3 insights from Rubber News' Custom Mixing ranking

For the second year, Rubber News has completed its ranking of North American custom mixers. And in the process, we've pieced together a picture of the continent's custom mixing industry.

The data for the North American custom mixing ranking relies heavily on survey information provided by companies within our industry, though some is collected through public financial reporting.

In addition to financial information, the surveys allow us to track capacity, types of elastomers mixed, employment and investments. All of this content is available for sale in our data store.

Moreover, much of the ranking data is available in our Aug. 7 print issue. Rubber News digital subscribers can access the digital version of the issue through our archives.

Here is a look at just three insights the ranking provided this year:

Sometimes, the data proves what you already know. And in the case of custom mixing, Hexpol Compounding's place as the North American market leader was clear.

It was the only company to indicate it has North American sales between $500 million and $999 million. In its financial report for fiscal year 2022, Hexpol Compounding recorded $1.17 billion in sales for the Americas, though it's unclear how much of that was in North America, specifically.

Globally, Hexpol's 2022 compounding sales came in at around $2 billion.

Turns out the custom mixing space is big enough for a small business to make its mark.

And those businesses are, indeed, shaping the industry by bringing customer service, agility and quality products to the table.

We see this take shape on our own data, as 65 percent of companies returning our 2023 custom mixing surveys indicated they have 100 or fewer employees in North America.

The largest portion of respondents—30 percent—said they employ 21-50. Meanwhile, 22 percent of those responding noted North American employment of 20 or fewer.

The same percentage of companies—22 percent—fall into the larger small business range with 101-500 North American mixing employees. Just 9 percent of survey respondents said they employed between 501-1,000+.

This year, more custom mixers returned our survey than during the inaugural year. And the insights that the newly participating companies provided gave us a clearer picture of the industry.

Including, in the case of British American Rubber Co. L.L.C., the possibility for success.

The company, better known as Barco, set up shop just about six years ago, and in that time has established itself as one of the larger custom mixers in North America, falling into the third-highest sales range on our ranking.

To see how much the company has grown, look no further than its employment. When it started, it employed 20, running just one shift. Today, it has more than 125 working across three shifts, allowing it to become a 24/7 operation.

Achieving that growth has, of course, required investments—as much as $35 million so far.

And Barco isn't the only custom mixer investing in its operations.

Many of those responding to our surveys—companies both large and small—indicated they have purchased new equipment or added manufacturing and warehouse space in recent years. Others have grown through acquisition.