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Parker Hannifin Opens New Polymer Research Center
RAVENNA, Ohio -- Parker Hannifin Corp.'s new research and development lab here is likely to guide the company's Parflex division well into the future, opening the door for innovative products, groundbreaking material science and faster, more efficient manufacturing processes, executives say.
"It's really going to allow us to take our products to the next level," said Mark Gagnon, Parflex division general manager. "Also, we want to be developing new products for our existing customers and new products for new markets."
The company's top executives were on hand at Parflex's Ravenna operations Thursday as the division heralded the completion of its $17 million Polymer Innovation Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The project consisted of transforming 24,000 square feet of former manufacturing space into a sleek, highly advanced center for polymer research.
Parflex designs and manufactures thermoplastic and fluoropolymer hose, tubing and accessories that are used in the medical and life-sciences fields, the oil and gas industry, and the transportation and construction markets.
"Starting from zero in 1972, we are now the largest manufacturer of hydraulic hose-related products in the world," declared Don Washkewicz, chairman and CEO of Parker Hannifin and former general manager of Parflex. "That's with over $1 billion in sales. The creativity and innovation of the people we have in this facility is second to none."
The new center was named in honor of Washkeiwicz, who ran the division between 1973 and 1993 and was responsible for managing the business segment's growth. "This is the beginning of another chapter in development of this Parflex technology, which will enable Parflex to achieve an even higher level of excellence," he said.
Parflex invested $15 million to create the new facility and received a $2.3 million Third Frontier grant from the state of Ohio toward the project. The center is expected to create 34 high technology and engineering jobs, and adjoins Parflex's headquarters and manufacturing complex in Ravenna. The entire site employs about 300.
Research and development is an integral part of the manufacturing process, relates Bill Fischer, general manager of manufacturing at Parflex. The new center's processing lab tests raw materials used to manufacture prototypes for future products.
"We have a number of machines that allow us to experiment with extrusion and injection molding," he said. The center builds its own composite materials, and then Parflex engineers run a long series of physical property tests to ensure that the new material meets the division's specifications.
Once the materials are formed, they're used to create prototypes through several extrusion processes at the center, Fischer says.
"The purpose of this facility is to experiment quickly and generate speed into prototypes. That's our goal -- to be able to develop things, solve problems, compound our own materials and translate those into products very quickly," he said.
Among the products Parflex develops are catheter tubes for the medical community, Fischer says, gesturing to a "clean" room where medical devices are assembled, packaged and cleaned. "This is where we would build prototype medical devices in combination with one of our collaborative partners, The Cleveland Clinic," he said.
A particular catheter that uses a camera and light-emitting diode technology, for example, is able to navigate through arteries from the leg to a beating heart. The LED light is carried through the Parflex tubing without the use of a bulb.
About 40% of the Parflex division's business is with the medical-related markets, Gagnon reports. Probably the fastest-growing segment of that industry is manufacturing devices that make it easier on patients during a procedure and address infection control.
"We're doing projects now with oil and gas, material handling, deep sea exploration," he said.
Extrusion processes thAt can accommodate three layers of material simultaneously help engineers and chemists understand how different materials can bond or interact, he noted. Other pieces of equipment can extrude multiple layers of rubber simultaneously along with silicon to create new composites
Another process used at the new research center is a sintering vertical extrusion line, Fischer says. A five-story, 90-foot-tall tower equipped with ovens on four of the floors is used to extrude fluoropolymer, better known by the trade name Teflon. The material is used to create tubing for a number of other industries.
"You can actually sinter a tube that is very small or one that's very large," he said.
Fluorpolymers are particularly important to the medical field because of their purity, chemical resistance and their temperature capabilities, Gagnon adds.
All of the equipment at the new center is designed for flexibility and adaptability, he says.
Most important, Fischer relates, is that the time it takes to create a prototype is reduced significantly with the new center.
"In the past, it would take four or five months to develop a product," he said. "We can do some things now in the matter of a week or two."
Gagnon says that customers are always looking for new ways to remain relevant in their respective markets, so Parflex must be able to adapt to the changing needs of its clients. "Innovation is really the key, because our customers are always looking for a product that can handle a higher temperature, or handle more exotic fluids," he said.
The Parflex complex ships products to Asia, South America and throughout Europe, Gagnon reports. "We can compete with anyone in the world with certain products," he said.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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