ORLANDO, FLA. (April 4, 7:45 a.m. ET) — Fresh off of an acquisition, Plastics Color Corp. (Booth 43035) is looking to make more as it moves away from being a “me too” supplier.
“What we’re doing is solution-type selling,” PCC President Doug Borgsdorf said in an interview at NPE 2012. “We had been a film commodity house, but now we’re offering whatever solutions our customers need.”
In August, Calumet City, Ill.-based PCC bought liquid color supplier Polysource LLC of Tempe, Ariz. PCC had done some business in liquid color, but its primary business had been compounds and color concentrates. PCC operates plants in Calumet City; Asheboro, N.C.; and Sun Valley, Calif.
Polysource was “a good plug-in” and had “human capital” in the form of founder Craig Degnaro, who will remain with the business. Borgsdorf said PCC now will look to acquire other firms with “niche technology,” and most likely will make another such deal by the end of the year.
PCC also recently has launched a line of flame-retardant systems that are free of decabrome or antimony trioxide. The idea for the FlamaSol FR line surfaced in May 2011, and PCC began conducting material beta tests with a customer in August. PCC’s solutions center in Asheboro, N.C., developed FlamaSol FR in pellet form initially for polypropylene and is exploring liquid applications.
Separately, PCC is registering the trade name LiquiSol and marketing a line of fully compounded advanced liquid colorants suitable for injection molding or extrusion applications. The colorant is metered mechanically into a processing machine.
In sustainable materials, PCC is working with both bio-based and biodegradable products, according to business development vice president Tim Workman. The firm recently signed a supply deal with Bio-Tec Environmental LLC of Albuquerque, N.M., to use and distribute Bio-Tec’s EcoPure-brand bio-additive.
Eco-Pure accelerates the biodegradation of traditional petroleum-based plastics in a biologically active landfill, officials said. The material doesn’t negatively affect the manufacturing process or the physical properties of plastics, they added.
On the sales front, Borgsdorf said PCC’s sales were up more than 24 percent in 2011 and are on track to be up more than 22 percent this year. The firm also has added seven employees since the start of the year and now employs about 130.
Plastics News correspondent Roger Renstrom contributed to this story.
