ORLANDO, FLA. — Carolina Color Corp. isn't resting on the success of its G2 product line — on April 13, the firm began production of G3 color concentrates.
G3 will expand the firm's technology from polyolefins into engineering resins, CEO Matt Barr said at NPE 2015 in Orlando. Production will begin on a single line at the firm's headquarters plant in Salisbury, N.C., but eventually could spread to its site in Delaware, Ohio, as well.
“The start of our strategy 10 years ago was to have a more specialty product line instead of dog eat dog,” Barr added. “And [G3] is the next step.”
G3 can handle 20 percent higher pigment loadings than G2, as a result of a change to the manufacturing process, President Jeff Smink said. The new material can be used in engineering resin sheet applications, as well as in the polyolefin-based trash carts, outdoor furniture and play equipment where G2 was used, he added.
CCC also is working on new concentrates with higher loadings for nylon and PET. Those materials currently are at the trial stage.
The firm, which did not exhibit at NPE, posted sales of about $50 million in 2014, up 5 percent vs. 2013. Sales so far in 2015 are up 10 percent, Barr said. CCC has increased its employee count by 10 percent in the last 18 months and now employs 110. The firm also has added a total of five new twin-screw extrusion lines at both locations since 2008.