NEW YORK - In a survey of 1,189 financial analysts, Rubbermaid Inc. received the highest combined ratings out of the seven major U.S. plastics and rubber corporations. The survey, conducted by Research & Consulting Inc. of New York, was based on eight nonfinancial criteria. Research & Consulting said the results were designed to show ``hidden value'' operating performance criteria, including brand equity, ability to increase revenue and employee relations.
For Rubbermaid, the highest-rated criterion was brand equity. Rubbermaid, a housewares manufacturer, is based in Wooster, Ohio.
Analysts were questioned about Rubbermaid, Mark IV Industries Inc., Illinois Tool Works Inc., Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Premark International Inc. and Standard Products Co.
Molder honored for entrepreneurship
STREAMWOOD, ILL. - John M.Licht, president and chief executive officer of employee-owned molder Duraco Products Inc., was one of three finalists for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Licht was recognized at a recent banquet, attended by 1,200 business executives.
``This is an important acknowledgment for all Duraco employees, recognizing the entreneurial spirit and pride of ownership which has created so much success for the company,'' he said.
The company is 100 percent employee-owned.
Duraco, headquartered in Streamwood, injection molds flower pots and planters. The company also has operations in Union, S.C., Toronto and Brussels, Belgium.
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award is sponsored by Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Inc. Magazine, the NASDAQ stock exchange, American Management Association, National Association of Manufacturers, and Chain Store Executive magazine.
Toryon Technologies opens new division
WOOD DALE, ILL. - No, the Bureau of Molding isn't some new Commerce Department agency.
The one-press company, a division of Toryon Technologies Inc., does prototyping and custom molding of plastic parts. It is housed at Toryon headquarters in Wood Dale.
Bob Parsons, operations manager, said the Bureau of Molding currently has one Sandretto injection press, with a clamping force of 220 tons. A second, 105-ton Sandretto will be delivered this month, according to Parsons.
Parsons said the Bureau is designed to serve custom molders by doing test runs on molds and working out design problems. The firm also can do full-run molding.
Toryon builds equipment for assembling printed circuit boards and makes chemical filtration systems for manufacturing the circuit boards.
The Bureau of Molding began operating earlier this year. Parsons plans to add a clean room molding area and several more Sandrettos.
Automotive extruder buys Brazilian firm
DEARBORN, MICH. - Standard Products Co., a major plastic and rubber extruder for the automotive industry, has purchased the remaining 80 percent of Itatiaia Standard do Brazil, a joint venture that makes glass run channels, weatherstrip and sponge rubber door seals.
Itatiaia Standard, which serves the Brazilian automotive market, has sales of about $30 million a year.
Standard Products originally purchased all of the SÃŒo Paulo company in 1971. Then, in 1985, it sold an 80 percent interest to the Plurinvest Group of Brazil. That group is now selling its interest back to Standard Products.
The acquisition is part of a larger investment strategy in Brazil by Standard Products.
The Dearborn-based company recently announced it will build a $25 million plant in Varginha, Brazil. Production there is to begin in January.
Cyanede Plastic now has new name
MIAMI - Custom injection molder Cyanede Plastics Inc., a subsidiary of Miami-based Atlantis Plastics Inc. announced June 27 it has changed its name to Atlantis Plastics Injection Molding Inc.
The name change reflects the company's recent reorganization into five product divisions, each with its own vice president and general manager, as well as the combined resources of the parent company.
Trucker Housewares locker wins award
LEOMINSTER, MASS. - The Storage Locker from Tucker Housewares Inc. has won a Silver Industrial Design Excellence Award from Business Week and the Industrial Designers Society of America.
The magazine featured the winners in its June 5 issue.
Tucker Housewares, a housewares injection molder headquartered in Leominster, introduced the Storage Locker at the 1994 Housewares Show in Chicago.