Reprinted with permission of Rubber & Plastics News. Copyright Crain Communications Inc. 2014

February 24, 2014

Polymerics focuses on change, growthCuyahoga Falls and Kent plants. A thirdof that money was spent on improve-ments in 2013.

“(Samples) knows all the nuts and boltsof the business because he was workingon the shop floor before he was in the po-sition he is today,” Smith said.

Samples has noticed the impact thatthe changes have made. “I wasn’t graythen,” he said with a laugh.

“The company had been run a certainway for a long time,” he said. “It’s notchanging that fast, but it’s changing, andit’s starting to snowball.”

Among the upgrades that either havebeen completed or will be undertakenwithin the next 10 months are:

● A new F80 mixer and new No. 9 mix-er, installed in 2013;

● Two laboratory-scale mixers added toits research and development lab, onededicated to color and the other to black;

● New state-of-the-art purchasing soft-ware that has helped to decrease leadtimes and keep inventory levels in check;

● A new dust collector that will keepthe mix cleaner;

● A new oil injection system, installed atthe Kent facility last year, to improve theefficiency and tolerances of the process;

● A tilt mixer, two lab extruders, twomoving die rheometers, a colorimeter anda recently upgraded FTIR, added to en-hance capabilities;

● A new-look website, launched lastyear;

● Improved, energy-efficient lighting atboth facilities, a move that has savedabout 25 percent on energy costs;

● Shuffling the management staff toput the right talent in the right jobs; and

● Renovated front office and receptionsareas.

In addition, the company is testing dif-ferent types of pelletization systems. Itsgoal is to install a new system by 2015.

The master planAll of the improvements are part of

Polymerics’ master plan: Improve prod-uct quality, expand the firm’s customerbase and become a key player in the cus-tom rubber compounding industry.

The new company slogan—keeping ser-vice in the mix—reflects just that.

“The rubber industry is small, and theword of mouth is just as important as allthe other advertising you do, so that’swhy the big push is on quality,” DeSi-mone said. “A lot more people are going tocomplain about bad product than are go-ing to talk about that good product, sowhat we want to try to do is get peopletalking about a good product and the suc-cess they’ve had with us and the good ex-perience hopefully they had working withus.”

And that in turn, could lead to morebusiness. The company currently servescustomers within a 300-mile radius of its

By Don DetoreRubber & Plastics News Staff

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio—Change isjust more than idle talk these days atPolymerics Inc.

Visitors not only can see proof of it in-side the building of the custom rubbermixer, from the new, energy-efficientlighting to renovated offices, to the firm’snew F80 mixer, as it works on its colorline and increases cooling capabilities onits black line.

And perhaps, most notably, they cansee it in the body language and hear it inthe voices of the Polymerics managementstaff. “It’s an exciting time for us,” saidTechnical Sales Manager Santino DeSi-mone. “It’s a great place to work.”

“You enjoy walking into these doorseach day,” said Troy Smith, a 30-year em-ployee and plant manager of the 56,000-

sq.-ft. Cuyahoga Falls facility.“The big difference is morale,” said

William Sanderson, a 24-year companyveteran who is environmental, healthand safety manager. “Morale is so muchbetter, ever since Tim came back fulltime, working day to day.”

“Tim” is CEO Tim Samples, whosefamily founded the firm in 1972. Samplesworked at the plant from the mid-1970sto the early 1980s. He returned for hislatest stint in 2011, assuming day-to-dayoperations of both Polymerics’ facilities—the headquarters in Cuyahoga Falls andthe other in Kent, Ohio, where chemicalblending is conducted—in 2012. The fa-cilities have a combined work force ofaround 80.

The firm also has another facility inChina, two hours south of Shanghai.

Polymerics is in the process of invest-ing $1.5 million in upgrades at the firm’s

RPN photo by Don Detore

Nicki Hershberger and Mike Arnold ofPolymerics check on a lab mixer.

RPN photo by Don Detore

The staff at Polymerics Inc. includes (sitting) CEO Tim Samples, back (from left) TroySmith, Santino DeSimone, Nicki Hershberger, Kimberly Marquis, William Sandersonand Lora McCambridge.

headquarters, providing custom com-pounds using a wide variety of elas-tomers for sectors such as automotive,medical, hose, belts, automotive, mili-tary, medical, safety, seals and gaskets,rubber rollers and coated fabrics.

“You think fast food, you think of Mc-Donalds first. When people are thinkingthey need rubber quoted, we want themto have Polymerics on their mind for aquote,” DeSimone said.

Employees say that the company’s smallbut focused structure sets it apart. With alean operation, Polymerics can turn prod-ucts around faster than some of its largercompetitors, according to Smith.

“We’re nimble enough that if there’s aproblem or an issue, customers can talkto me directly,” he said. “I can walk outon the floor and help correct the problemeasily. The customer isn’t telling a subor-dinate who is telling his subordinateabout that problem.”

“Most everyone here can influence a de-cision one way or the other,” DeSimonesaid. “Tim is really good about workingthrough issues because whatever it is, in-ternally or externally, there’s isn’t allthat bureaucracy, all that red tape to gothrough.”

A new pelletizing system should en-hance the product. According to Smith,the product now is cut into small squares,the shape of Chicklets.

“Essentially, we’re looking at some-thing that has good cooling, has higherthroughput and will improve the appear-ance of the product that’s going out,” hesaid. “We want something that’s a littlemore uniform.”

When that happens, DeSimone said thecompany will be able to go after business ithasn’t sought before because “of the limita-tions on the machinery we now have.”

Those aren’t the only changes Polymer-ics plans to initiate.

New facility in future plansThe company plans to move into anoth-

er facility in about four years. Samplesalready has been scouting potential sitesand doing his due diligence. The plan isto stay in northeast Ohio.

“We’re kind of landlocked here,” Sam-ples said. “We have to get a building sothat we can expand.”

Samples said Polymerics wants tomaintain 10 percent growth each yearover the next five years.

“We’re hoping to get a form-filling ma-chine for the Kent facility that will re-duce their labor cost, and we’re looking atimproving our throughput here with thenext mixers that we’re getting,” saidKimberly Marquis, operations managerat the 36,000-sq.-ft. Kent facility. “If weget the pelletization equipment that wewant, it will open other markets and helpus maintain that growth.”

The push to enhance the Polymericsname also includes more involvement inrubber-related activities, a drasticchange from past practices.

Polymerics will co-host the Intermedi-ate to Advanced Compounding and Test-ing of Rubber training classes, along withAkron Rubber Development LaboratoryInc. and the Rubber Division. Classeswill be offered April 8-10 at the RubberDivision facility in Akron.

Those are all part of Polymerics’ trans-formation.

“Tim is trying to reinvent the way that wedo things, the way that we perceive things,”said Nicki Hershberger, a technical consul-tant with the firm. “It’s a breath of fresh airfor the company, to see life again.”