History

It Starts With A Vision…

Crown Plastics really began in 1965 when Bob Ellerhorst took on a position at Formica Corp. in Cincinnati, Ohio working with a new polymer to the plastics industry, UHMW. The material was to be manufactured on a new state of the art high-pressure machine known as the continuous compression process. The continuous compression process had the capability of compression molding UHMW in a continuous form without skiving. Bob worked with Formica on developing UHMW polymers for one year before accepting a position at Edgecliff College as a chemistry professor.

In 1971, Ken Meyers, who worked with Bob at Formica, called to inform him that the continuous compression process was available for sale. The two men, realizing the opportunity, scraped together the capital needed and in January of 1973, Crown Plastics was born.

The company started out in a small warehouse in Lawrenceburg, Indiana with Bob, Ken and 1 other employee. Since the UHMW market was still in it’s infancy, there was a lot of product and application development that had to be done. In the meantime Crown began researching the continuous compression process and discovered that only six machines were built and three of them were in a warehouse in Jackson, Michigan. They negotiated a deal with Hoover Ball and Bearing, the manufacturer, for the machines and all spare parts in storage. Shortly thereafter they were notified that 3M, who had machine #5, no longer needed its services and Crown was offered that machine as well.

In 1976 Crown was asked to build gas tank shields for the Ford Pinto. This was to alleviate the serious problem Ford was having with explosions in rear end collisions due to gas tank rupture. The product was very successful and Ford began to use the UHMW shields on other models as well. It wasn’t long before GM followed suit and Crown Plastics production began to soar. By 1978, the need for more space was required so Crown moved across the border to Harrison, Ohio. This permitted Crown to put 4 continuous compression process machines on line for the first time. The fifth machine was scrapped due to numerous and un-repairable problems. This left one continuous compression process machine, the Model 60 which had 48″ capability, the only one not in Crown’s possession.

At this time, Crown knew it had to develop more sales through distribution. Bob brought on his son, Gary, to begin building the distributor market. As this market slowly grew, the demand in the automotive market began to diminish due to re-engineering. The need to diversify was critical so Crown began to lease its continuous compression process technology to a number of outside companies who were eager to take advantage of this machine’s capabilities. Companies such as Allied Chemical, Dow, Furon and DuPont were lining up to do composite, laminate and engineering projects.

Again space was becoming critical and a new facility was constructed across the street from their current location. It was then they were able to track down and acquire the Model 60. This finally gave Crown sole possession of the entire continuous compression process family.

In February of 1992, Gary and Bob set out to Las Vegas on what they hoped could be the next area of opportunity, the snowboard industry. Prior to Crown’s involvement in this industry, the snowboard manufacturers, primarily domestic, were all importing their base from Austria. This meant long lead times and high freight. Crown was able to offer a domestically made product that was not skived which could provide better printing characteristics and ease of processing. The product was immediately accepted and soon became the “standard” for sintered base material used in the US. This immediate growth required a 5000 sq. ft. addition in 1992 followed by an additional 30,000 sq. ft. expansion in 1994.

The growth of the Snowboard market forced Crown to change its approach to doing business. Crown beefed up its management staff, which included a quality department and R&D staff. Along with Gregg Ellerhorst, Chief Engineer, advancements were made in continuous compression process technology as well as feeding systems and product quality and output significantly increased across the board.

To help relieve Gary of some of the increased sales pressures, Pete Ellerhorst was added to the sales department in 1993 after supervising the downline production area which processed the ever increasing distributor based materials. The same year, Crown was again approached to supply material to the automotive market. This time it involved noise reduction films and tapes, which are applied to interior trim parts to eliminate buzz, squeak and rattle. Crown is currently a major player in this highly competitive market and has maintained high market share and customer loyalty through exceptional service and commitment to meeting and exceeding customer requirements.

2002 was a big year for Crown. For the first time in company history, Crown was able to produce 24 inch wide UHMW in continuous coil. This has opened up new application possibilities and markets where wider material requirements exceeded Crown’s previous capability. Crown also began forging ahead with testing additives to enhance coefficient of friction and abrasion resistance. New co-sintering was developed to allow two different grades or blends of UHMW, or possibly UHMW and another material to be molded or sintered together. This capability is unique to Crown Plastics and can be found nowhere else in the world.

In 2003 Crown achieved ISO 9000 certification, which elevated them into a level of elite quality status. This certification not only helped solidify Crown’s position in the market as a quality supplier, but also be an asset in the establishment of new markets such as railroad, fitness, boating and aerospace.

With Bob’s passing, Gary now maintains the position of President and CEO and Pete as Director of Partner Development is responsible for distributor, automotive and OEM application development.  In 2009, Alan Rowland was added as Vice President, Sales and Marketing to focus on developing market and product strategies for future growth.

Crown’s future continues to shine brightly. With control of nearly 90% of the US sintered Snowboard market, increasing opportunity in the automotive market, untapped distributor potential and new markets continuing to unfold, the need for Crown’s expanding product line is greater now than ever before.

Thanks to Bob Ellerhorst’s vision and commitment, the continuous compression process and thin gauge UHMW are here to stay.

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