PolyOne Corp. has hired Richard Altice to head its Designed Structures & Solutions (DSS) unit, which ranks as one of North America's largest plastic sheet makers.
“DSS is entering an important phase of its transformation into a specialty business,” president and CEO Robert Patterson said in a May 15 news release. “Rich [Altice] is a proven performer, who will lead DSS with a results-oriented approach.”
Altice is joining Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne from Hexion Inc. of Columbus, Ohio; where he had served as vice president of epoxy specialties. While at Hexion — a leader in thermoset resins — Altice delivered “significant expansion” in sales and profitability, officials said in the release. He has almost 30 years of specialty chemicals experience, including a previous stint at Solutia Inc.
“The innovative technologies and services offered within DSS are exceptional,” Altice said in the release. “The potential for collaboration and increased customer value through the broader PolyOne portfolio is limitless.”
Altice will replace Julie McAlindon, who's leaving PolyOne after five years with the firm. McAlindon “played a key role in transforming and evolving PolyOne's marketing function to support our specialty strategy,” Patterson said in the release.
McAlindon joined PolyOne in 2010 as vice president of marketing after a 20-year career with Dow Chemical Co. She was named to head DSS in early 2013, shortly after PolyOne created that unit through the purchase of Spartech Corp., one of North America's largest plastic sheet makers.
In early 2014, McAlindon told Plastics News that, as a PolyOne business, DSS “now has access to the broadest portfolio of material solutions in the industry to bring to thermoforming techniques.”
“By implementing an established process for new product development and portfolio improvements, we believe our value to customers will expand significantly,” she added.
DSS generated sales of $617.5 million in 2014, up more than three percent vs. 2013. That amount represented about 15 percent of total sales before eliminations for PolyOne in 2014.
The DSS business ranked 14th among North American film and sheet makers in a recent Plastics News industry ranking. Based solely on sheet sales, the unit ranked fourth in the region.
