Monmouth Rubber and Plastics grows in S.C., succeeds in longevity

ORLANDO—Without fail, successful companies cite succession plans as perhaps the single-most critical avenue to longevity and growth.

The philosophy is one that John Bonforte Jr., second-generation owner of Monmouth Rubber and Plastics Corp., understands completely.

"We are celebrating our 65th year this year working almost exclusively in foam rubber," Bonforte said from the Gasket Fabricator Association's Gasketing and Converting Expo in Orlando March 19. "It continues to be a niche market, and we are one of the few firms that still make it in the U.S."

Started in 1964 by John Bonforte Sr. in Long Branch, N.J., Monmouth certainly has demonstrated longevity.

Now the 60-person firm is poised for growth, beginning production at a 150,000-sq.-ft. brownfield facility near Aiken, S.C., in May.

The company has about 40,000 (very tight) square feet in Long Branch.

"We are about to open in S.C. and we are very, very excited about that," Bonforte said. "We outgrew our current location many years ago; it's just taken us awhile to find the right place to grow."

Long Branch, which sits in a high-cost-of-living area along the Atlantic Ocean, is taken up almost exclusively by manufacturing space.

"In Long Branch, we really have no place to warehouse and cannot keep a lot of finished product," Bonforte said. "For that reason alone, we are really looking forward to Aiken. We have 50 acres to expand there, which represents an even bigger opportunity for us."

Bonforte expects the Aiken facility to top out at around 60 people, similar to Long Branch, though only eight Monmouth workers are there now in preparation for initial production.

"South Carolina has been very receptive to us," Bonforte said. "We are very excited."

Monmouth works almost exclusively in closed cell sponge rubber, a niche industry and an East Coast market. The firm also works in plastic foam for the consumer goods and packaging spaces.

"We make bun, but then we also convert and we have some secondary operations," Bonforte said. "But our core business is bun."

Like a tire maker or non-tire rubber product manufacturer, Monmouth compounds its own materials, some generic by standard formula and some via custom compounding for its customers.

"We do all our own mixing," Bonforte said.

Monmouth employs a two-step curing process with a high-pressure press and a secondary stage, somewhat similar to compression molding.

Foam rubber continues in a secondary process where it is blown further.

"It partially blows in the first stage, but can't expand until the press opens,' Bonforte said. "The second-stage press continues to blow it."

The East Coast firm works in SBR, EPDM, Viton and neoprene rubbers, with PVC in some compounds.

"We are already blending plastics with rubber, very similar processes are conducted with closed cell polyethylenes," Bonforte said. "Really anything we can use to walk around the ozone- or oil-resistant specs."

Monmouth's in-house compounding remains a "huge benefit" for the company. Monmouth does not sell its compounds, and has outsourced its compounding in the past.

Offering its compounds to others "is something we could explore," Bonforte said.

"But we are bringing it all back in-house," he said. "I like to always walk before I run. We are not saying no to anything at this point."

Monmouth sees its foam rubber and plastic foam used in array of industries, giving the company balance to weather headwinds.

"Thankfully, we touch just about everywhere," Bonforte said. "Concrete, automotive, oil and gas, construction, anywhere that specifies ASTM or automotive standards.

"We meet many of these standards and maintain a nice balance between all industries," he said.

If pressed, Bonforte said that industrial gasketing and enclosures is probably the company's largest end market.

Automotive should not change much for Monouth with the onset of EVs, as the company works in components that are common to both EV and ICE vehicles.

"They are the parts of the car that are not changing," he said.

On the plastics side, Monmouth typically finds itself in packaging and consumer goods, specifically with the use of colorants that can't be implemented in foam rubber.

By geography, Monmouth has always been national in scope.

"And Canada and Mexico are significant for us," Bonforte said. "But certainly North America is our biggest market. We can cover the whole country from the East Coast."

The customer development process for Monmouth is a bit different than that of a downstream fabricator, as fabricators—and not end-use OEs and aftermarket companies—represent Monmouth's customer base.

"It is very dependent on the situation," Bonforte said. "We work with end-users, so the raw material has got to be correct, the cake has to be correct.

"We work with transparency. We will even recommend a product that we don't make, as we want to work with customers as much as possible. It always pays us back in some way if we can help."

As Bonforte recalled the post-pandemic nightmare that was 2022, he said raw material procurement and pricing volatility seems to be "much better in the last six months."

"Pricing is stable, if still a bit high, but stable," he said. "For us, the challenges right now are related to South Carolina.

"The labor force is still challenging. One of the bigger problems in New Jersey is the cost of living. We are right on the ocean, and the redevelopment around us is a challenge."

Bonforte anticipates that the hard work in South Carolina will pay off with new products and production lines in the future.

"By next year, we are hoping to see more growth in our product offerings, while we continue to grow our core business," he said. "We want to have other options while continuing to focus on our core.

"We have a small family atmosphere here. We are blessed and it has been good."