Building Growth Through A Strategic Partnership With Spin-clean International

Growing a company takes significant time, dedication, and strategic effort. Mark Mawhinney, owner of SpinClean International, understands this well. In the mid-1970s, his father, Paul, had been selling a vinyl record cleaning device in the family’s record store, Record-Rama. When the device’s manufacturer decided to discontinue it, Paul purchased the molds and the rights to manufacture it. When Paul retired in 2009, Mark stepped into his father’s shoes as owner of the product known today as Spin-Clean® Record Washer. Under Mark’s leadership, the business experienced significant growth, and the product is now sold to vinyl record enthusiasts worldwide.

Finding The Right Manufacturing Partner

No matter how much effort an owner puts into growing their business, its success, in part, will depend on having strong, dependable vendor partnerships that can deliver what is needed when it is needed. As Spin-Clean’s sales increased, local injection molding vendors in Pittsburgh could not keep up with production demands, prompting Mark to search for a new partner. Having a partner that could deliver the volume he was selling was critical for maintaining the company’s growth trajectory. He found Metro Plastics in Noblesville, Indiana, through an internet search in 2012. After touring the facility and learning about its capabilities, he decided this was the partner he needed. What he found in Metro Plastics was so much more than he anticipated.

Satisfying Customer Needs While Saving Money

The Spin-Clean product is 50 years old, and while it has maintained its iconic look, the internal components have undergone numerous iterations over the years to make the product better for its customers. Metro Plastics has been instrumental in collaborating in that process. “We came to them and said, ‘Our customers would like AB or AB and C. They tell us frequently that this would be a nice addition. For example, they want rollers that stay in place more firmly. They want brushes that have a tighter fit. They want an easier-to-clean basin.’ And we would go to Metro and say, ‘This is what we want. This is our wish list. How can you make that happen?’ And they would come back to us — they’re kind of like Renaissance people, very pragmatic and ingenious — they’d say, ‘We could do this. We could do that. This wouldn’t cost a lot. This would solve your problem. It’s a back-and-forth collaboration.” Like with most businesses, cost is always a consideration. So, beyond making Spin-Clean customers happy with design changes, Metro Plastics has also sought ways to reduce costs without compromising product quality or functionality.

“The coolest thing about doing business with Metro is that they’re basically everything under one roof.” — Mark Mawhinney Owner, Spin-Clean International metroplastics.com

“When it comes to problem solving, they tend to be better than most, in terms of spear handling and figuring out the solutions for problems — things that are ultimately going to save us time and money. We’ve gone to them numerous times and said, ‘What are we doing that we may be able to cut back on to save costs?’ And they’ll come back and say, ‘This is what you need to look at,’ and so on and so forth. They have been incredibly helpful in saving us money over the years.”

A Full-service Partner

When Mark first began working with Metro Plastics, the company was just starting to offer assembly and fulfillment. Over the years, Metro Plastics has rounded out its portfolio to offer a comprehensive suite of services, making it a one-stop shop for its customers.

“The coolest thing about doing business with Metro is that they’re basically everything under one roof,” explained Mark. “Back in the old days, anytime we had an issue or a problem, we always had to go seek another vendor. If we had problems with our molds, we had to get them loaded onto a truck and drive them 200 miles to another place to get them fixed. The bottom line is Metro is capable of handling and doing everything for us under one roof, including manufacturing, hand assembly, shipping and fulfillment, new molds that we develop and change, handling issues — just like I said, everything under one roof. We just love it.”

Metro Plastics not only molds the components, assembles the product, packages them, and ships them directly to distributors, but also orders and stocks the non-plastics components, such as cleaning cloths, velvet brush materials, retail packaging, and shipping boxes. Metro Plastics has a dedicated portion of its warehouse for Spin-Clean.

A Lasting Relationship

Mark is very happy with the quality, service, and partnership he has developed with the team at Metro Plastics. He intended to continue working with them for the foreseeable future.

“I’ve had numerous calls over the years from other injection mold facilities that were trying to get my business, and I start thinking about Metro in general, and it’s almost like they’re part of our family and we’re part of theirs. It just wouldn’t be worth our time. Even if it were for less money, it wouldn’t be worth the time to go somewhere else. When I’m talking to other people, there are always two or three things that they can’t do that Metro’s been doing for years. If you have someone who can do it all and you’ve been with them for a long time, why bother thinking about anyone else?