Weary retailers, though, aren’t trying to answer that demand by themselves. They pass it on to the product manufacturers that supply them, who in turn push it on their suppliers – such as Richmond’s Tredegar Film Products, a subsidiary of Tredegar Corp. Tredegar had $413 million in revenues last year in the personal care, household care, packaging and specialty markets. 

That pressure to come up with the latest eye-catching innovation is a big reason why Tredegar is revamping its product-development effort. Last fall the company announced plans to move its research and development and technical centers in Terre Haute, Ind., and Lake Zurich, Ill., to Richmond this year to a 45,000-square-foot facility in the Richmond Technical Center, just a few miles east of the Tredegar corporate headquarters. The move, when completed later this year, will give the company something it’s never had – product developers, plus marketing and sales teams and senior management, all in the same place.

 

The goal is to make the process of developing new products and getting them to market faster and leaner, says Tredegar Film Products President Thomas G. Cochran. “Our strategy is based on bringing consumer-noticeable innovation to our customers. To do that well, it’s vitally important that we co-locate our research and development with our employees who really are experts in the marketplace,” he says. “It became something that would be extremely difficult to accomplish if we conducted our R&D in different headquarters.”                                        More

 

 

Putting science to the test

Segment leader oversees product that helps protect soldiers on the battlefield

 

By John Reid Blackwell

The employees at Honeywell International Inc.'s Spectra plant in Colonial Heights have met the people who benefit most from their work.

They are the soldiers who return home from the Middle East, who tell stories about how they might have died had it not been for the bullet- and blast-resistant gear they wore. They are the police officers who talk about how body armor containing Spectra material protected them from bullets.

Since becoming segment leader for Honeywell's Advanced Fibers and Composites Business in 2003, Anne C. Cook has met some of those soldiers and heard their stories.

"There is a business aspect

Ann Cook, segment leader
 for Honeywell's Spectra
 business unit.

to it, and there is an emotional aspect to it," Cook said of manufacturing and marketing Spectra. "The employees here feel this way, and I do, too. You feel like you are doing something good. We have had soldiers come down here who have been protected by our material. You get tears in your eyes hearing the stories."

As segment leader, Cook is responsible for a team of managers who oversee the development, manufacturing, testing and sale of Spectra fiber, a high-strength synthetic material typically used in bullet-resistant vests, small-arms protective inserts (SAPI plates), bomb-blast containers and protective gloves.

The Richmond area is the nucleus for the U.S. body-armor industry, thanks to Honeywell's Spectra unit on Woods Edge Road and DuPont's Kevlar manufacturing site on Jefferson Davis Highway. The companies sell Spectra and Kevlar to makers of vests and other gear, including sporting gear and ropes. Both companies have expanded their operations during the past few years to meet demand. More

Article reprinted by permission of the Richmond Times-Dispatch

News

Business

Albemarle Corporation, a manufacturer of specialty chemicals, has sold four million shares of common stock for $34 a share. The sale of stock plus the issuance of $325 million in senior notes was applied to repayment of the $450 million bridge loan incurred in connection with the acquisition of the Akzo Nobel N.V. refinery catalysts business. (Press release, Jan. 14, 2005 ) More.

Tredegar to Sell Georgia Film Plant

Tredegar Film Products Corporation has announced that it is exploring the sale of its plant in LaGrange, Ga. The LaGrange plant, which accounts for $25 million in sales, produces blown films used for adult incontinent and baby diaper backsheet, feminine hygiene pad pouch packaging, and other packaging and industrial applications. Said President Thomas G. Cochran: “Our growth strategy is based on expanding sales of apertured, elastic and specialty materials. This divestiture is a continuation of our efforts to align production capacity with the changing demands of our global customer base.” (Press release, Jan. 10, 2005 ) More

Products

Alcoa Packaging a Soft Touch

RICHMOND--Alcoa Flexible Packaging has adapted its Reynolon 7011 shrink film packaging, a soft, tight-fitting film, for use as a wrapping for Westpoint Stevens' premium brand bedding and bath accessories. Said Alcoa Marketing Manager Anna Husk: "We've revitalized Reynolon 7011 film packaging so it can be used for the most elegant packages. The soft feel of the film makes it ideal for wrapping premium bed linens, as consumers have expressed that a soft package is more pleasing to touch. Created with optimum clarity and durability, we've created a premium bag for the high-end textile market making the costly pre-made vinyl bags unnecessary."

Research

Researchers Develop “Superatom” Chemistry