Memory lane

Remember the last time you had a good night’s sleep? Thanks to the pioneering efforts of family-owned Sinomax USA, peaceful slumber need no longer be a distant memory. In fact, the company believes memory should be very close for comfort.

The secret, according to CEO Frank Chen, is memory foam. The company’s mattresses, mattress toppers and pillows are setting new standards in comfort – a wake-up call for the industry.

Sinomax USA is a leading industry expert in the field of memory foam and designs mattresses, mattress toppers and pillows for quality sleep. The company’s decades of experience mean its memory foam products provide comfort in ways not possible for conventional bedding.

Gone are the days of poky springs and flat, shapeless pillows. In their place are luxurious, breathable and supportive pillows, toppers and mattresses that adapt to every sleep style and offer unrivaled support.

Uniquely positioned

Based in China, Sinomax’s American journey began in 2005 with this simple pitch, and CEO Frank Chen believes the products speak for themselves.

“When we first started, we had to go through third parties and trading companies,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “We wanted to go directly to retail customers as well. We introduced Sinomax USA and put our products forward, and now we are able to manufacture and distribute in all channels.”

Born in Beijing, Chen’s success as a business owner prompted his family to ask him to start an American arm of their company.

“I thought I’d try it for two years. If I liked it and they were happy, we’d keep going. If not, we’d call it off,” he recalls. “That was 19 years ago.”

Despite limited experience in polyurethane foam manufacturing, Chen quickly grew to enjoy his work.

“It was a lot of hard work and in the beginning it was really just me by myself,” he says. “Now we have over 500 employees and multiple locations around the United States.”

Mattresses have emerged as Sinomax’s leading product, followed by pillows and toppers, he adds.

“We’re uniquely positioned because we’re able to produce both mattresses and accessories. Not every competitor can do that,” he says proudly.

Tech innovation

The growth of the mattress sector is understandably reliable – people will always need to sleep – and despite a recent minor downturn, it’s projected to spring back into shape in 2025. Chen says the slower moments gave Sinomax a chance to pivot.

“We took advantage of the opportunities we were presented with,” he confirms. “Some companies were struggling, so we were able to take some business share. It meant we could invest in product development, sales and marketing, all of which have to be there to support our roles.”

Those new directions include innovative, high-performance technologies, patented product and packaging designs, and tailor-made product lines merchandised uniquely for each customer. This competitive edge attracted more customers, which resulted in larger orders and increased demand on its United States factories.

“The key is to satisfy the needs of our customers,” Chen explains. “We want to produce quality products at a very competitive price and provide the best customer service. To do that, we need to have enough production capacity, and we have to ship on time.”

To achieve this, Sinomax has invested heavily in automation.

“For example, we’ve been able to reduce the number of personnel we need to produce a mattress from 21 to 14 per line, which is a huge improvement,” he says.

“We also recently implemented a new enterprise resource planning system to improve order management and distribution. Now we’re in a much better position to service our customers.”

Product development

Sinomax has taken great care to remain vertically integrated and control as much of the supply chain as possible.

“We have five bedding factories globally: two in China, two in the United States and one in Vietnam,” Chen reveals.

“Our manufacturing facilities in Asia have cut and sew capabilities, allowing Sinomax to be even more vertically integrated than many of our competitors. By importing cover materials from our own sources, we are able to reduce costs significantly and support our growth in the United States at the same time.”

Innovation is an essential ingredient in the Sinomax recipe. Memory foam bedding is itself an innovation, and the company has worked hard to address common complaints about foam products.

“People believe foam doesn’t breathe well, that it has a chemical odor,” Chen says. “We’ve developed our formulation to increase that airflow, to keep the surface cooler and to produce a foam without any odor. And this manufacturing process has been developed with sustainability in mind.

“For some foam formulations, we have even been able to reduce the percentage of petroleum-based chemicals in the polyurethane and turned toward soy-based or castor oil-based ingredients, which has been a success. While this formulation has the same comfort and support feel as traditional memory foam, our plant-based memory foams happen to be naturally cooler, since they dissipate heat faster.

“They’re our innovations, and, in my opinion, they separate us from the competition.”

Dream team

Chen says he’s happy for this distance from competitors, which has grown over the years.

“Now, we are not just an original equipment manufacturer. Our sales, marketing and product development capabilities, along with our robust portfolio of owned brands, make us a strong leader in our industry. We’ve evolved into a much better company than when we started.”

And today’s Sinomax USA has a firm foundation of values that keep it elevated, he adds.

“Number one, integrity. Two is teamwork. We can’t do this alone. Three is innovation and four is win–win. We want to win, and we have to help our customers and suppliers win as well,” he points out.

In that regard, the teamwork element becomes an essential part of the mix.

“We’ve had to create our own culture in the United States and at the heart of that is teamwork: everyone from manufacturing to sales and marketing to the supply chain needs to work together as a team,” Chen insists.

It’s been a hard journey for Chen and the Sinomax USA team, but the only rest in sight belongs to satisfied customers.

“It’s very difficult to succeed in this industry without a strong team,” he says. “We have that, and everybody learns from each other.”