M.A. HANNA
From a holding company to a globally operating firm / New high-end compounds
As the big plastics producers have withdrawn from customised business, a commensurate increase has resulted in the tonnage from compounding companies. The M.A. Hanna Company (Suite 36-5000, 200 Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio 44114-2304, USA) can be regarded as one of the winners here. With sales currently totalling USD 2.3bn, Hanna is now one of the world´s leading compounding and distribution companies for engineering plastics and rubber (merger with Geon – PVC – see Plasteurope.com 10, 2000).
After a slump in profits in 1998, Hanna has undergone fundamental reorientation since mid-1999, with the arrival of new ceo, Phillip D. Ashkettle. The basic principle being applied is for all company activity to be focused on customer benefit. The plan is to introduce approximately a dozen customer-oriented units over the next two years, the first ones of which are already in operation – wire and cable (America and Europe), Automotive and DuPont.
In December 1999, decisive changes were made to the management philosophy from another angle too. Vice president Garth W. Henry, responsible for international operations, is to ensure that Hanna´s so far fragmented companies worldwide are better integrated into the company´s operative philosophy. This will involve further expansion in growth fields such as Eastern Europe, South America and Asia. Initial examples include the acquisition in December 1999 of the Turkish compounder Tekno Polimer (see Plasteurope.com 06, 2000) and Star Color, Thailand.
M.A. Hanna is exhibiting a number of high-end compounds at the North American plastics exhibition, “NPE 2000” (Chicago 19-23 June). The “Therma-Tech” series comprises thermally conducting thermoplastic compounds, designed to substitute metals and metallised plastics in heat exchangers, thermostats and radiators, for example. The material´s thermal properties are comparable with those of steel, tin and aluminium, according to a Hanna announcement.
The new “Ecomass” compounds, in turn, are “polymetal” composites of thermoplastics and metals. These offer, among other things, the same radiation protection and a similar mass behaviour to lead, making it possible to avoid this highly toxic metal in a large number of applications. The material can be processed like a thermoplastic and has a density 35% lower than that of lead. Hanna emphasises, however, that it cannot be used as a lead substitute in batteries on account of its different chemical and electrical properties.
• Plasteurope.com Service:Press information (English) on strategies and new compounds: PIE-No. 44536 – M.A. Hanna Annual Report 1999 “The Transformation” (English): PIE-No. 44535.
After a slump in profits in 1998, Hanna has undergone fundamental reorientation since mid-1999, with the arrival of new ceo, Phillip D. Ashkettle. The basic principle being applied is for all company activity to be focused on customer benefit. The plan is to introduce approximately a dozen customer-oriented units over the next two years, the first ones of which are already in operation – wire and cable (America and Europe), Automotive and DuPont.
In December 1999, decisive changes were made to the management philosophy from another angle too. Vice president Garth W. Henry, responsible for international operations, is to ensure that Hanna´s so far fragmented companies worldwide are better integrated into the company´s operative philosophy. This will involve further expansion in growth fields such as Eastern Europe, South America and Asia. Initial examples include the acquisition in December 1999 of the Turkish compounder Tekno Polimer (see Plasteurope.com 06, 2000) and Star Color, Thailand.
M.A. Hanna is exhibiting a number of high-end compounds at the North American plastics exhibition, “NPE 2000” (Chicago 19-23 June). The “Therma-Tech” series comprises thermally conducting thermoplastic compounds, designed to substitute metals and metallised plastics in heat exchangers, thermostats and radiators, for example. The material´s thermal properties are comparable with those of steel, tin and aluminium, according to a Hanna announcement.
The new “Ecomass” compounds, in turn, are “polymetal” composites of thermoplastics and metals. These offer, among other things, the same radiation protection and a similar mass behaviour to lead, making it possible to avoid this highly toxic metal in a large number of applications. The material can be processed like a thermoplastic and has a density 35% lower than that of lead. Hanna emphasises, however, that it cannot be used as a lead substitute in batteries on account of its different chemical and electrical properties.
• Plasteurope.com Service:Press information (English) on strategies and new compounds: PIE-No. 44536 – M.A. Hanna Annual Report 1999 “The Transformation” (English): PIE-No. 44535.
15.06.2000 Plasteurope.com [17330]
Published on 15.06.2000