Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
November 11, 2019 09:43 AM

Acquisition aids Mar-Bal's move to additional spaces

Rachel Abbey McCafferty
Crain’s Cleveland Business
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Mar-Bal Inc.

    Detectable warning surfaces alert people with visual impairments to potential hazards or pedestrian crossing areas.

    Mar-Bal Inc.'s new product line has moved it into new industry spaces and put a stronger focus on the company's proprietary products.

    Chagrin Falls-based Mar-Bal, a compounder and thermoset material molder, acquired AlertTile and Detectable Warning Systems near the end of last year.

    That means Mar-Bal is now a maker of detectable warning surfaces. Such surfaces, like the raised bumps on the sidewalk before an intersection, signal to the blind and people with visual impairments that they're about to walk into a potentially hazardous area, such as traffic or a grade change.

    Mar-Bal sees opportunity for more product development in that space, said president and CEO Scott Balogh, and the company has been adding employees in product management and product engineering to meet anticipated demand.

    "We feel that there's a strong future in construction and infrastructure-related use of composites," Balogh said.

    Mar-Bal has long made proprietary products in addition to its products for specific customers, but since the acquisition, the company has added a standalone proprietary products group to its business structure. That group includes the detectable warning surface products, but also longstanding products like electrical insulator lines and fire-resistant wastebaskets. Those products previously had been embedded in the relevant industry verticals, but Mar-Bal wanted to put a stronger focus on them, Balogh said. 

    Mar-Bal employs about 475. It has a plant in Painesville, as well as facilities in Virginia, Missouri and China. The company does not disclose annual revenue.

    The company started working with AlertTile in 2017, explained Tony Lignetta, director of proprietary products for Mar-Bal. At the time, that meant bringing all of the company's work under one roof, from the molding to the assembling to the shipping. Prior to that, AlertTile's supply chain was fragmented, Balogh said.

    "It was pretty clear to us we could handle everything for them, as well as their distribution," he said.

    Soon, the previous owner of AlertTile approached Mar-Bal about acquiring the business outright, Balogh said.

    Mar-Bal acquired AlertTile and Detectable Warning Systems, with which AlertTile had previously had a strategic partnership, for an undisclosed price in September 2018. That acquisition expanded Mar-Bal beyond its core electrical, appliance and industrial markets and into the construction and safety markets. 

    Mar-Bal's detectable warning surface line includes a variety of products, both flexible and rigid. They can be cast in wet concrete or surface-applied, Lignetta said.

    The company is looking to grow its portfolio in the space so it can offer an even broader range of products to its customers. For example, Lignetta said the company wants to add a cast-iron detectable warning surface product to its line.

    In addition to adding new materials to the tiles, Mar-Bal plans to introduce new designs, Balogh said. The company will also begin offering adjacent products for places such as crosswalks, bus stations and parking decks.

    Lignetta said the company sees a lot of demand in this space, in part due to requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with which new construction must be compliant.

    There are different ways to meet ADA specifications, but Lignetta said he thinks the composite tiles Mar-Bal makes have some benefits over bricks or stamped concrete. They're lightweight and durable, and they can be made in any color.

    But to grow, he added, Mar-Bal knows it needs to build a stronger network across the country. To that end, Mar-Bal added a warehouse in California to better serve the West Coast. That addition, which is located at one of the company's manufacturing partners, happened in the first quarter of 2019. At the end of the second quarter, the company expanded its warehouse in Virginia. And Lignetta said Mar-Bal is looking for another location, and possibly another partner, to add more warehouse space in the future.

    The manufacturing of the new products is taking place at the company's Virginia plant, where it added presses and molds to grow capacity, Balogh said. The new products didn't require any direct investments in Mar-Bal's Ohio plant, where it makes resins and compounds, but that plant is producing higher volumes of products.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Plastics In Politics Live — sign up for the next live
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    2
    Material Insights: Polypropylene production — both virgin and recycled — in the spotlight
    3
    Redline buys Georgia-based Quality Holdings
    4
    Illinois, Utah see chemical recycling battles
    5
    Plastifab diversifies molding with Marchel acquisition
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified