Built just a year ago on a 40-acre greenfield site, Thogus Products’ 76,000-ft² building includes a movable back wall for quick expansion. A purple stripe echoes the company’s distinctively colored logo. Kathleen Hlavin and son Matt today lead the company that Kathleen’s father, Jack Thompson, started in 1950 with partner Walter Gus as Master Mold & Die. To replace this metal bracket with plastic, Thogus reinvented the part design to meet stiffness requirements and take advantage of the molding process. Not unlike plants in Europe, Thogus groups its presses into a square format, and then segments equipment by tonnage—small, medium, and large. A medical device manufacturer who wants to eliminate lead in advance of RoHS requirements chose Thogus to mold this radiation shielding part from a tungsten-filled compound (Gravi-Tech from PolyOne). Proprietary tube and hose fittings are a Thogus original, as are the plumbing products stored in color-coded bins. Thogus replaced a cast-and-machined stainless steel powdered metal counterweight for a hub odometer with an overmolded stainless-filled nylon for 40% cost savings. Below that, an air pump housing part was redesigned by Thogus, and went from the aluminum version to a glass-filled polyamide for 50% less weight and 70% cost savings.

After “firing” its top customers, this firm’s growth defies gravity as well as convention.

Ten years ago, Kathleen Hlavin, the daughter of Thogus Products’ cofounder Jack Thompson, took a look at the automotive business that represented 56% of the company’s sales and said, “No more.” Those were difficult times for automotive suppliers and, in response, Thogus made a bold move. It fired all of its Big Three customers, becoming a Tier Two or Three for all automotive projects. “We weren’t a savings and loan,” she adds. “We wanted to be paid in a timely fashion.” Sales dropped 50%, yet Thogus stayed the course and underwent a major restructuring.

Today, Kathleen, who is president and CFO, and her son Matt Hlavin, VP sales and marketing, are reaping the benefits of this strategy, in which the company has been reinvented as both a proprietary products OEM and a specialist in metal and lead replacement using highly engineered materials and high-specific-gravity materials. The result? Annual sales have tripled since 2003, and year-over-year growth is now 26% and climbing.

No mere plastics substitution

Our tour begins in a smartly appointed conference room lined with past and current projects. Matt Hlavin explains, “We focus on smaller volumes and specialty materials. Even at 20-50 pieces, these projects are still profitable.”

Russell Wolff, sales engineer, is quick to confirm that Thogus performs more than mere metal-to-plastics substitution. “This is not the low-hanging fruit,” he says. “In many cases, we are replacing lead for shielding applications. And no matter what the application, we also need to completely redesign the part and assembly to take advantage of plastics. For example, by redesigning an end bell plate for an air pump housing, we reduced weight by 50% and cost by 70%, and the customer paid for the tool with its first order.” This part was converted from diecast aluminum to highly filled polyamide.

Thogus works with two strategic partners—PolyOne (Avon Lake, OH) and GE–Plastics’ LNP (Exton, PA). “In 2000, we watched business going to China and tried to determine what the future held for U.S. molders,” says Hlavin. “We saw an opportunity with the Engineered Materials Group at PolyOne, who offered both capital and engineering resources, and began working with them.”

In addition to working with PolyOne on material development, Thogus also collaborates with GE-LNP on commercializing new grades of its high-specific-gravity material, Thermocomp HSG, and metal replacement polymers such as Verton and Extem. Recently, Brian Gladden, the newly named president of GE–Plastics (soon to be Sabic Innovative Plastics), invited Thogus to a key meeting for customers and partners to familiarize them with the new organization.

“We’ve refined their formulations, and experimented with various types of carrier resins,” says Hlavin. “Products are customized not just at the resin level but also in terms of specific filler content and density.”

Road to success

Thogus has a captive tool shop offsite and works with four other domestic tool sources. Tool design is critical for success in the niche the company has carved out, and Hlavin reports that partnering with local moldmakers has also been essential. “It is part of our value proposition. We don’t have time to wait for imported tooling. There may be five or more modifications to the cavities during development, and with local sources, we can sample the changes and have parts in our customers’ hands in days rather than weeks. In addition, our tooling partners are familiar with the materials we run.”

Vital Stats: Thogus Products Co., Avon Lake, OH Facility size: 76,000 ft² Annual sales: $15 million (2006) Markets served: Industrial, automotive, electronics, packaging, medical, lawn and garden, HVAC, plumbing, aerospace, and consumer goods Capital investment: $4.5 million in new plant and equipment in 2002; $1.2 million annual investment in equipment Parts produced: 10 million/month Materials processed: 350-plus, with more than 95% engineering thermoplastics, including polyamides, PEI, polysulfone, and PEEK; also highly metal-filled compounds such as Gravi-Tech (PolyOne) and Thermocomp HSG (GE-LNP Specialty Compounds) No. of employees: 70 Shifts worked: Three shifts, five days/week Molding machines: 31, 20-400 tons; mostly Nissei and Toshiba, one Arburg Internal moldmaking: Offsite captive tooling operation Quality: ISO 9000:2002 Contact information Matt Hlavin | (440) 933-8850 | www.thogus.com

Controlling scrap is also key because of raw material costs. “If you have to purge the entire barrel of a high-specific-gravity material on a 400-ton press, that 75 pounds hitting the floor is costing you thousands of dollars—so we don’t do that too often,” Hlavin quips.

He also credits his workforce as vital to success. “Unlike much of the U.S. molding industry, we are bringing labor back into the shop. We average 4.73 setups per machine per week, and our goal is seven. Our process engineers are simply the best. We’re investing in our people.” In fact, Thogus is working with Northwest State Community College (Archbold, OH) to train its employees onsite using Internet courses that the college designed and executed. (More on this later.)

Also, the way Thogus approaches customers has changed. Says Hlavin, “Now the customer sees us with the material supplier as part of the team, because we are helping to develop applications. We try to find the best material options for customers and then give them as many solutions as possible.”

Hlavin believes the underlying secret to Thogus’s success lies in understanding the customer. “We are selling a paradigm shift, and as such, we are a free consultant that advises customers of the best solution for their situation. For example, even though an engineered polymer may be much more expensive than the metal it replaces, it ends up saving money because it eliminates secondary operations, helps consolidate parts, and reduces labor and handling. We look at the whole application and find out where we can take cost and labor out, and then support that effort with every possible polymer solution.”

One tight ship

Hlavin leads us onto the factory floor, and the first impression is that we’ve stepped into a new plant in Europe. Machines are grouped in a square layout, rather than set up in long aisles, and most of the auxiliary equipment is supplied from the basement. Overhead lighting ranks among the best we’ve seen in a molding facility, and the climate is well controlled. Machines are Nissei or Toshiba, with a lone 45-ton Arburg Allrounder.

Thogus still has automotive customers as a Tier Two and Three, and recently launched an eight-mold program that a Tier One customer sent out for global sourcing. In another project, the company is replacing metal brackets under the hood with highly filled materials, both polyamides and PBT, for part consolidation.

At another press, an operator oversees the molding of heat sinks and EMI/RFI shields from stainless- and carbon-fiber-filled PPS. These applications previously used aluminum at $1.50/lb, and the highly filled polymer costs about $20/lb. However, the higher-cost material is more cost effective because it eliminates secondary operations and has a lower specific gravity: 2.7 for aluminum vs. 1.6 for the polymer.

There are secondary operation stations for testing, validation, and assembly that certain parts may need. Others may be sent out for coating or painting.

Aside from automotive, most of Thogus’s customers are looking for smaller-volume, short-run production. But even for runs as small as 20 parts, Thogus employs its ERP system (IQMS) for real-time tracking. The same system will be used to keep track of its fittings business, a line of proprietary nylon, polyethylene, propylene, and Kynar PVDF parts for tube and hose connections, when Thogus implements bar coding. With a real-time inventory using bar codes, the IQMS system will enable Thogus to turn parts around in the same day, or at most, in 24 hours.

How does this shop maintain a scrap rate of less than 0.8%? “It starts with the tool, but it also has to do with the machine, screw, and barrel,” says Hlavin. “We optimize our processing, and then do not change the parameters. A part can be run on multiple machines, and each has its own formula so that no matter where it’s being molded, it has consistent processing and properties.” To optimize its processing, Thogus utilizes the process controls that both Nissei and Toshiba provide. In addition, it has begun to include Scientific Molding principles from John Bozzelli, and plans to integrate Decoupled Molding techniques from RJG.

Flexible and efficient

We come to a press that is molding unusual-looking cylinders. Because prototype tooling was becoming a sticking point for some customers, Thogus designers created a proprietary prototype mold they call TEMPS (Thogus Engineered Material Prototype Solution). It eliminates the risk and cost of having to build prototype tooling during the development process. Instead, Thogus molds a cylinder with a circular “blank” inside that can be anywhere from 3?8-1 inch thick using the intended production material. The prototype is then machined from the blank for fit and function testing.

Next, Hlavin points to a custom-built vertical Nissei rotary press. The height of the rotary table deck can be adjusted, as can the barrel. This press molds automotive parts: filters, such as air and fuel; sensors with metal inserts; and optical lenses.

On the 45-ton Allrounder, which can operate vertically and horizontally, Thogus molds electrical components and electrical indicator needles. This press is also used for micromolding.

The shop is equipped with portable dryers and loaders so that jobs can be flexibly configured, according to Hlavin. A mix of blenders, temperature controls, and dryers from Conair and AEC dot the factory floor, and AEC regrind units ensure a proportional mix of regrind. Sailor robots and Branson ultrasonic units are also standard equipment here.

Molding with high-specific-gravity materials makes material handling a bit different at Thogus. Rather than gaylords, for example, these materials come in barrels. Each barrel can only be filled to an eighth of its capacity, because at that level, the material already weighs 250 lb. Other engineering thermoplastics are delivered by bag or skid—no railcar deliveries.

Material arrives daily from PolyOne, with whom Thogus is developing a vendor-managed inventory program. PolyOne will be able to monitor Thogus’s consumption, and as long as the Thogus system sends out a request for material by a certain time, it will be delivered the next day. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that PolyOne is 1.4 miles away.

Next to the materials delivery area are the packaging and inventory sections for Thogus fittings and plumbing products. These represent the proprietary business begun by original founders Jack Thompson and Walter Gus (Tho-Gus) in 1958.

Finally, Hlavin points to a training room located on a mezzanine above the shop floor. “We have enrolled our employees in an online training course and created this room for that purpose. Here, they receive interactive, two-way training via Smart Board and online instructors from Northwest State. This is an ongoing effort, and each class takes about 2 hours.” Thogus will soon begin co-op programs with several universities as well.

Web-exclusive content: How Thogus reinvented itself Matt Hlavin tells IMM that changing business strategy wasn't an easy road. “We see typical U.S. molders now gravitating toward low labor and high automation. That just wasn't in the cards at Thogus. We spent five years reinvesting in this business, experimenting with screws and barrels that weren't designed to handle the high content of metal and glass fillers in our materials. Often, they snapped.” Trial and error enabled Thogus to customize barrel and mold design to handle the highly abrasive metal filler. Hlavin displays an example of what the rededicated Thogus can now provide. It is a stainless steel powdered metal counterweight that was cast and machined. “We converted it to stainless-filled nylon with an overmolded screw machine part. Even though the stainless-filled nylon costs 2 1/2 times more than the stainless metal powder, we were still able to reduce overall cost by 40%,” he adds. Another development: Green Shielding Solutions is a new company Thogus formed with Vulcan Global Mfg. Solutions to provide nonlead products in radiation shielding applications. “We use polyamide, polyurethane, and TPE-based products for radiation shielding supplied by GE-Plastics and PolyOne. These materials can cost between $30 and $80/lb,” Hlavin adds. “Lead replacement is becoming more urgent in light of RoHS regulations, which now limit lead and may ban the use of lead by 2010. We have been working with PolyOne for more than five years and have converted 56-plus parts from lead to a polymer-based solution.”