The Acrylic Masters: Manufacturing Acrylic Awards Since 1984
Since 1984, Greg and Scott Smith have been manufacturing acrylic awards. After seeing a newspaper ad for a small acrylic embedment company for sale, they decided to investigate further. That decision became the beginning of an amazing journey — one that would take a business doing less than $600 a month in gross revenue and grow it into the corporate recognition company it is today.
The Early Days of US Acrylic Awards
After meeting with the owners, both Greg and Scott became excited about the acrylic embedment process and its potential. Casting objects into crystal-clear acrylic resin — from coins and police badges to miniature prospectus books and patents — had immense appeal and promise.
The Acrylic Embedment Learning Curve
Like many small business adventures, the first three years were lean. Building a business from scratch with no recurring customer base, no deep industry knowledge, and little familiarity with how to manufacture an embedment required drive and determination.
Greg and Scott both took a hands-on approach to developing repeatable manufacturing processes that would help make Clear Image, Inc., the parent company of US Acrylic Awards, one of today’s respected acrylic award manufacturing companies in the United States.
Then and Now: The Acrylic Manufacturing Process
In the early days, the shop started with a small autoclave, a wet belt sander, a Craftsman table saw, and a few aluminum molds. From there, the fun began.
Always innovators, the Acrylic Masters understood the importance of improving facilities, upgrading equipment, and developing a team of highly cross-trained employees who care deeply about the products they produce.
Manufacturing Acrylic Awards Today
Today, with a 10,000-square-foot facility dedicated to manufacturing acrylic products, there is not a day that goes by without something unique coming off the production line.
Walking through the building, you will see edge-finishing machines, autoclaves, table saws, a panel saw, a lathe, acrylic buffing wheels, large flatbed UV acrylic printers, a complete screen-printing facility, Trotec laser engravers, high-powered laser cutters, automatic bagging equipment, acrylic benders, hydraulic cutters, drill presses, table routers, and a skilled crew with expert knowledge of each piece of equipment.
The Crew at US Acrylic Awards
With a staff of dedicated employees, Greg would say his favorite thing about owning US Acrylic Awards is trying to stay innovative and making people happy. You can see that attitude reflected by both brothers as they manage their team and interact with clients.
Innovation: The Future of Acrylic Recognition
Looking to expand their reach and offer high-quality acrylic awards to more clients throughout the United States and Canada, Greg and Scott decided to create one of the most innovative eCommerce sites in the recognition industry.
With the ability to shop from desktop or mobile, customers can now create custom acrylic awards and deal toys while seeing pricing as they build. US Acrylic Awards is also available by phone or chat for customers who have questions about products or customization options.
Selling Acrylic Awards Online
With endless customizable options and multiple price attributes across the product line, Greg and Scott faced the challenge of creating a site that allowed visitors to choose options and calculate accurate pricing from desktop or mobile. Making that happen was no easy task, but both would say it was worth the challenge.
As you shop acrylic awards on USAcrylicAwards.com, the ease of calculating your price helps make the ordering process more transparent. Each selection is transferred to the order details, helping speed up manufacturing while reducing the risk of errors — always a priority at US Acrylic Awards.
Acrylic Award Manufacturing
If you are ever in Glendale, Arizona and interested in taking a tour, give us a shout. You can expect to see a well-designed facility where quality American manufacturing standards take priority at every stage of production.
With high-speed laser engravers, high-powered laser cutters, and large flatbed UV printers, the creativity and quality standards are second to none. Watching expert artists and acrylic finishers polish each award to perfection is an impressive sight.
Interesting Answers from the Acrylic Masters
With decades of experience in the awards industry, we thought it would be fun to ask Greg and Scott a few direct questions. The image below is an example of our creative LaserCut™ Acrylic Award capabilities.
Do you manufacture other acrylic products?
Yes. We manufacture many types of acrylic products, including furniture, picture frames, signage, face shields, and decorated promotional products.
What is your all-time favorite award manufactured?
One of our first large orders was casting 500 Lucite® embedments with a three-dimensional Statue of Liberty inside. The pieces were presented by Coca-Cola America to commemorate renovations completed in 1986.
How is US Acrylic Awards different?
Every product in our line is Manufactured in the USA by acrylic artisans who understand the properties of acrylic and use some of the most advanced equipment in the industry.
We also stand behind our work with a 100% Quality Guarantee that reflects the care and standards behind every award we make.
Quality products come from quality people who care about corporate recognition and crafting unique acrylic awards.
US Acrylic Awards is ready to make your award projects come to life. We hope you enjoy shopping our selection of awards and look forward to partnering with you to motivate, recognize, and encourage your team.
