AirBoss adds innovation lab, development center in Canada

NEWMARKET, Ontario—Continual innovation and expanded capabilities have been the driving forces within AirBoss of America Corp. for the last several years.

Now, as part of an extensive growth program, the company is taking both to a new level, according to officials within the firm.

On the innovation front, the Newmarket-based, multi-faceted company is in the process of adding a new state-of-the-art laboratory and development center in a building located adjacent to the firm's main mixing facility, which spans a million square feet in Kitchener, Ontario. The building is connected by a corridor to the compounding facility.

At the same time, AirBoss is installing a new mixer at its mixing plant in Scotland Neck, N.C., to double the site's capacity. The new line is expected to be operational in July.

It also is adding a new color and specialty polymer mixing line at the Kitchener facility—with the startup planned for February—that will allow the firm to focus on more specialty products, Chris Bitsakakis, the firm's chief operating officer, said in a recent interview.

In addition, he said the company has plans in the works to install another large volume mixing line at its Kitchener complex. Currently, it estimates the line will be in place at the end of December, he said.

New development center

AirBoss launched a multimillion dollar project that involves gutting and renovating an existing building adjacent to the Kitchener facility that will house the laboratory and development center, according to Bitsakakis. The structure previously was used to house administration offices and a smaller research and development lab on the second floor and the maintenance department on the first floor, he added.

"We moved the maintenance department into the main building and freed up the first floor," he said. "We are building a main entrance into the first floor with a reception area and lobby for customers and suppliers.

"Adjacent to the reception area there will be offices for our sales department and purchasing department. There also will be large conference rooms available for suppliers and customers to work with our staff on new business development on the main floor without needing to progress to the upper floor."

From the first floor, a hole in the ceiling is being cut to allow for the construction of a staircase that connects both levels. "Upon arriving upstairs from the staircase there will be a technical library and seating area for the brainstorming of ideas in a casual setting," Bitsakakis said. "Beside the library we are building a new, much larger state-of-the-art laboratory for research and development."

All of the firm's chemists and technical staff will be located in offices directly around the new technical center and will be separated into two groups, he said.

Part of the group will focus on segment customers and the development of products required to solve day-to-day problems.

"The other part will be dedicated in a broader sense to the pure research of new technologies—such as nano technologies—that could affect rubber applications or rubber processing," he said. "We are creating stronger relationships with local universities and looking toward collaborating with customers, suppliers and university research departments to bring the level of innovation in rubber compounding to another level.

"We feel that by focusing on this path we will be able to better differentiate ourselves from competitors and provide advanced solutions to our customers, making us the compounder of choice."

Bitsakakis said the firm, which also operates a compounding plant in Acton, Quebec, hopes to complete the project and have everything up and running by June. He added that parts of the operation likely will move in by March or April.

Broadening capabilities

AirBoss' Kitchener complex added and has been preparing to use a new color and specialty mixing line in February. That addition aligns with the company's greater emphasis on R&D, according to Bitsakakis.

"We are replacing an old large volume mixer that we were using for high volume, less critical formulations in Kitchener," he said.

He said that by replacing it "with a new state-of-the-art large scale mixer, we will be able to focus our growth on large volume customers but do it with a super efficient mixing line. This will allow us to scale up in volume while improving quality and efficiency."

Meanwhile, work is underway in preparation for the addition of a new mixing line in Scotland Neck.

"Last year we filled the North Carolina plant with work on all three shifts and we had more opportunities available to continue growing in that region," Bitsakakis said.

He anticipates the line will be operational in July.

By the end of December, he said the company will have installed three new mixing lines, a new laboratory and development center at the Kitchener site, and a reception and meeting area for customers in Kitchener.

"I do think that all these investments will help us grow by broadening our capabilities in a way that we can address a larger part of the market we serve," Bitsakakis said.