CARY, N.C.—Lord Corp. reached the $1 billion sales mark in 2018 for the first time in its 95-year history.
The global provider of both rubber-to-metal bonding technologies and adhesives had a strong 2018 to help achieve the milestone. Most notably, Lord broke ground on a $80 million project to expand its Saegertown, Pa., facility by 2023 and opened a $12 million site in France.
It also inked the biggest contract in company history, a deal with Boeing to produce an auto-throttle module for cockpit control within its aircrafts. Lord's electromechanical motion control technology played a vital part for Boeing.
"The whole team takes a lot of pride in this accomplishment," CEO and President Ed Auslander said. "Being a billion-dollar company is just one milestone in our journey. We have many other goals to achieve coming up, but this is something I'm proud of. I'm proud of our team and our customers connecting to collaborate on new solutions and many making the impossible real. It's a great accomplishment."
Lord said over the last five years it has experienced growth within key industries like aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, and industrial thanks to its ability to pivot toward customer needs. Specifically, the company has invested to capture growth within electrification—a trend that has impacted multiple core industries, especially automotive—through its thermal management technology.
Based in Cary, the 95-year-old firm employs more than 3,000 in 26 countries. It operates 19 manufacturing facilities and 10 research and development centers.