Advanced compared with IBS
What each company says about itself, row by row, read from mbrick.com and this site on 10 September 2026.
Two makers, in their own terms.
Advanced Formliners. Makes concrete formliners to order in Sparta, Wisconsin, and distributes thin brick.
Innovative Brick Systems. Makes the single-use VersaLiner thin brick formliner and a single-use Cast Liner.
Side by side.
Where a fact is not on mbrick.com, the cell says so. Nothing here is a claim about anyone's quality or price.
| Row | Advanced Formliners | Innovative Brick Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Where made | Sparta, Wisconsin. Every liner is made to order. | The main office is Lafayette, Colorado. A plant location is not stated. |
| Liner materials offered | The site names the liner lines: Solocast and Solocast Seamless for single use, Flex2Fit for multi-use. Ask your rep for the material on a given line. | A polystyrene blend with a built-in rubberizer for VersaLiner. The Cast Liner material is not stated. |
| Single-use and multi-use lines | Solocast (single-use thin brick formliner), Solocast Seamless (pattern liners) and Flex2Fit (multi-use thin brick formliner). | Single use in their words: VersaLiner for embedded brick and Cast Liner for cast patterns, chosen "over multi-use urethane". |
| Thin brick formliner | Yes. Solocast, single-use, and Flex2Fit, multi-use, which seals around brick that varies with no ledge. | Yes. VersaLiner, single use, with a patented compression joint. |
| Seamless or sheet-joint approach | Solocast Seamless pattern liners are built so the sheet joint does not show, with starter and ender sheets so nothing is trimmed in the bed. | An EdgeLock perimeter joint fastens sheets together for a seamless pattern regardless of panel size. Cast Liner sheets are described as connecting seamlessly. |
| Pattern families offered | Stone, brick and masonry, wood, fluted and ribbed, geometric, and custom. | Embedded brick by size (closure, CMU, Emperor, King, Meridian, modular, Norman, Roman, utility) and bond (running, stack, soldier, basketweave, herringbone, Flemish); Cast Liner in brick, stone, ashlar and CMU. |
| Custom pattern from a drawing | Yes. From a drawing, a photo or a physical sample. The profile is confirmed before any liner is cut. | Custom solutions are stated. The input they work from is not stated. |
| Matching an existing profile by scan | Yes. Advanced scans a standing structure on site, pattern, texture and depth, and replicates the profile. | Not stated on their site. |
| Spec sheets without a form | Yes. Every pattern and model spec sheet downloads with no form. | Yes. Data sheets and spec sheets link directly from the product finder and the resources page. |
| Thin brick distribution | Thin brick from five makers, with exclusive US rights to King Klinker. | Names Endicott, Metrobrick, Summitville, General Shale and Interstate Brick as partner makers. |
| Accessories for brick beds | Yes. Caulkless corners and returns, arches and arch returns, underlayment and banding courses, indexed to the brick coursing. | Yes. Corner returns, edge cap returns, an edge strip with tape, plug strips and transition strips, with arches and recessed coursing mentioned. |
| Calculators and tools | Specification builder, spec hub, brick calculator, brick and liner matcher, liner sheet calculator, draft and depth checker, pattern compare, sample box, and a lead time and freight quote. | A product finder by brick size, pattern and joint type. Calculators are not stated. |
| CEU courses | Yes. Lunch and learn sessions, ALA and AIA approved and meeting NCARB standards, in person or virtual, and a plant tour. | Not stated on their site. |
| Countries served | United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and jobs around the world. | Not stated on their site. |
Any pattern, made to order
Advanced will match a pattern a specifier already knows from any maker, Innovative Brick Systems included, from a sample, a drawing or a scan.
The labor is in the edges
Corners, returns and arches come as parts indexed to the brick coursing, so the bed goes together without cutting them from scrap.
Three questions, answered.
- Can Advanced match a Innovative Brick Systems pattern?
- Yes. Send a sample, a drawing or a photograph, or have Advanced scan the standing profile on site. Every liner is made to order in Sparta, Wisconsin, and the profile is confirmed with you before any liner is cut.
- Does Advanced make single-use and multi-use liners?
- Yes. Solocast is the single-use thin brick formliner, Flex2Fit is the multi-use thin brick formliner that seals around brick that varies, and Solocast Seamless pattern liners are built so the sheet joint does not show.
- Where are Advanced formliners made?
- In Sparta, Wisconsin, at 300 Sherry Lynn Lane. Every liner is made to order there, and thin brick from five makers ships from the same place.
Sources, checked 10 September 2026
Every Innovative Brick Systems cell was read from these pages on that date. Their site may have changed since. The Advanced column repeats what this site already says.
More comparisons.
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