Our Story

“My tape sticks a heck of a lot better than that!”

I’ll never forget the story my father told me about observing a room full of women trying to make air filters using gummed water-activated tape while he was visiting Airguard Industries [now Clarcor] back in 1964. The women were literally hip-deep in curled strips of tape that were either at an improper length or hadn’t properly held the filters together. Dad confidently told the owner, “My tape sticks a heck of a lot better than that!”

But it wasn’t that easy. The first supplier couldn’t print their tape which was required by Airguard, so he tracked down another manufacturer with printing capabilities. But the original problem reappeared – the oil-based inks used prevented the tape from sticking to the backing material. Determined to solve the issue, a water-based ink for the tape was eventually discovered and the promised solution went into production.

Solving this problem led to 2 additional accomplishments:

* After earning Airguard’s respect and trust, Wm H Camp, Jr. continued to help improve his customer’s production efficiency by supplying electric tape dispensers, to ensure an exact length of tape was dispensed and the strips of curled tape on the floor vanished. Oh, and quality complaints about Airguard’s filters vanished as well.

* The new Filter Tape developed for Airguard was sold across the country, as far away as Hawaii, and Shippers became one of the biggest distributors of gummed tape in the country.

A Strong Track Record of Solving Problems
Since 1952, Shippers Supply Company (SSCo) has excelled at solving supply chain problems for our customers. As the original name indicates, our initial focus was to assist companies that rely on shipping supplies to deliver their products. By systematically stocking and delivering packaging materials we have always made absolutely sure that our customers never run out.

SSCo grew its offering to include packaging equipment, onsite repair work, stretch film, pressure-sensitive carton sealing, marking products, ink-jet and laser coders, strapping, specialty tapes, corrugated cartons, personal protective equipment as well as protective packaging.

Our proprietary inventory management software (Elucidate) and ESP (Easy Supply Program) put us above every alternative by making sure you never run out of available product.

In 2018, to broaden our warehouse capacity and expand our transportation capabilities, we purchased Mercury Logistics of Kentucky. Specializing in third-party logistics (3PL) since 1986, Mercury’s expertise in logistics, supply chain technology, and distribution has helped our customers streamline their supply chains, resulting in greater efficiencies and improved strategic focus.

New Name – New Opportunities
As the ongoing evolution of our business model continued into the new century we realized the need to refresh our brand to accurately represent our full range of supply chain offerings. In 2020, we updated our name to Shippers Solutions and moved our entire operation into a larger space to accommodate our clients. And while we continue to provide packaging material, our overall focus is to offer an extraordinary level of value by solving our customers’ supply chain problems.

If our story has intrigued you to learn more I encourage you to go to our Why Partner With SSCo page.  We’d be very interested in starting a conversation about your supply-chain challenges to see if we can provide the solution that will not only make you a hero at your company, but also make your company a hero to your customers.

Henry F. Camp

President

Shippers Solutions

[email protected]