Small firms have big impact on driving industry forward

Those outside the tire and rubber industry may think that the sector is limited to the big global tire makers and multinational billion dollar companies that sometimes dominate the headlines.

They are, after all, the ones most likely to be making acquisitions and investments with a lot more zeros in the price tag.

But those of us who are in or follow the tire and rubber sectors know there are a lot more layers to our industry. There are the small shops who play a big role in keeping the industry moving forward, often serving areas the large concerns don't want to bother with.

They may be custom mixers, molders and makers of other rubber goods. And if you look close enough, you'll see that their headlines are just as impactful in their own ways.

Changes in the custom mixing landscape have convinced Mountville Rubber that it's time to spread its wings and grow.

Officials of the LaGrange, Ga.-based firm said with acquisitions and consolidations in the market, the list of custom mixers is shrinking.

Because of the firm's culture, President Darrin Layton said that gives Mountville a good opportunity to grow its business. And to back those aspirations, the custom mixer is investing $22 million to add a new mixing line and construct a new warehouse, adding 32,000 square feet to Mountville's existing facility.

Layton said adding a third mixing line helps it alleviate some risk. And the fact that they're adding a high-end, 300-liter intermesh mixer from HF Mixing Group sets up Mountville to expand its customer base, serving them over a range of end markets.

"I think a lot of customers, especially smaller customers, are looking for an alternative to the bigger mixing companies," he said. "I think we are certainly going to be very competitive in price, and I think we can cater to that smaller customer, more so than the larger mixing companies."

On top of this, Mountville is reintroducing itself to the industry through a rebranding campaign that refreshes its logo and website, and squelch the perception that the firm mainly is a matting company.

"We wanted to rebrand, kind of refresh that whole outlook, so we developed a LinkedIn page and much better-looking logo to help say, 'No we're a custom mixer,' " Layton said.

Back in the early days of Premier Industrial Hose Manufacturing Ltd., the founders had a saying: "Big or small, we make them all."

It was an ode to the Granby, Quebec-based firm's niche of producing specialty hoses, an expertise the 30-year-old company is proud of.

"We were born to do whatever the others don't, or don't like to do. Odd sizes, odd hoses," Vice President Marco Giusti said. "Anything that is custom made or custom built."

The company makes hoses in a range of sizes, from three-eighths-inch to 40-inch inside diameter, and as long as 50 feet, and small production runs aren't a problem. Most of its hoses are sold to distributors who also source from the big U.S. hose manufacturers or major importers, and they come to Premier for anything that's not offered by their larger vendors.

And given that virtually everything Premier manufactures is made to order, the hose producer literally has more than 100,000 product specifications in its system, according to Scott Harrington, technical sales and development manager.

But don't get the idea that just because the company is on the small side—with roughly 50 employees—that the mandrel-built hoses they make are low-tech. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Giusti said Premier's product line includes built-in fittings, and incorporates advanced computerization of products. Premier makes effective use of cobots in designing its production lines to lessen the physical effort required by the hose makers.

"Our goal now for the next couple of years is to keep upgrading," he said. "We've worked on several production lines. Now we have a big line to upgrade, and that's our project over the next year."

The LeMeur family founded Superior Tire & Rubber Corp. in 1964 as an automotive retailer and tire recapping business.

And as the Warren, Pa., manufacturer reached its 60th anniversary in September, company officials say the future looks bright for the company.

"We have faced many challenges and exciting wins over the years, and I have no doubt we're set up to execute strongly in the next 60 years," President and CEO Hank LeMeur Jr. said.

Superior Tire makes tires, wheels, tracks and a variety of other components. They still are made in Warren even as the company has expanded its global reach in material handling solutions.

The firm has more than 375 employees, including 300 working in production. They produce nearly 1.3 million parts annually at the company's three separate manufacturing plants, all of which are located in Warren and within a few miles of each other.

"We're excited to see where this road will take us," said Jared Steier, vice president of sales and marketing for Superior Tire. "It's a great time for a celebratory point. We're running multiple shifts seven days a week."

Business has grown rapidly in the last five years as demand from both existing and new customers has grown across four main business areas: agriculture, construction, industrial tires and wheels, and materials handling.

"We've seen growth from both the OEM and aftermarket side," Steier said. "We've built strong OE partnerships and a dealer base which helps open new opportunities for us and our customers."

AFC Materials Group is a turnkey company of about 200 people that remains a design-for-purpose firm with about 85 percent of its sales coming via PTFE- and silicone-coated products for high-temperature, non-stick applications.

And while the Lake in the Hills, Ill.-based firm has become a leaner operation, it's also looking to grow into new markets.

"We are an engineered materials provider, from engineered resins using silicone and PTFE, to where we also play in a space that includes non-commodity resins, where we are dealing with premium stuff," said Chris Lewis, president of AFC Materials Group.

AFC continues its fabrication and converting services for lightweight belting, fabrics and pressure-sensitive adhesives, but has pivoted since about 2012 toward increased coating capacity.

"We branched out using the same technical prowess," Lewis said. "We started with PTFE and silicone, but we are coating things all over the place now. Our goal is to really look at where the world is moving.

"How do you make your pond bigger? How do you turn a pond into a lake, and your lake into an ocean? That's really how you define success. The PTFE-silicone market really is a pond. How do we expand to that next size?"

AFC's intellectual property portfolio is evidence of this forward-looking philosophy, as the company obtained its 15th patent with a thermoformed product.

"We work in both HCR and LSR, no injection molding," said Michael Baker, chief commercial officer for AFC. "We are doing things that are not even coated anymore, with our own IPs around thermoformed and injection-molded products. Our goal is really playing in a space that is above a certain temperature range and what solutions we might be able to offer that are in that range.

"It might be PTFE, it might be silicone or it might be a thermoplastic."