A+ Group is a hardware specialist with over 30 years of experience serving manufacturers with an extensive inventory of plastic and metal components of the highest quality, as well as custom-finished products. As Owner and Founder, Mike Schreiber’s vision for A+ was centered around creating a workplace that people genuinely enjoy and are able to flourish in. As CEO, Elizabeth Matlaga notes, “It’s a rare and powerful approach to business that places emphasis on people flourishing, both within the company and in relationships with external stakeholders.” This focus on nurturing a positive culture and fostering lasting connections is undoubtedly a key ingredient for sustainable success. The company’s approach is unlike any other in the market.
With a legacy rooted in strong connections, from the hardware and components it offers to the relationships it builds, A+ Group’s history in the sector speaks volumes of its ability to withstand market ebbs and flows and remain a reliable, dedicated partner to domestic manufacturers, connecting them to a wider global network of vendors of the highest quality.
For this and many other reasons, A+ Group is a resource for its customers across the many industries it serves including tactical, medical, promotional, apparel, and accessories for people and their furry companions.
From its headquarters in New Jersey, its sales and warehousing locations in Canada and Mexico, and its international footprint in China, A+ Group supports over 1,500 manufacturing partners. Sourcing is a critical part of the company’s capabilities, and this includes the ability to draw on its network of over 100 vetted factories and suppliers for anything from custom hardware to logo/branding, finished goods, and expert customer service that’s accessible when needed.
The longevity of A+ Group’s relationships in the market with vendors and customers alike, as well as its ability to validate quality through a robust qualification system, is what takes a lot of the risk out of the equation for its customers. Essentially, A+ Group puts in the groundwork, saving customers time and money and offering peace of mind that their best interests are being protected so they can focus on what they do best: manufacturing.
From Chief Revenue Officer Bryan Collins’ perspective, “We select the best suppliers and we try to pair them with the customers who need those products,” ensuring that every product and every supplier is a good fit. With a product development team on the ground to rigorously test hardware components and pre-vet factories and suppliers, it has become a proven model to ensure the highest quality before products are even shipped out.
“For 35 years,” says Collins, “we’ve been qualifying some of the best ingredient manufacturers in China and elsewhere in Asia, and our value-add is that we give domestic manufacturers access to those high-quality manufacturers without having to travel overseas and go through the trial-and-error process themselves.”
USA+ is A+ Group’s Berry Compliant product line that offers traceability of its sources coupled with the highest standards of strength and durability. This includes high-performance plastic components, rugged nylon webbing, durable metal hardware with low minimum-order quantities, and turnkey sample kits that are available at a moment’s notice, giving manufacturers peace of mind that their domestic supply chains are secure.
The company prides itself on its ability to act as an extension of its customers’ operations by handling their global supply chain via its trusted global network. This allows customers to focus on their business, not their logistics. The reliability of this offering eliminates the stress associated with supply chain and inventory management—especially valuable at a time when talent and space are at a premium—without compromising access to components and hardware of the highest quality.
A+ Group enjoys relationships with award-winning brands like Fidlock, recognized for its revolutionary magnetic fasteners that facilitate one-handed operation without compromising hold and endurance. Additionally, its A+ Elite line is a hand-curated offering of premium components including in-house designs that have demonstrated their value both as standalone components and as part of a package. Readily available in a range of colors and finishes, these components can be customized to fit.
As Collins notes, “With our product development team, we actually developed our own finished goods that integrate our products and our technologies to showcase the proper use case and application for our parts.”
With more than 70 design clients and over 100 completed projects, A+ Group’s product development team of engineers and industrial and graphic design specialists, led by its talented Mechanical Engineer Chris Laurita, are there to offer custom engineering, contract development support, packaging design, and more, making the company a true one-stop shop for manufacturers.
“Our claim to fame is our ability to customize,” says Collins. “We like to go to our customers and say, ‘What do you need exactly?’ because we can make that for you. We don’t try and put a round peg in a square hole. If they need a round peg, we make them a round peg.”
Further to having the right products at the right time, A+ Group has invested in its internal capacity to ensure transactions are optimized and efficient down to the tiniest detail. Over the last several years, the company has undergone a digital transformation that has strengthened its connectivity to its vendors and customers around the world. From a new web presence to investments in software integration, to ecommerce supported through its new webstore, the company has streamlined its processes to make it easier than ever to access the products and services it provides.
CEO Elizabeth Matlaga is upbeat: “We really are top of our game with using technology and how we integrate,” something that has been made possible with the addition of Wayne Laul, Director of Information Technology, who is credited with spearheading many of these technology initiatives to keep A+ Group competitive in the face of Industry 4.0.
According to Collins, “Some of our strongest assets are item and vendor data and customer data, and essentially our job is connecting the two—customers’ needs and vendor abilities.” This enables more effective processes and adds greater value to the company’s customers, which is always the goal.
Technology will also equip A+ Group to achieve its growth plans, scaling its operations and its culture around the globe. This growth will facilitate greater volumes which will translate to greater value for the customer in the long term.
As Matlaga says, “That’s the beauty of it because we could bring in more of the same thing—having more buying power with our vendors and lower freight [costs]—and send it into every market that we go into.”
And as the market continues to grow with the company’s success, a big part of that success is attributable to its culture—a culture of the highest quality that serves as the foundation for all that the company does, both internally and externally.
Indeed, the culture at A+ Group is one where people are prioritized for more than just the value they create for the bottom line. Just as the goal is to add value for its customers, A+ Group takes that same approach with its internal relationships, ensuring that its employees are a good fit. When the fit is right, the culture is enriched.
“If we get the right fit, which most times we do, you hire the person, the whole person,” says Sabrena Watkins, Chief People Officer. She notes that with the right people, the right tools and products, and driven by its core values, A+ Group is equipped to deliver the foremost in service. “When people are being seen as a whole person, beyond their roles, they just give so much more.”
The team at A+ Group give all of themselves every single day, not only in the level of service and expertise they bring to customers but also in the community, where vital connections are being made. Beyond uplifting its customers, A+ Group supports Think Big for Kids, an organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty by providing students with opportunities to explore careers, mentorship, job readiness, and placement.
Initiatives like these empower A+ Group employees to buy into the work that is being done on a deeper level, striving for their personal and professional best through the work they do as part of the A+ team. “Everyone here feels like they’re a part of something bigger—working together to break free from the status quo… allowing freedom, which is the company’s core ‘Why.’ Beyond your role, we care about you, the whole person,” Matlaga says. This care, connection, and freedom extend through the A+ Group family of employees, vendors, and customers alike—the foundations of the company’s success
