MARKETING
Cumberland Moves Up in Polyvinyl Chloride Airco's subsidiary, previously a captive producer, revamps production and marketing in its thrust into merchant markets Cumberland Chemical is fast evolving as a factor in the polyvinyl chloride market. A year ago, as a joint venture of Air Reduction Co. and Ruberoid, it supplied a single resin to a single customer. Having become a wholly owned subsidiary of Airco in April, it now offers eight PVC and copolymer resins to the market, and shortly will be among the top five U.S. PVC producers in capacity. These are the visible results of a forced-draft program designed to reshape Cumberland into a prime competitor for PVC and copolymer markets. Consumption of these resins is rising at a rate of 1 1 % per year. Cumberland's deadline for its move up: first-quarter 1965. In the past year, the firm has: • Upgraded its Calvert City, Ky., plant from 40 to about 86 million pounds per year capacity, with a goal of 120 million pounds by September. • Expanded its line of general-purpose resins. • Set up a network of six warehouses around the country—some leased, some shared with Airco.
PRESIDENT. Richard M. McFarland says "we had a Cadillac of a plant that was running like a Model-TV' 28
C&EN
JUNE
22,
1964
POLYMER REACTORS. A suspension polymerization system is used by Cumberland Chemical in its Calvert City, Ky.f plant
• Appointed an established distributor as exclusive sales agent. In April, Airco acquired Ruberoid's 50% interest in Cumberland. This further reduced Ruberoid's dominance as a customer. Early this month, the revised staff organization was rounded out when the new posts of marketing and technical service managers were filled. A fleet of more than 20 railcars has been leased for bulk shipping, and the company's first advertising campaign is scheduled for a fall kickoff. Cadillac. Cumberland was set up in 1958 by Airco and Mastic Tile Corp. of America, which shortly became part of Ruberoid. The arrangement was a neat one. When the Calvert City plant went into operation in 1960, making both vinyl chloride and PVC-vinyl acetate copolymer, it was supplied with acetylene from Airco's adjacent unit. All of its production went to Ruberoid's four vinyl floor tile plants. When the firm began looking for
wider markets, this closed system had its liabilities. On taking over as president early last year, Richard McFarland found a product line of one resin grade, tailored to fit Ruberoid specifications. It was shipped in unmarked 50-pound bags. The unit, a suspension polymerization system with a design capacity of 50 million pounds per year, had an effective capacity of about 40 million pounds, and was operating at less. "We had a Cadillac of a plant that was running like a Model-T," Mr. McFarland says. His first move was to bring in new men—PVC-oriented supervisory personnel who were recruited outside the Airco and Ruberoid organizations. Their studies of the operation led to process refinements that raised capacity to design level in about six months. By the beginning of 1964, new equipment was being installed in spaces reserved for expansion when the $10 million plant was built. The hardware additions will add up to
FOUNDATION. A foundation is installed for an addition to Cumberland Chemical's Calvert City plant. This is the first step in the plan to triple the plant's capacity
more than $1 million when completed in the fall. The next step likely is construction of a separate unit to produce specialty PVC and copolymer grades. The share of resin production sold to firms other than Ruberoid has risen from 0 to 8 0 % . Sales Agent. Cumberland took a new tack to pick up PVC-marketing expertise in a hurry. H. Muehlstein & Co., New York, N.Y., was appointed exclusive sales agent for Cumberland resins in mid-1963. Cumberland retains warehousing, shipping, and technical service functions. Muehlstein, which previously handled PVC as a jobber, is a national distributor of rubber and plastics to fabricators. By including its' resins in a sales agent's general line, Mr. McFarland says, Cumberland gained a considerably larger and higher caliber sales effort than it could afford for marketing its own single line.
Muehlstein's advice was significant m the choice of new grades for Cumberland's expanded line of resins. The sales agent currently has a force of about 50 working on Cumberlandresin sales. Also, Muehlstein's regional managers screen requests for technical service before they reach Cumberland's technical service manager. This step serves to redirect some requests that don't actually involve technical problems, and may help bring out the critical points in those that do. Also tied to the company's push into merchant PVC markets is its revamped packaging. In addition to its new capability for bulk shipment by rail, Cumberland also offers bulk carton quantities. Color coding of 50-pound bags—black for homopolymer grades, blue for copolymers—is another move to catch the purchasing agent's eye and to expand sales along with capacity.
IMMEDIATE RESPONSE! The only 2-piece valve stem with no play no backlash no loss of feel Autoclave's patented 2-piece valve stem conquers corrosion, too! A nonrotating section in contact with the valve seat eliminates scoring: This design feature also makes it possible to use the same material for both the stem and valve body, helping to ward off corrosion. Autoclave valves are available in 316ss as standard, plus monel, Hastelloy, titanium and other corrosion resistant materials. Send for Catalog 500, Dept. TPS, Autoclave Engineers, Inc., &j^ Box 4007, Erie, Pennsylvania.. C S S ^
OFFICERS. Richard W. Kulick, marketing (left); Stanley J. Anton, technical service; president McFarland; and Herbert Heller; vice president of Muehlstein & Co. (right)
AUTOCLAVE ENGINEERS, INC. JUNE
2 2, 1 9 6 4 C & E N
29
