NEW YORK – Shale-Inland LLC has partnered with 3M Co. to develop and market a number of new “disruptive” coating technologies, including an alternative to traditional paint for use in the automotive and appliance end-use sectors, the company’s top executive told AMM. “One of my most important tasks designing Shale-Inland has been to find a technology partner that could help us bring disruptive technology to the market through new products. In 3M, we have the technology leader of the world,” Craig Bouchard, Chief Executive Officer of Shale-Inland, said in an e-mail.
The companies have entered into a five-year commercialization agreement intended to advance “the development of protective and decorative films in the global primary metal and metal fabrication markets,” they said in a statement Monday.
The new subsidiary, called Shale-3M, intends to develop a number of coating products, but first to the marketplace will be a line of tape products for the stainless steel sector, Bouchard said. Shale-Inland subsidiary Main Steel Polishing Co. Inc. will start distributing that product next month, he said.
The company is also planning to develop and market a new tape product that will convert stainless steel to commercial mirrors sometime next year.
Next to the table will be a tape product intended as an alternative to traditional coatings on steel and aluminum that is currently used in the automotive and appliance markets. “Paint, as one example, is not very popular. We hope to replace it with tape for a targeted list of applications beginning late in 2012,” Bouchard said. “After that, we see a real opportunity to replace welding with ultra-high-strength adhesives. We hope to have an application to take to the trucking and trailer market in 2013.” The company plans to expand its Shale-Inland Stamping & Fabricating LLC facility in Chicago to help accommodate the expanded product line, as well as build a Main Steel facility in China, according to Bouchard.
“I expect to conclude a joint venture with a Chinese steel company in the first quarter. We will build a facility in China on their premises with completion not more than one year later,” Bouchard told AMM, noting that Shale-Inland is currently in discussions with three potential Chinese partners.
The partnership will be led by Alan Blankshain, Executive Vice President of Shale-Inland and Chief Executive Officer of Shale-Inland Stamping & Fabricating, and Jody Pitts, Vice President of Marketing at Shale-Inland and General Manager of Main Steel’s tape division, Bouchard said.
3M confirmed the news of the partnership, noting that it was excited to push further into the metals sector.
“We welcome the opportunity to gain firsthand customer insight from this agreement with Shale-Inland. The global metals market exceeds $2 trillion in annual revenue. We feel this market is vastly underserved when it comes to technological advances in coatings, adhesives, and reflectivity.” Mike Roman, Vice President of the Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division at 3M, said in a statement.
“The future pipeline is full of industry-changing ideas,” Bouchard said, noting that the technology for each product is already “well into development.”
Anne Riley
