities than almost any other private education charity in the region.

“You and your colleagues throughout the area have made an enormous impact which has allowed the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to continue our great tradition of educating thousands of area children in the morals and values of our Catholic faith, and for that, we are most grateful,” Archbishop Chaput wrote.

Lock in Allied Wire & Cable’s Best Prices on PTFE Products

Avoid sticker shock and lock in Allied Wire & Cable’s best prices on PTFE products now through Friday, April 20. A number of suppliers have informed us in recent weeks that they have had shouldered commodity price increases and are compelled to raise the cost of their PTFE wire and cable products. As a result, Allied Wire & Cable must also raise its prices on these PTFE wire and cable products.

Allied Wire & Cable is grateful to be your leading distributor of PTFE wire and cable products and is reaching out to give you an opportunity to lock in our best prices on PTFE products through April 20. We’ve increased our inventory by 30 percent to help our valued customers buy now to beat the price increase!

We are extending this special opportunity to all our valued customers to lock in our best price on PTFE products through April 20. We encourage all our customers to think strategically and save thousands of dollars down the road by making blanket orders through April 20. Allied Wire & Cable’s inventory of PTFE products is bountiful and able to meet your needs. Make your orders through April 20 to lock in our best price on PTFE products and receive large-volume shipments from Allied Wire & Cable when your business needs them. We will hold firm pricing through July 31 on blanket orders.

Allied Wire & Cable, whose headquarters are located in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, has served global markets—including the aerospace, automotive, commercial, industrial and mil-spec—since 1987. Our company’s owners and sales representatives—located in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, New York and Wisconsin—boast a combined 500-plus years of experience and are ready to address your needs. The Allied Wire & Cable team prides itself on providing outstanding pricing, quality and service, assigning individual sales representatives to each customer.

Contact an Allied Wire & Cable sales representative today to lock in the best price on PTFE wire and cable products for your company now and for the foreseeable future.

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Supplier Letters and Emails

Following are letters and emails we’ve received from our suppliers about recent price increases they’ve faced.
We would like to bring to your attention changes to the pricing for the following base metals: Tensile-Flex (A135), Cadmium Copper (C162), HPC-80EF, HPC-35EF, and 40% Copper Covered Steel. During an annual review of internal manufacturing costs and supplier pricing it was revealed that gaps exist between published pricing and actual costs. As a result, [we are] forced to pass along price increases related to these metals. These changes are effective January 16, 2018.

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Having held off from price increases for several years now, and this in spite of increased cost incurred by our company to provide you the known levels of product quality, service and innovation, we are obliged to raise your fabrication prices in 2018.

Our quality records, on-time delivery performance and overall responsiveness in service have been continuously high and our goal is to keep it that way and secure future growth, performance and excellence in everything we do for you.

We thank you for your understanding in this matter and look forward to continuing and growing our business relationship with you next year.

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As a valued customer, we want to make you aware of the fact that the following products are in very tight global supply:

PTFE: all grades
FEP: some grades
PFA: all grades
ETFE: all grades

We request that you work closely with your account manager to enter your forecast and purchase orders in a timely manner so that we can ensure our continued excellence in product quality, reliability, delivery and service.

We value your business and strive to meet all your fluoropolymer needs. Your account manager will contact you within the next few days to discuss your specific situation, product availability and timing.

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Sustained inflationary pressures have forced us to evaluate our pricing. We have absorbed and sheltered from our customers the impact of constant rising raw material and labor costs over the last 10 years but unfortunately, we can no longer absorb the impact and continue to provide the quality and service that our company is known for without implementing a price increase.

Effective 5–1–2018, our company will implement a 3% price increase on all standard products with the exception of our identification products. Any standard products purchased within standard published volumes after this date will be subject to the price increase.

Our company remains committed to providing our valued customers with the broadest offering while maintaining a high level of service.

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In recent years, we have seen meaningful increases in our cost of manufacturing. So far, we have delayed passing these costs on to you in order to offer the most competitive quality product possible.

As an example, energy and freight make up a growing portion of our cost of goods sold and is more impactful to costs than for most polymers, particularly for the smallest batches. In addition, we have incurred increased costs for regulatory compliance and personnel as we continuously work to provide our customers with the best service over the long term.

More recently, we have seen our raw material prices (fluoropolymers up +2% to +15% depending on the grades, high-temperature polymers up +6%, and pigments particularly whites and blues) start to increase as of a few months ago.

Market dynamics are currently strong and supply of some products has tightened. We find ourselves having no choice but to share the burden of these increases, and announce a price adjustment effective April 1, 2018.

We hope for your understanding and cooperation by supporting us through this time as we move to adjust our pricing in order to remain a trusted long-term supplier.

Allied Wire & Cable Is Celebrating Its 30ish Anniversary

We’re celebrating in 2018 at Allied Wire & Cable our 30ish anniversary! You might ask, “What the heck does ‘30ish anniversary’ mean?” Well, truth be told, we’ve been so busy growing as a company and serving you, our valued customers, that we’re a bit late in getting around to properly mark our 30th anniversary. Hence our adoption of the “30ish” name. We think it’s better to be late with this kind of thing and rather get your orders to you on time and with stellar accuracy.

Starting out in a Family Basement

A bunch of Allied Wire & Cable team members got around a large conference table in mid-February 2018 to tell some colorful stories about yesteryear and take a good look at where we were, where we are and where we’re going. Allied Wire & Cable launched in 1987 in the family basement of the Flynn family in Wayne, Pennsylvania, along Philadelphia’s Main Line and was incorporated the following year. At the time, the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Brothers were booming in popularity, Michael Jordan was taking off sky high, Mike Tyson was the reigning heavyweight champion, Madonna was racking up four Top-10 hits and Dirty Dancing was the talked-about recent flick.

And the U.S. stock market crashed in October 1987. Just out of college, Tim Flynn left Wall Street and, before long, he and brothers Dan and Mike, all in their 20s, along with family friend Chris Burke started out by doing anything and everything—from ordering materials and making sales calls to spooling wire—to build their fledgling wire and cable business. The Flynn’s mother, Jean, helped type documents, and father, John, nicknamed JJ, helped with deliveries. Legend has it that Jean also prepared some incredible meals for the young men to help fuel them in their pursuit of making it.

Growth Propels Moves to Bridgeport, Phoenixville and Collegeville

Allied Wire and Cable moved to a warehouse and office facility in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, in 1992. Because money was tight and to ensure they could continue to receive bank loans, the owners had to prove the depth of their inventory, and this led to many deep-into-the-night workdays. When the team finally thought they had a day off because of a blizzard, longtime sales representative Pat Wilson arrived at work after trudging in by foot. “I guess we have to work,” recounted Tim Flynn, Allied Wire & Cable co-owner and co-president, with a chuckle.

Come 2002, Allied Wire & Cable moved to a state-of-the-art facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. By this time, the company was hitting its stride, maturing and refining its approaches. It was also growing by leaps and bounds. By 2008, the company outgrew this location and moved to its existing home in nearby Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was a brand-new building, and still growth came quickly. A 2012 addition to the 80,000-square-foot facility brought Allied Wire & Cable’s headquarters to more than 101,000 square feet. Four years later, the company purchased a building across the street and completed an expansion project, creating an additional 22,000 square feet of production and warehouse space.

Allied Wire & Cable Family: We Serve Our Customers with 250 Team Members

Today, Allied Wire and Cable employs about 250 employees nationwide and operates sales offices in Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, New York and Wisconsin. The company also operates warehouses across the United States, enabling for the quickest delivery times in the industry. Allied Wire & Cable boasts a $50 million inventory of wire, cable, tubing, accessories and hard-to-find parts. The company serves a wide scope of markets and provides customized services. Allied Wire & Cable is dedicated to serving its many thousands of global customers, who simply are the company’s lifeblood.

Allied Wire & Cable owners have long recognized that their customers come first and that their customers are part of the Allied Wire & Cable Family. They’ve also known that their staff members, or team members, are the heart of the Allied Family. The owners are grateful for the commitment, dedication, vision, knowledge and hard work their team members bring to the company to provide customers with outstanding quality, service and pricing.

Allied Wire & Cable’s owners have been guided by the credo of “Common sense, not dollars and cents.” During and since the Great Recession of 2007–09, most companies cut staff, adjusting to slimmed-down employee rolls. Allied Wire & Cable owners, however, have always believed that their employees are nonexpendable. The company has not only provided job stability but continued to grow employment levels at all its warehouses and sales offices. This growth has and will continue to enable Allied Wire & Cable to improve its operations and customer service.

Giving Back As Part of AWCares

There’s something else that makes Allied Wire & Cable special, and it’s the owners’ commitment to philanthropy. Allied Wire & Cable mission as part of AWCares, its philanthropic branch, is to support local and national charities that advocate powerful causes. The company’s owners were joined by Pennsylvania State Senator Bob Mensch on March 2, 2018, in handing a $50,000 check to two National Breast Cancer Foundation representatives who flew in from outside Dallas, Texas. This milestone moment in Allied Wire & Cable’s history capped a record-breaking Charity Week in which customers helped the company raise $42,000—more than doubling previous fundraisers.

In recent years, Allied Wire & Cable has also raised money for American Diabetes Association, Autism Speaks, Make–A–Wish Foundation, Pets for Vets, Toy for Tots and the YMCA. More than $160,000 has been raised during all 12 annual Charity Weeks alone.

All of us at Allied Wire & Cable are grateful to have served you for 30ish years and look forward to being your leading source for wire and cable products for many, many more years.

Thank you!