Why Have MCM Panel Systems Become So Popular?
Ted S. Miller,
Posted
01/11/2012
Back in the early 1990s when we began fabricating metal
composite material panels it was rare for a project to have these
panels as part of the design. MCM was considered a new product in
North America although it had been widely used in Europe for many
years. 
It took a huge promotional effort with designers to convince
them of MCM's merits. I can remember many weeks where I would leave
on Sunday afternoons and return the following Friday for
architectural promotional trips throughout the Southeast. The
challenge was this: if you want more projects to bid, go create
your market. These were challenging times for the few fabricators
involved in the industry.
The best statistics that I could develop back then indicated
that MCM panels were designed into about 1 out of every 300
projects. The latest information that I can obtain today indicates
that MCM panels are utilized on about 5 percent of nonresidential
projects valued above $5,000,000. That is an extraordinary change
in 
popularity.
Over the next several months we will be looking at the reasons
why MCM panels systems have become so popular with designers and
building owners. As we analyze the reasons it will give us a good
roadmap for how to extend the popularity of this product. The
reasons it became popular are great reasons for designers and
building owners to continue to use the product.
Some of the areas we will be exploring are:
• The ability to form complex geometric shapes
• Finish and color variety
• Applications that are possible because of MCM's light
weight
• Comparative cost
• Flatness
• Others
As we explore these
benefits please feel free to drop me an email at ted.miller@millerclapperton.com
to remind me of others.
Ted S. Miller is the CEO of The Miller
Clapperton Partnership Inc., Austell, Ga. For more information,
visit www.millerclapperton.com.