Committed to Innovation

The Midwest earned the nickname “America’s Heartland” in part because of its crucial role in the nation’s manufacturing industry. So perhaps it’s no surprise that ACMA’s incoming chair of the board of directors, Fred Sanford, is the third association leader in a row to hail from the state of Ohio. He follows Scott Balogh, president and CEO of Mar-Bal Inc., and Kevin Barnett, now retired from Core Molding Technologies.

Sanford, vice president and general manager at Röchling Glastic Composites in Cleveland, isn’t a native Buckeye, however. That honor goes to the Boston area, though Sanford has lost much of the city’s distinctive accent. “When I graduated from Northeastern University, I went to work for GE Plastics. Two years in they sent me to Holland,” he says. “That had the effect of washing out much of my Boston accent.”

During his 35-plus year career in the polymer industry, Sanford has worked on three continents in locations ranging from Hong Kong and Tokyo to Atlanta and Pittsfield, Mass. “Fred has a long history in plastics and has broad work experiences,” says Barnett, who served as a member of ACMA’s Board of Directors alongside Sanford for four years. “He comes from a technical background and has served in business leadership roles in both the U.S. and internationally.”

Sanford’s vast experience makes him an ideal leader as ACMA prepares for the future under the guidance of new CEO Cindy Squires. They both began their respective roles with the association on July 1. (For more information on Squires, read the article on page XX.)

Wearing Many Professional Hats

Sanford’s passion for polymers began as a chemical engineering student at Northeastern during a co-op position with the U.S. Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center, where he worked on FRP ballistic protection for military vehicles. His second co-op assignment was with GE Plastics, the company that hired him upon graduation.

“The combination of getting fascinated about materials at that early stage of my engineering education, as well as the opportunity to work in a place like GE, drew me into the industry in the glory days of plastics,” says Sanford.

If there’s a theme song to his career, it’s “I Did It My Way” by Frank Sinatra. “I probably didn’t follow many of the rules or walk the expected career path for someone with my background,” he chuckles. “At my core I have always been a scientist, which is where I started after graduation, but I quickly realized I wasn’t satisfied simply doing research or development in a lab. I wanted to see things become real, so I made a point of making career changes into the commercial side.”

Sanford worked for GE Plastics until 1992, primarily in R&D and product development with a two-year stint as a manufacturing engineer in Holland. In 1993, he joined Polymer Corp., which changed names several times. During his time with Polymer Corp., DSM Engineering Plastic Products, Quadrant EPP and Mitsubishi Plastics, he held numerous positions in R&D, business development, operations, supply chain management and sales and marketing.

“Bouncing around among disciplines was intentful,” he says. “I wanted to have a very rounded, ground-level experience in business. It probably resulted in a much longer career path, but it was for a specific reason.”

Leading the Way in Industry Advancements

Throughout his career, Sanford has been involved in many cutting-edge projects. Early on, he worked in the same technology group at GE with legendary industry leaders, including Dan Fox, a celebrated scientist who held 44 patents and was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 1976. The group invented and patented Gecet, an expanded polystyrene blend. Sanford also helped improve the process for manufacturing with ULTEM™ amorphous thermoplastic polyetherimide (PEI) resins.

While working as a manufacturing engineer for GE Plastics Europe in the Netherlands, Sanford contributed to production of an ultra-clean polycarbonate for CDs and other media. Later at Polymer Corp., he collaborated on a project to bring advanced plastic materials to the semiconductor industry.

“Every one of those projects was about something new – a new business, a new process or a new product,” he says. “Introducing something new, then making it real has always been the driver for me.”

In 2014, Sanford joined Röchling Glastic Composites. Founded in 1946, Glastic Corporation was one of the first commercial fiberglass operations in the country. In 2007, the company was acquired by the Röchling Group, which has three divisions: automotive, medical and industrial. Röchling Glastic focuses on the industrial market, producing high-performance thermoset sheets, rods and pultruded profiles primarily for electrical equipment manufacturers.

“It’s a classic market,” says Sanford. “Our challenge now is to grow and diversify that business so the outlook for the next 40 years is as bright as the past 75 have been.” The company made strides earlier this year when it invested $4.9 million in a newly opened, 60,000-square-foot logistics building that will also create jobs in the region. The company, which also operates a 122,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, has approximately 120 employees.

Tony Osterman, controller at Röchling Glastic Composites, says Sanford adeptly led the recent company expansion. “Our space limitations were becoming a bottleneck and impacting our ability to grow our business,” says Osterman. “Fred worked with senior leadership at Röchling to get approval, worked with local and county governments to assist with securing the current site and worked with his teams to complete the project on time and on budget.”

Finding the Right Path

Sanford’s ability to work with an array of people and get the job done will serve him well as chair of ACMA’s Board of Directors. Shortly after joining the board, Sanford agreed to lead ACMA’s Marketing & Communications Committee (MARCOM), which helps formulate the association’s marketing strategy and identifies ways to promote the composites industry.

“Fred jumped right in and took the opportunity to look at our MARCOM area through a different lens,” recalls Barnett. “He uses an analytical, but creative approach to understand things. Fred is never afraid to take on a challenge.” During the past two years – some of the most challenging in the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions – Sanford served as treasurer of ACMA.

Sanford is prepared to lead the association for the next two years as it continues to evolve. “When I started out my career, if someone said they were in composites the picture that popped into your mind was a fiberglass canoe or cafeteria lunch tray,” he says. “Then the industry moved into carbon fiber and other resin technologies, but it was still very much a thermoset world. Now the boundaries have blurred, and composites can mean much more – not only plastics, but also powdered metal composites and ceramic composites.”

Sanford admits there are advantages and disadvantages to the expanding market: It creates a bigger world that opens up new opportunities, but also can lure companies down expensive rabbit holes and away from their core strengths. As ACMA chair, he hopes to foster new opportunities for composites that members can pursue to improve their respective businesses. He’ll also work with the board of directors to significantly expand association membership.

“Just like the word composites has changed, our potential members have changed, too,” says Sanford. “We started an initiative three years ago that would have significantly expanded our member base and grown the association only to be interrupted by COVID. We need to find our path all over again. If we do the right things for the right people, it will be a magnet [for membership].”

The Beginning of a New Adventure

Osterman says Sanford has challenged him to become better in his role as controller by looking at situations from different perspectives. “This has helped me get more done with our existing resources and has helped with analyzing situations to make better decisions,” he says. Osterman is confident that Sanford will do the same for ACMA.

“There is no doubt he will be a good leader for ACMA,” says Osterman. “He will bring together membership and work to impact a positive change for the benefit of the industry.”

Through the years, Sanford has garnered many advocates among colleagues at work and on the ACMA Board of Directors. But his biggest supporters are his wife, son and daughter. “They have been a very important part of all the adventures I’ve undertaken, no matter where in the world my career took me,” he says. “It’s been a wonderful ride, and we would not have had it any other way.”

Sanford’s adventures are sure to continue as he embarks on a new path as ACMA chair.

Susan Keen Flynn is managing editor of Composites Manufacturing magazine. Email comments to sflynn@keenconcepts.net.


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