Making it in Lowell
By David Pevear LOWELL -- Manufacturing isn't dead in the Mill City, even if thousands of jobs have been lost since the 1980s. Inside an old sewing-thread factory on Middlesex Street, across from a Wendy's drive-through, is the only production facility in the world still spinning out continuous filament boron fiber, a high-performance material needed for the F-15 fighter jet and Predator unmanned aircraft. In 2001, John Menzel of Marion, CEO of Fiber Glass Industries Inc. in Amsterdam, N.Y., purchased from Textron Inc. the plant now run as Specialty Materials Inc. by three former Avco/Textron engineering buddies who say they think better when removed from a corporate bureaucracy not interested in niche markets. Specialty Materials started in December 2001 with 30 employees and $6 million in business. Today it has 71 employees and does more than $20 million in business, 40 percent of which is from a solar-panel application for the company's silicon carbide fiber that was originally being produced for the since-scrapped NASA Space Plane. The plant's infrastructure was built by Avco in the 1970s. The federal government poured in millions of dollars to produce composite materials for fighter jets and spacecraft. Building such a facility today would require too large a corporate investment for the limited market size, says Monte Treasure, Specialty Materials Inc.'s president. But if boron fiber is the best solution to structural integrity and better performance, engineers must call Specialty Materials Inc. "People don't really want to come to us," says Treasure, smiling. "But they come to us because they have a problem." Boron's properties are superior to graphite or carbon epoxies, explains Treasure. Boron fiber, though, is manufactured one strand at a time, not in bulk, and costs about six times more than those other materials. Specialty Materials Inc. produces 6,000 to 8,000 pounds of boron fiber a year, less than a quarter of the top output when Textron was here. The company has for eight years held or lowered its price on boron fiber. Al Kumnick, director of engineering and quality, explains that Specialty Materials Inc. might otherwise run the risk of being designed out of manufacturing applications. "Many of our customers are as smart, if not smarter, than us," says Kumnick, smiling. Treasure says a boron-fiber facility in Russia closed years ago. Three or four other plants in the United States shut down as corporate interest waned in a shrinking market. Textron liquidated its Lowell specialty materials operation in 2001, including this facility on Middlesex Street, where the machines whir on in one of the few pockets of manufacturing growth in Lowell. Thirty years ago, during the heyday of the area's manufacturing revival fueled by computers and electronics, nearly 40 percent of Lowell-area jobs were in manufacturing. Today, amid a shrinking job pool, about 25 percent of jobs in the region are in manufacturing, according to Robert Forrant, a professor in UMass Lowell's Department of Regional Economic and Social Development. The area has lost about 35,000 manufacturing jobs since the mid-1980s, says Forrant. Statewide, Massachusetts lost 25,496 manufacturing jobs from July 2007 to July 2009, according to Manufacturers' News Inc., which reported 372,757 manufacturing jobs in the state. Fifty-two of the 71 employees at Specialty Materials live in Lowell. The production staff is largely Asian. "Very good work ethic," says Treasure. Production workers here can earn more than $30,000 a year, technicians around $50,000, says Treasure. The average worker contributes $20 a week to a family health plan. The company matches 50 percent of the first 10 percent of salary contributed to its 401(k). There are also about a half-dozen former Textron employees, most of whom work part time. Nearly all hiring is done through temp agencies, followed by six months of training. "This is not something where you're just pushing a red and green button," says Treasure. "You have to be able to collect data." Processes are meticulously monitored from raw materials to finished products. Every fiber leaving the plant can be traced to its starting point. Aerospace applications built this business. Boron fiber is used for structural reinforcement or repair of the F-15 fighter, B-1 bomber, Black Hawk helicopter, space shuttle and Predator. The material also found its way into high-end golf clubs, skis, hockey sticks, fishing rods and Tour de France bike frames. Formula One, for competitive reasons, largely banned its use, says Treasure. Only the wealthiest teams could afford it. But the Green Revolution has triggered the company's greatest growth. Specialty Materials Inc. is the sole provider of silicon carbide fiber used by a major manufacturer in building its solar panels. (Treasure does not identify the company per a confidentiality agreement.) The exclusive deal runs until next year. With assistance from a grant from the National Institutes of Health, the company is also working on perfecting boron nanopowder to improve the performance of magnesium diboride superconducting wire used in superconducting magnets. The primary application would be to reduce the size and cost of MRI machines. "It could lead to a portable machine," says Treasure. "It could be in your doctor's office." Specialty Materials Inc.'s main building is more than a century old, once having housed the Meyer Thread Co. (Adjacent tire and engine-lube shops have been purchased for added space and parking.) Computer upgrades, laser process controls and one-of-a-kind machines -- designed by engineers here -- give the plant a Willy Wonka charm. The plant operates around the clock, 365 days a year, generating its own electricity. "So if somebody hits a pole on Middlesex Street, we don't go down," says Treasure. "Because we have all these (chemical) reactors that would have to be strung up again." Which could take two or three days, says plant manager Steve Pilioglos. The company has no sales staff. Just a thorough Web site, and engineers like Treasure, Kumnick and Bill Grant (director of product engineering) to answer the calls, which usually come from other engineers. "When somebody calls up with a crazy idea, we 'yes' them to death and send them the data," says Treasure. "Because you never really know." |
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