COMPOSITESWORLD.COM is the #1 website for composites materials and services. COMPOSITESWORLD.COM receives over 40,000 unique visitors a month and is projecting over 3 million page views in 2006. High Performance Composites, Composites Technology and
Issue link: https://ct.epubxp.com/i/316482
5 Composites: Past, Present & Future C T J U N E 2 0 1 4 ast issue, in this space, we observed that materials suppliers and distributors — purveyors of not just resin, core and fabric, but tooling, molding compounds and other items necessary to the production of fnished composite components in many end- markets — are venturing, in greater numbers, into parts manufac- turing. Either directly or through subsidiaries, they are electing, at least to a degree, to compete with their customers. (You can read the commentary in CT April 2014 (p. 4) or visit short.compositesworld. com/whymorph1.) At its end, CT asked: Where does that leave the suppliersÕ customers Ñ composite parts manufacturers? To fnd out, CT asked a select group of readers — suppliers/dis- tributors and parts fabricators — to participate in an online survey. A total of 8,621 survey invitations were sent out on Wednesday, April 9. As of April 21, 2014, 104 surveys were returned for a 1.2 percent rate of response. Respondees each represented one or more of the major markets served by the composites industry and the group included businesses of every size, from 1- to 10-employee shops through plants that employ 100 or more. Survey results indicate the trend is growing and likely will con- tinue to do so. But, as the graph at right shows, those who manu- facture composite parts, for the most part, say their businesses are currently unafected by the trend. However, 18.8 percent say that the entry of suppliers/distributors into part manufacturing has in- creased competition for contracts, and 15.6 percent say that they've experienced greater difculty in winning contracts, with the result that business revenue is down. Exactly half the suppliers/distributors who responded told CT that they currently have no intention of adding part manufacture to their range of business activities (see graph on p. 7). But nearly 20 percent said they were considering the manufacture of fnished parts, either directly or through a subsidiary. Today, more than 17 percent already manufacture fnished parts directly and another 2.2 percent say they do so through a subsidiary. An additional 10 percent provide premaunfactured substructures to part fabricators. Put that all together and we also see that fully 50 percent of suppli- ers and distributors are, today, either engaged in or considering the manufacture of substructures and/or fnished parts. When we asked the same group to give us a peek at their short- term futures (see graph on p. 9), almost 60 percent said they antici- pate no change in their current approach, but almost 25 percent in- Why are suppliers morphing into fabricators? Part II Bio | Mike Musselman A journalist with 20 years of technical trade magazine expe- rience, Mike Musselman is in his 13 th year as the managing editor of CT and sister publication High-Performance Com- posites for CompositesWorld. Based in Denver, Colo., he coordinates the efforts of a team of inhouse and freelance editors and writers and steers each issueÕs editorial content through the production process. L tend to manufacture parts (directly or through a subsidiary) and 2.2 percent said that they will move from prefabricated-substructures manufacturing to making fnished parts. Tese data harmonize with the anecdotal evidence from sur- vey respondees who also contacted CT with comments about the trend. "Your editorial … gave a great account of the state of things," commented Brett McAteer, the director of marketing and commu- nications at Aonix Advanced Materials Corp. (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). He noted that materials advances in thermoplastics, for example, "have outpaced the developments on the molding side of the business." Aonix responded by developing proprietary molding systems to guarantee material/machine compatibility, rather than to mold the actual parts. "Aonix works with OEMs and end-users and with suppliers, in fact, to get our UltraMaterials specifed. Ten we ofer the molders (wherever they may sit in the supply chain) an integrated solution — blanks, machines and support …. We see this approach as one that can actually protect the molders' place in the supply chain while allowing suppliers to focus on what they do best," he adds. Retired from Röhm Tech, the U.S. marketing arm of ROHA- CELL foam manufacturer Röhm GmbH (Sontheim/Brenz, Ger- many; ROHACELL is now produced in the U.S. by Magnolia, Ark.- based Evonik Foams), Donald J. Loundy observes that in the diverse and still quickly evolving composites industry, "smaller compa- When CT asked composites fabricators how the supplier transitioning to manufactur- ing trend affected their business revenue, 34 percent saw some negative impact. 0614CT PPF-OK-CORRECT TEXT CAPTIONS.indd 5 5/20/2014 7:41:50 AM