Category: News Releases

RDAbbott has named Levi Jim Cottington Vice President, Head of Supply Chain. In this vital role, Cottington is responsible for driving speed and predictable results for RDAbbott’s customers through prioritization, risk mitigation, and complexity management.

NovationSi, the manufacturing subsidiary for RDAbbott, has named Brian Swanton as Director of Process Engineering. Swanton holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technology University and has over 28 years of silicone experience, including extensive service with Dow and Dupont. Swanton holds multiple patents and has developed or scaled up at least forty products, which now represent a minimum of $100M in annual sales.

RDAbbott has hired Gabriel Rodriguez as Senior Account Manager for R.D. Abbott de México. Rodriguez joined RDAbbott’s Mexico subsidiary on January 1, 2023, and is responsible for developing business relationships, fostering sales growth, and providing technical support to customers in the northern territories of México.

NovationSi, the manufacturing subsidiary for RDAbbott, has named Steve Hersey Plant Manager. Prior to joining NovationSi, Hersey was the General Manager for HEXPOL Compounding in Akron, Ohio. While at HEXPOL, he managed substantial volume growth over four years and sales revenue experienced exponential growth during his tenure. Hersey brings a veteran approach to silicone manufacturing as he began his HEXPOL career as a Lead Operator and later served as a Production Supervisor. He has also owned a construction business and worked as an Operations Lead for Portage Precision Polymers before it was acquired by HEXPOL.

Starting February 23, RDAbbott will launch its 2023 webinar series that will feature technical insights, material updates, and processing recommendations from our supplier partners throughout the year.

RDAbbott has named Mat Dove as National Sales Manager and Jason Huff as East Coast Sales Manager. Both promotions will become effective on January 1, 2023. Dove, the current East Coast Sales Manager, will assume a newly created position that is responsible for managing all sales efforts nationwide. Huff, a current Senior Account Manager for the U.S. Midwest, will assume Dove’s previous position and manage East Coast sales.

RDAbbott will share its rubber industry knowledge at Silicone Elastomers Technology and Fabrication, an in-person course from M.R. Toub Training from January 31 to February 3, 2023. Rick Ziebell will be an instructor for this university-accredited course, which will provide participants with 3.2 continuing education credits from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Dow has launched a new series of selective adhesion LSR products for the mobility and transportation industry. SILASTIC™ SA 994X LSRs are primer-less, self-adhesive, and available in standard and self-lubricating versions with a one-to-one mix ratio for two-component injection molding with thermoplastic substrates. These new LSR materials were specifically developed to target adhesion to polybutylene terephthalates (PBT) and polyamides (PA).

RDAbbott and NovationSi have released a holiday video that transforms a classic Christmas poem into a tale from today’s rubber industry. “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” an eighteenth-century poem that is credited to various authors, features a cast of RDAbbott and NovationSi employees from the companies’ Garden Grove, California, and Barberton, Ohio Service Centers.

Hallstar has finalized its purchase of LANXESS’ ester manufacturing facility in Greensboro, North Carolina. The acquisition expands the Chicago-based company’s manufacturing capacity, product portfolio, and employee roster. As part of the acquisition, Hallstar is gaining new product lines of brominated flame retardants and phthalate-free plasticizers, including benzoate and citrate esters.