Mechanical Rubber expands into Ohio with Durox acquisition

WARWICK, N.Y.—Despite uncertain market conditions created by the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 has been a year of expansion for Mechanical Rubber, which recently made its second big move of the year.

At the start of the year, the supplier of custom rubber and plastic products for the aerospace, defense, health care, transit and commercial industries established a presence in Richmond, Calif., complementing its East Coast headquarters and manufacturing facilities and bringing West Coast customers closer to their supplier. It plans to have manufacturing set up in the region at some point.

Now, the company has established a midway point for itself in the heartland of the U.S., acquiring Durox in Strongsville, Ohio. The acquisition gives Mechanical Rubber a stronger share in the locomotive industry, as Durox, formerly owned by Pittsburgh-based Wabtec Corp., produces gaskets, rubber seals, extrusions and other components for diesel engines.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"The acquisition was completed shortly before the COVID-19 virus started to spread in the United States," said Cedric Glasper, CEO of Mechanical Rubber. "While we've been working on transitioning the company from its corporate parent to the Mechanical Rubber family, we've been unsure whether to share our good news.

"But there has been so much bad news and economic uncertainty, we decided to look to the future and share our exciting new opportunity."

Mechanical Rubber Ohio, as the former Durox now is known, brings 11 employees to the Mechanical Rubber team, and all were retained from Durox. Glasper said the 80,000-sq.-ft. plant (75,000 square feet for manufacturing and 5,000 square feet in unused office space) is capable of running three shifts, though Mechanical Rubber plans to change the plant's workflow to run 1.5 shifts.

"This has been very efficient," Glasper said. "Naturally, a change of ownership is challenging, but we feel that we are the perfect fit for these types of customers."

The 11 employees from the former Durox bring Mechanical Rubber's work force to 30, between the California, New York and Ohio locations. The company plans to add another five employees this year, some of whom will be added at the Ohio facility, according to Mechanical Rubber.

While corporate offices will be located at the central California location and its headquarters in Warwick (where all orders will be processed), manufacturing will take place in New York and Ohio, Glasper said.

Mechanical Rubber plans to build a manufacturing plant at or near the corporate offices established earlier this year in Richmond, Calif., however, those plans may be pushed back with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We'll see how the economy rebounds for California to take on a facility in 2020, but most likely 2021-22 now with the COVID-19," Glasper said.

Mechanical Rubber Ohio will continue to serve rail and transit markets across the globe, producing short-run extrusions and large sealing jobs, such as glazing profiles, the company said. Other existing markets for the former Durox include energy, HVACR, heavy duty trucks and off-road vehicles.

"It is business as usual at Mechanical Rubber Ohio," Glasper said. "As an essential critical manufacturer, we are able to continue working in our Ohio location, as well as in New York and California. Of course, in compliance with local and federal regulations, some of our staff are working from home, and those critical to production are implementing guidelines as established by the CDC."

Mechanical Rubber has not experienced any layoffs due to the pandemic, though customer shutdowns further downstream have had a minimal effect on the company.

"We've experienced some customers and a few suppliers who have had rolling one- to two- week shutdowns, but so far, they've come back asking for the same quantities they would normally order," Glasper said. "It feels like steady-as-we-go until otherwise told to slow down."

Glasper said the Durox acquisition represents Mechanical Rubber's first foray into the rail market, an industry closely related to a transit market in which Mechanical Rubber has been pushing to gain a market share since 2012.

"This opportunity was a no-brainer where, again, it expands our offerings and expertise," the CEO said. "Also, it allows us to improve our customer service in these markets, too."

Glasper did not disclose an estimate of sales from the new acquisition.

The company's three locations are regionally significant, allowing Mechanical Rubber to be closer to its customers for improved quality control, troubleshooting and supply line expedience. But existing customer bases in each location are as much about market as locale, since many existing customers—including Wabtec Corp. in the Midwest—are national and international in their reach.

"The irony of this acquisition is that we never seriously looked to the rubber capital, Ohio, as a viable opportunity to expand," Glasper said. "Many 'rubber guys' are established, and it seemed very hard to break into. I'm very excited that we are now able to produce in the heartland, retain jobs and grow new business for both coasts.

"But the customers aren't land-locked to Ohio or the Midwest, and many have an international presence—and we have many years of experience in such markets. So the communication is going much faster than originally anticipated."

Glasper added that the transition with the former Durox is "moving along nicely," with the change in workflow made easier by "good, experienced employees." He said Mechanical Rubber, especially in light of the pandemic, is focused on existing customers with the hope of pursuing new customers by July 2020.

In addition, Glasper said the company is looking to implement a new "live" production system by the end of this year, which will allow Mechanical Rubber to be more agile in its production and analytics.

"It will be very nimble so that we can adjust to new customer demands in real time, and be able to look at our Cpk and Sigma levels so that we can make adjustments on the fly," he said. "The goal is to measure customer satisfaction in real time.

"There have been some challenges in this transition," Glasper continued. "But I see it as an educational opportunity for both locations, as well as myself. We've added staff at our headquarters to handle the additional workload and will be hiring more staff in Ohio as well."

Mechanical Rubber opened in 1941 at its New York location. The company produces aluminum alloys, thermosets and thermoplastics, and boasts contracts with such global companies as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus, Northrop, Bombardier and Learjet, among others.

Currently, Mechanical Rubber's defense contracts include seal and gasket production, sound dampening equipment and sheet fabrication for the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, as well as the Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy lift and transport helicopter, both of which are flown by the U.S. Army.

The company recently was chosen as a supplier for mounting pads for the International Space Station, after NASA engineers discovered a Mechanical Rubber compound that met their strict requirements for space applications.

Historically, Mechanical Rubber played a small part in NASA's iconic Apollo 11 moon landing mission in July 1969, supplying a high pressure window gasket for the Lunar Excursion Module.