Silhouette Hardwood Flooring is the recognized brand manufactured and distributed by the Avant Guard Group of companies. The group was founded in 2004 and is made up of 4 inter-related companies; Avant Guard Flooring Inc, Avant Guard Finishing Inc, Avant Guard Marketing Inc, and Avant Guard Distribution Inc. Each company has its own specialized personnel and operations. Each is geared to support our overall objective of becoming a leading innovator and respected manufacturer of hardwood flooring.
Although our ground breaking approach to pre-finishing wood flooring is without doubt the hallmark of our group, our commitment to innovation is not only relegated to our finishing company. Our expectation is that all the employees within our group continue to apply themselves in a search to do things better and in a more efficient manner. Each day we must strive to raise the bar and in doing we hope to raise it for the wood flooring industry as a whole.
Avant-Guard Flooring Inc.:
Is the newest company in our group it was founded in March of 2010 to meet the ever growing needs of our clients. Located in Thurso Quebec, about 50 miles from Canada’s capital of Ottawa on a 20 acre site, here is where we process raw lumber into flooring. We keep a large inventory of different species of green northern hardwood lumber on sticks and then operate our large bank of kilns to properly dry the lumber before briefly storing it in anticipation of its processing into flooring. Our modern manufacturing plant is designed to optimize the use of all our raw material and to produce at high speed straight, flat precisely milled flooring of all species and grades.
Avant-Guard Finishing Inc. (AGF):
Is our state-of-the-art wood prefinishing and distribution facility located in the town of Ripon about 15 miles north of Thurso in the Outaouais region of Quebec. Beyond simply finishing, packaging, and warehousing wood floors the personnel at AGF have most importantly made it their responsibility to constantly innovate. Since we founded the company in 2004 our managers and technicians have been working with various chemical suppliers to continuously research and develop a series of proprietary UV coatings which have been tested and found to be the most stain resistant and among the most scratch resistant in the marketplace.
In 2006 we became the first producer in our industry to offer its clients stain color-matching capabilities and even for single floor orders. Because to our knowledge we are the only pre-finisher to blend its own stains we have developed in-house expertise to match any colour desired including all those offered by our competitors.
In July of 2009 as a result of three years of R&D we commissioned the construction of a never-before-conceived series of machines and equipment which has made us the first manufacturer ever to mechanically stain and coat all six sides of each and every board it produces. This development has been proven to offer increased performance and a greater degree of protection for your hardwood floor. In order to keep our new innovation proprietary we have applied for two different patents and await their approval.
Avant-Guard Marketing Inc.:
Is responsible for the merchandising, marketing, sales and distribution of our products. The offices are located in Laval, Quebec just north of Montreal. This is the hub of what is our customer centered approach for managing all of our business. Here we operate our service desk is which answers to our customers needs. Our experienced staff coordinates the manufacturing schedules with our facilities to meet those needs. Here is also; where we continuously develop new merchandising and marketing plans, where we negotiate pricing and arrange transportation for all of our imported wood, and deal with various agencies and certification bodies to insure compliance with any and all green issues.
Avant-Guard Distribution Inc.:
is our Ontario based distribution company that was established to serve all our customers in the Toronto area as well as those in Southwestern and Northern Ontario. With an office just north of the GTA in Woodbridge we are well situated to handle the ever increasing demand for our products throughout the region.
|
