PLANNING A MOVE. Maumee executives (left to right) Louis F. Loutrel, vice president for sales; George F. Schlaudecker, president; and Clyde W. Balch, vice president for commercial development—look over plans of their new Cincinnati plant
NEW PLANT. Six main buildings, a tank farm, and extensive auxiliary facilities on a 21-acre plant site make up the plant Maumee Chemical has purchased from Toms River Chemical. The plant was vacated by Toms River when it moved to New Jersey
Maumee Chemical Charts Expansion Purchase of Cincinnati plant yields fivefold expansion of floor space; entry into basic chemicals seen There's no recession talk at Maumee Chemical. The burgeoning 10-yearold maker of specialty chemicals has just bought the St. Bernard, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), facility of Toms River Chemical Corp. Result: a fivefold expansion of manufacturing floor space. Purchase price was "in the low seven figures." For its money Maumee gets six modern multistory buildings, each with 33,000 square feet of space, sprawled over 21 acres. Also on the property is a large tank farm complete with pumping system, a high pressure steam generating plant, water facilities, a sewage treatment plant, and some 27 lesser, older buildings. With demand for its products outstripping supply and its Toledo, Ohio, plant straining at something like 120% of rated capacity, Maumee was faced with either building or buying. It chose to buy the "admirably suited" Cincinnati plant, which became vacant in July when Toms River moved its dye intermediates operations to Toms River, N.J. Operations at the Cincinnati facility will begin this week, says George Schlaudecker, Maumee president. Process Research. Maumee was formed in 1946 as Maumee Development Co. First commercial production came in 1950 when the company 28 C&EN OCT. 10, 1960
marketed a high grade of anthralic acid. One year later Maumee achieved national attention with a new, patented process for making saccharin. At that time the company moved into its present 55,000-squarefoot quarters. Emphasis at Maumee centered on process research. This led to commercial, production in 1955 of isatoic anhydride, used as an intermediate in flavor and agricultural chemical production. Another Maumee "first," says Mr. Schlaudecker, was commercial production of high purified maminobenzotrifluoride, used as an intermediate for tranquilizers, diuretics, and other pharmaceuticals. This product led to development of many other substituted benzotrifluorides, and again Maumee hit the headlines in 1959 as a producer of 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol, a successful lamprey killer (C&EN, July 20, 1959, page 40). As a natural outgrowth of successful process research, Maumee took on confidential custom manufacturing. This activity has flourished; today it accounts for about 25% of Maumee's business. Among items involved: six important pharmaceuticals for major drug companies. Sales Success. Crowth of sales at Maumee has been rapid. In 1950,
the company rang up sales of only $20,000. A jump to $40,000 for 1951 was but a hint of things to come. By 1955 sales had climbed to more than $1 million. For 1960 the company expects more than $4 million in volume. Return on investment also is high, the company says. Such success isn't automatic. Maumee bases its performance on low capital costs and high outlays for research and development. Low capital costs come through sharp buying of facilities and equipment. Biggest plum to date is the new Cincinnati plant, bought for a small fraction of replacement value, according to Mr. Schlaudecker. Maumee representatives are constantly combing the country for bargains in equipment. This approach to meeting basic company needs results in rock bottom capital outlays. Spending for R&D adds up to about 8% of sales this year, Mr. Schlaudecker notes. It has gone as high as 10% in the past. Maumee officials say plans call for never letting it drop below 7%. Reason for this orientation toward research: Every member of Maumee's management team is technically trained—chemists or chemical engineers—and most have advanced degrees. To provide modern facilities for its R&D team, Maumee bought the plant of Sterling Precision Instrument Co. in Toledo last April, converted it into research labs and general offices. Not to be overlooked in Maumee's success story is the part played by Payson & Trask, a venture capital
Standard of Cal Regroups in Chemicals Oronite and Calspray become divisions of California Chemical in move to hike efficiency
firm. In 1953 this organization came forth with financial assistance when Maumee's sales were still at low ebb and R&D expenses were heavy. Payson & Trask has representation on Maumee's board of directors but doesn't actively participate in company programs, says Mr. Schlaudecker. Growth from Within. Processes involving flammable solvents, toxic chemicals, and odorous materials will be moved from Toledo to Cincinnati. Maumee's Toledo plant is near a semiresidential area, which poses obvious difficulties. In contrast, St. Bernard is almost completely industrial. Additional capacity available will come into play as Maumee grows. Mr. Schlaudecker points to some promising products with considerable growth potential. For example, 2chlorothiaxanthone, an intermediate used in the production of a new tranquilizer which is arousing the interest of several U.S. drug companies, was made first on a commercial basis by Maumee, the company claims. Maumee says it is also the only U.S. producer of dithiodibenzoic acid, used to make 2-chlorothiaxanthone% Short-term plans call for developing more chemicals useful as intermediates. Eventually, Maumee plans to expand in the direction of basic, big volume chemicals. While emphasis is on growth from within, Maumee isn't overlooking possibilities of growth by acquisition or joint venture. To this end, in 1958 Maumee assigned a vice president full time to the task of investigating properties for acquisition or for joint operations.
Standard Oil Co. of California, looking forward to rapid growth in the petrochemical field, has combined all of its industrial and agricultural chemical activities into one subsidiary. This move pushes further the consolidation that was started in 1957 when California Chemical Co. was set up as the holding company for Standard's two chemical subsidiaries—Oronite Chemical and California Spray-Chemical. Under the new organization, which became effective Oct. 1, Oronite becomes the Oronite division of California Chemical, and Calspray becomes the Ortho division. Fred Powell, who was named president of Cal Chemical several months ago, retains that position. H. J. Grady, president of Calspray, and T. G. Hughes, president of Oronite, become presidents of the new divisions and vice presidents of Cal Chemical. California Chemical International, which handles the marketing of Oronite products abroad, will remain as a subsidiary of California Chemical. Both Ortho and Oronite will continue to manufacture and market their product lines under their respective brands. One of the principal reasons for the
consolidation, says Mr. Powell, is to better coordinate the staff effort in the interests of economy and efficiency. Certain staff functions, such as accounting and finance, will be combined at the Cal Chemical level so as to eliminate duplication. Then, too, the reorganization should permit more effective coordination in marketing. Historically, Oronite has concentrated on the industrial chemical field while Calspray has stuck to agricultural chemicals. But with Calspray moving into such products as ammonia and nitric acid, which have industrial as well as agricultural applications, a more closely coordinated marketing program could.well be in order. The consolidation also recognizes the growing importance of Standard's chemical operations. Last year chemical sales (both agricultural and industrial) amounted to $143 million—some 8% of Standard's $1.8 billion total operating revenue. Standard's board chairman, R. G. Follis, says that the consolidation "will permit us to coordinate our planning and operations for what we fully expect will be a very rapid growth in the field of petroleum chemicals. . . ."
TOP MEN AT CAL CHEMICAL. Standard of California regroups its chemical operations under its California Chemical subsidiary, with H.J. Grady (left) serving as a Cal Chemical vice president and president of the Ortho division, Fred Powell (center) continuing as president of California Chemical, and T. G. Hughes, Oronite division president, also named a vice president for Cal Chemical
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