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Article: Niche player finds growth in SMC.(strategies: IDI Composites International)
- Article from:
- Plastics Technology
- Article date:
- February 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Gardner Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Engineering thermoplastics are often touted as the wave of the future, but there's plenty of life yet in thermoset molding compounds. A case in point is IDI Composites International, a thermoset compounder in Noblesville, Ind. In four years, IDI expanded its unsaturated polyester sheet molding compound (SMC) business from 1 million lb in 2003 to 15 million lb last year. This success came from identifying growing metal-replacement opportunities in markets outside automotive, the traditional mainstay of SMC.
IDI grew up in the polyester bulk molding compound (BMC) business but had the confidence to plunge into SMC. "We have great strength in formulations, so we ...