As one of the first plastics companies in the area, Akron’s Ferriot Inc. has had to continually adapt its focus to meet changing market demands throughout its long history.
The company was founded by three Ferriot brothers in 1929. At the time, Ferriot manufactured decorative rubber products, including hot-water bottles and dolls. During World War II, the Ferriot brothers switched their focus to maritime needs, including machining tank treads for the Cadillac Tank Plant, small-caliber bullet dies and gas mask molds.
After the war, the company became firmed established as a mold manufacturer for the rubber industry. But by 1940, it was clear market needs were changing again, and the brothers switched their focus from rubber to plastics. The switch was one that many companies would make years later, but, as the current President and CEO Gordon Keeler Jr. says, “We got in on the ground floor of the plastics industry.”
Keeler, who is the grandson of Gene Ferriot, one of the founding brothers, is now facing entirely new market demands as he leads the company into the next century. And he plans to adapt to those needs proactively, just as generations before him have done.
Ferriot’s business is now separated into four divisions: rapid prototype; tool-building; injection-molding; and finishing and assembly. With $20 million in sales and 225 employees, Ferriot has maintained a steady growth record over the years.
But in 1999, the mold-building industry saw a 34 percent drop in business nationally, Keeler says. That affected most die manufacturers, including Ferriot.
Keeler plans to compensate for that decline by building business in Ferriot’s other divisions. To do that, he says, the company needs additional room to grow.
“Our sales have been stagnant over the last two to three years because we’ve been out of room,” he says.
Last month, Ferriot moved into a new 200,000-square-foot facility on enough land in the Akron Square Industrial Park to let the company double its production area when needed.
With the same foresight as his predecessors, Keeler leased land from the city of Akron in 1998 to give the company room to expand its process capabilities. When Ferriot’s 10-year lease expires, the land will be deeded to the company.
Keeler says Ferriot’s rapid prototyping division will also help the company face global market pressures.
“Unfortunately, we’re in a global economy, and the large OEM [original equipment manufacturers] are seeking out the lowest possible pricing wherever it is in the world,” Keeler says. “A lot of our large customers are going overseas for tooling and molding. It’s going to have an effect on Ferriot, as well as other manufacturers in the U.S. that deal with large OEMs.”
Keeler says Ferriot’s rapid prototyping division was created to confront that change by giving customers the capability get to market more quickly. He says speed is an area that mold manufacturers will have to learn to succeed in to compete globally. With many large-volume jobs going overseas, where labor is cheap, U.S. manufacturers will have to focus on time-sensitive and smaller-volume jobs.
“Years ago, it used to be that you’d seal a deal with a handshake, and as long as you serviced the customers, you generally had a long-term relationship,” Keeler says. “Unfortunately, the days of long-term relationships have gone out the window with the global economy. There’s so much pressure on pricing that the loyalty that customers gave top suppliers is almost a thing of the past.”
The forecast for the industry is not all gloom and doom, Keeler is quick to point out. Statistics show it will grow 8 percent a year over the next several years, mainly due to ongoing conversion from metal and other materials to plastics.
“The plastics industry is a healthy and striving industry.”
Connie Swenson ([email protected]) is editor of SBN.
