FAIRLAWN, Ohio, July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OMNOVA
Solutions (NYSE: OMN) today announced its 2009 Technology Award
recipients. This annual award program recognizes exemplary
technology-based contributions by associates in OMNOVA's research
and development, sales and marketing, technical service,
operations, product management and LEAN SixSigma organizations.
Technological innovations in new product development and process
improvements are positively impacting customers in virtually all of
OMNOVA's served markets including coated fabrics for automotive
interiors, decorative paper laminates, commercial wallcoverings,
performance films used in healthcare products, as well as
performance chemicals for paper, floor care, oil drilling and other
specialty applications.
Recipients hail from across OMNOVA's global operations,
including its Performance Chemicals business segment facilities in
Akron, Ohio; Mogadore, Ohio; Chester, South Carolina; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Fitchburg, Massachusetts; and Decorative
Products business segment facilities in Monroe, North Carolina; Jeannette, Pennsylvania; Columbus, Mississippi; Fairlawn, Ohio; and Shanghai, China.
"Innovation enables OMNOVA to grow by differentiating our
Company as a value-added supplier to our customers in today's
challenging operating environment," said Kevin McMullen, OMNOVA Solutions' Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer. "This year's recipients have successfully
built on OMNOVA's core competencies in our existing markets and
further enhanced our products and processes as we continue to
broaden our scope in new, adjacent markets. Several of these
award-winning technologies also deliver environmentally preferred
attributes, expanding on our sustainability commitment. These
breakthroughs represent another example of OMNOVA's unyielding
commitment to our customers and markets, and to making investments
that further expand our capabilities to meet our customers' needs."
Innovation titles, summaries and recipients are as
follows:
RECORE® Recycled Wall Technology
Ronnie Bell – Columbus, Mississippi
Rob Moore – Columbus, Mississippi
Otis Allen – Columbus, Mississippi
Reba Ingram – Columbus, Mississippi
Tony Warrington – Columbus, Mississippi
When OMNOVA introduced its revolutionary RECORE® Recycled
Wall Technology, it was an industry first with the highest content
of recycled material. Wallcoverings with RECORE technology
contain 30% recycled content and have been certified to contain a
minimum 20% post-consumer recycled content by Scientific
Certification Systems, a global leader in independent certification
of environmental product claims. This team from OMNOVA's
Columbus, Mississippi facility
worked with plant associates and outside suppliers to fully
integrate this innovation into its processes. Today, OMNOVA's most
popular wallcovering brands, including Bolta®,
Essex™, Genon® and
Tower®, as well as viewnique™ digital wall murals,
utilize RECORE Recycled Wall Technology.
GenCryl Pt® 9457 High Performance Paper
Latex
Pam Arndorfer – Green Bay, Wisconsin
Brian Doucet – Mogadore, Ohio
Michael Flickinger – Akron, Ohio
Joy Untch – Mogadore, Ohio
Bill Verhasselt – Green Bay, Wisconsin
John Westerman – Akron, Ohio
Building on OMNOVA's award-winning GenCryl Pt® paper
latex technology platform, this cross-functional team, along with
associates from the Company's Mogadore,
Ohio pilot plant and Green Bay,
Wisconsin facility, developed a high performance latex with
enhanced paper printing attributes. GenCryl Pt 9457 latex is
currently being utilized at several printing mills across
the United States. OMNOVA is
continually working with its paper latex customers to develop
products based on this innovation to meet the needs of their
manufacturing processes and end use specifications.
Mor-Shine® G-31.5 Environmentally Preferred
Floor Polish Formulation
Jamey Gaston – Chester, South Carolina
Bill Beers – Chester, South Carolina
Don Kim – Akron, Ohio
Russ Craig – Chester, South Carolina
Suzanne Hurrey – Fitchburg, Massachusetts
This team led OMNOVA's floor care specialty chemicals group in
the commercialization of Mor-Shine® G-31.5 floor polish
formulation. This formulation has been qualified under the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Design for the Environment
program for containing ingredients with more positive environmental
characteristics than conventional floor polishes. It is also
California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2010 compliant for low VOC
emissions. Building on OMNOVA's core technical competencies in
commercial and industrial floor care products, Mor-Shine
G-31.5 utilizes two innovative and proprietary components -
NM® 128 floor care polymer and PolyFox™ PF-2002
fluorosurfactant – to deliver the performance desired by the end
user, as well as a strong environmental profile.
Paper Laminates Performance Coating Development
Milton Johnson – Monroe, North Carolina
Nick Gusler – Monroe, North Carolina
Bill Guillot – Monroe, North Carolina
Ron Collette – Monroe, North Carolina
This team worked closely with internal and external stakeholders
to develop a new coating for OMNOVA's Paper Laminates. Following
extensive research and development that was supported by the
Company's strong LEAN SixSigma process improvement approach, the
coating was fully integrated into the Monroe, North Carolina facility's
manufacturing processes. The coating delivers excellent functional
attributes, while improving plant productivity.
Inflatable Medical Mattress Films
Sunil Deoras – Jeannette, Pennsylvania
Tim Polaski – Jeannette, Pennsylvania
Roxanne Smith – Fairlawn, Ohio
This cross-functional team recognized an opportunity for OMNOVA
to increase its participation in the medical products market with
vinyl films for use in inflatable mattress applications. Mattresses
for this particular application are selectively inflated with air
to reduce the potential for bed sores, providing relief to
patients. Working in close collaboration with a customer, the team
developed a product to meet the strict specifications for products
used in patient care facilities, as well as those mandated by
federal regulations.
Bio-Based Copolymer for Oil/Gas Drilling Fluids
Lulu Alborno – Chester, South Carolina
Dan Bode – Field Sales
Dan Hagerty – Mogadore, Ohio
Doug Harper – Chester, South Carolina
Tim Saddow – Chester, South Carolina
Rita Vickerman – Mogadore, Ohio
This team worked to leverage one of OMNOVA's environmentally
preferred paper latex product platforms for use in oil and gas
drilling applications. In collaboration with customers, OMNOVA
successfully developed and commercialized a revolutionary new
copolymer for use in drilling muds. This chemistry is gaining broad
acceptance in the market through its superior performance features
and strong environmental profile.
Bio-Based Copolymer Manufacturing Process
Jim Vaughn – Mogadore, Ohio
Brian Doucet – Mogadore, Ohio
Glen Pellett – Chester, South Carolina
Heather Hackenbracht –
Mogadore, Ohio
Rachel Blei – Mogadore, Ohio
This cross-functional team successfully enabled OMNOVA to
develop and commercialize unique, environmentally preferred
copolymers for release coatings and other specialty chemical
markets. Development took place at OMNOVA facilities in
Mogadore, Ohio and Calhoun, Georgia. The team overcame a number
of hurdles through strong collaboration and data analysis.
Automotive Seating – Asia
Market
Frank Chen – Shanghai, China
Jiang Bin – Shanghai, China
Sam Zhang – Shanghai, China
Jiming Sun – Shanghai, China
Henry Hong – Shanghai, China
Titan Tian – Shanghai,
China
Lily Liu – Shanghai, China
Grace Chen – Shanghai China
Coco Zhang – Shanghai,
China
In close collaboration with the customer and external partners,
OMNOVA's Decorative Products China team developed an innovative
leather upholstery with a unique textile backing for automotive
interior applications. This required adherence to the customer's
detailed specifications, as well as enhancements to OMNOVA's
manufacturing processes. The new upholstery product was utilized in
three models for a major automaker at the end of 2009 with
additional business expected in 2010.
OMNOVA Solutions is a technology-based company with 2009 sales
of $696 million and a workforce of
approximately 2,300 employees worldwide. OMNOVA is an innovator of
emulsion polymers, specialty chemicals, and decorative and
functional surfaces for a variety of commercial, industrial and
residential end uses. Visit OMNOVA Solutions on the internet at
www.omnova.com.
GENCRYL PT, MOR-SHINE, NM, RECORE, BOLTA, GENON and VIEWNIQUE
are registered trademarks of OMNOVA Solutions Inc.
POLYFOX is a trademark used under license by OMNOVA Solutions
Inc.
TOWER is a registered trademark used under license by OMNOVA
Solutions Inc.
SOURCE OMNOVA Solutions