The story of SKB is a story of innovation. With every good story most people start at the beginning, and in the story of SKB it all began with two guys….
“SKB started with two college friends, Dave Sanderson and Steve Kottman,” explains Jerry Andreas, senior vice president of SKB. “While Dave worked as a stagehand at Knott’s Berry Farm, he offered to repair the flight cases of performing bands at the park. They (Dave and Steve) both thought there was a better way to transport gear. Receiving a suggestion from a local dealer (Doug Browne – California Music) that someone should develop a line of molded plastic cases that were lighter weight and more rugged than flight cases, Dave and Steve began experimenting in their parents’ garages.”
Despite many failed attempts and a devastating fire in their small shop behind California Music, Sanderson and Kottman went on to develop a mold design that Andreas refers to as “the standard for the industry.”
That simple phrase – the standard for the industry – and the act of creating those first designs is what Andreas believes sets SKB apart from anything else on the market and any other company in the industry today.
“Dave and Steve have always been clever in the development of cases. When hearing of a need in the market, they would find a way to produce a solution that worked – even if it required the development of a new machine to produce the product… Innovation and design sets SKB apart from the competition. SKB invented this type of product. We are not a company that looks to ‘knock-off’ a product by stealing a design and sending it overseas to be made cheaper with inferior materials and workmanship… We know that SKB is a target for many companies. Many off shore manufacturers try to copy our designs and form. SKB has become a generic name for molded cases in the music industry. However, SKB must always remain ahead of the copy companies by being innovative and developing products that the world will have a difficult time duplicating. We never sit still and the amount of investment we make into new products and processes keeps us ahead of everyone chasing us.”
Presently, SKB has worldwide production capabilities. Over 85 percent of their products are manufactured in the United States and their plant in Mexico. “The fastest growth is in the US manufacturing, and new equipment and infrastructure is being installed on a constant basis,” explains Andreas.
