Silicone Solutions moves into new facility

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio—Silicone Solutions has moved into a new plant in Cuyahoga Falls that roughly doubles the space it had in its previous location.

The firm spent $500,000 on its new factory and invested another $300,000 on equipping and renovating it, according to David Brassard, founder and president of the firm. The site sports roughly 11,500 square feet of space, compared to between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet at the leased facility it vacated in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Silicone Solutions wanted to purchase its former home and take over additional space but Brassard and the owner of the site couldn't reach terms. So he enlisted a realtor that identified about 15-20 buildings in the region that were roughly the right size, though many of them would have required a bit of work.

"This was the most expensive and didn't require that much," he said.

But Silicone Solutions did do a fair amount of work to customize it to the firm's needs, according to Brassard. That included putting in a color laboratory, quality control lab, physical test lab, a maintenance area and constructing a new dock with a larger door to accommodate deliveries. It also purchased the contents of a research and development lab and located that to the new facility.

Even with the extra space, he said the company still is a bit tight in its new digs. "We own land to the south of us so we can build out," the company president said. "I hope not to do that, but you do what you have to do for continued growth."

Brassard started Silicone Solutions in 1996 as what he calls a "technical firm" to address problems using silicone technology. It offers consulting services; supplies customized formulations of silicone adhesives, sealants, gels and coatings; and offers its own line of high-performance products, including one- and two-part room-temperature vulcanized silicones using both addition and conden¬sa¬tion cure systems.

It doesn't try to compete with major silicone elastomer suppliers in the commodity end of the market, focusing instead on high-end uses that yield higher margins, said Brassard, who spent time at both GE Silicones and Loctite Corp. before launching his own business. That's evidenced by the price of some of its products. One of its standard silicone lines runs nearly $1,700 for a standard 10-ounce cartridge.

So far, the formula seems to be working. He said the family-owned firm—nearly half of the 13 employees are related or extended family—boasted sales of about $5 million in 2012 and may come close to doubling that this year.

"We're not necessarily a marketing firm," Brassard said. "We address problems and we solve them. Most firms are marketing firms or sales firms and they say, 'Here's our product, buy them.' We say, 'What do you need and we'll custom make it.' I think that's been our success route because we're filling niches that no one else is interested in."

As a matter of business practice, Silicone Solutions has carried little or no debt throughout its history and generally doesn't need to advertise.

"We're fairly well known now in the industry," he said. "If anyone in the industry needs something fairly unique, we're the company to come to. If they need something that's not available, that's what we do. We can make it glow in the dark, we can make it float. We've done a lot of interesting things over the years."

Much of its growth last year and this year is coming from a silicone adhesive being sold into the solar industry in China. The standard silicones didn't have high enough strength, so Silicone Solutions developed one that more than exceeded needs, Brassard said.

The firm exported 570 barrels of the material to China last year and this year the customer is projecting that it may need about 1,100, he said.

Brassard, however, will guard against Silicone Solutions growing too rapidly. "Too fast a growth is never any good," he said. "We were very busy last year. Our margins are high enough where we don't have to scurry around."

About one-third of the projects Silicone Solutions embarks on develop into products that it makes for the customers. Many of those are quite unusual, he said.

One example is a washer with bright orange silicone injected into it that is used on skyscrapers. The washers withstand 80,000 pounds of torque when tightened. Brassard said when the torque hits the right range, the orange silicone is forced out the back and squirted all around. At this point, an inspector on the ground can use binoculars to see the orange around the holes, ensuring that the washers are tightened properly.

The silicone becomes sticky for one hour, then dries up and falls out, according to Brassard. Coming up with solutions like this is the part of the job he obviously enjoys.

"Some folks do crossword puzzles," he said. "I like a challenge, and it keeps me thinking."

During his time at Loctite, co-workers dubbed him the "Wild Man," because he never hesitated to try something different. "By following that philosophy, that's how I've come up with all those developments over the years," he said. "If you're doing everything the same as everybody else, you're not going to come up with anything new."

Another sliver of the business—roughly 10 percent—involves Brassard selling technology. "If a manufacturer wants to do it themselves I'll teach them how to do it," he said. "I'll set them up and wave goodbye. I've set up many firms to manufacture silicone. I have no problem doing that."

A couple of years back, in fact, he authored and published "The Silicone Elastomer Handbook: A Guide to Applied Silicone Elastomer Technology." The book is more elementary in nature, and Brassard said he is about one-third of the way through a second, more advanced volume on the subject.