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August 21 2011
Here is the story of US Rubber that came from the late Ian Ewings effects
and kindly passed on by Laura Clark his niece—it was dated 10th
November 1958---Sales Training Department
U S Rubber Story
Company History and
Organisation
The Company behind any product is important since the people logically want
to know the standing and competence4 of the organization presenting the
product. We want to tell you today something about the Company behind the
product and behind North British – The U.SW. Rubber Company Limited. The
majority all know the background to our own Company, North British, the
story of it’s small start in 1856 and its growth to the present date but we
want to tell you to-day something about our friends and colleagues across
the sea, of the great Company to which we are affiliated , The United States
Rubber Company. The story of its progress is as thrilling as that of our
own and more so, for there is nothing to compare with the achievements of
the people of the United States Rubber Company. Plant and Machinery are
useless without people, it is people who go to make any business great. You
only have to read of the rapid stride U.S. Rubber Company has made to
understand its top position in the industry today, but no business can
accomplish such a position without earning it, achievement is only possible
through work, hard work. It is the overall pulling power of a lot of skilled
people well led with a good plan behind their efforts. Remember this when
you discover the size of U.S. rubber, and remember it takes a lot of really
good little ones to make a good big one. United States Rubber Company is a
name known to millions throughout the world. It is important therefore that
you know some of the pertinent facts relating to its history and
organizational structure.
United States
Rubber Company is made up of approximately 60,000 people working in more
than 50 plants and 70 branches around the world plus nearly 7,000 in the
rubber plantations of the Far East.
United States
Rubber Company is owned by 25,000 stockholders. For each employee the
Company has invested more than $5,000 in plants, machinery and materials.
The Company
operates by divisions, which have their headquarters in the 21 story United
States Rubber Company building in Rockefeller Centre, New York City. Its 12
divisions are Tyre, Footwear, Fuel Cells, Mechanical Goods, General
Products, Lastex Yarn and Rubber Thread, Naugatuck Chemical, Synthetic
Rubber, Textile, and Plantations Divisions, and its subsidiaries, Dominion
Rubber Company Ltd., and United States Rubber International.
Organized in
1892 from companies which were started more than 100 years ago, United
States Rubber Company is the oldest rubber company in America. Our footwear
plant at Naugatuck, Conn., was the first plant in the world to make a
vulcanized rubber product, a pair of overshoes.
At first
operated by Samuel J. Lewis and Company, the plant was renamed Goodyear’s
Metallic Rubber Shoe Company because one of its directors, Charles Goodyear,
had discovered the vulcanization of rubber. Original Licences under the
inventor’s patent were held by the company and by L. Candee & Company of New
Haven, Conn., both predecessor companies of United States Rubber Company.
A great deal of
work has been done in the past 100 years. The company started by making
Vulcanized Rubber overshoes in 1843, although the actual consolidation of a
group of ten small New England Footwear Companies to centralize purchasing
and improve efficiency of distribution actually marked the inception of U.S.
Rubber Company.
Try to imagine
80,000 acres of Rubber Trees under cultivation in Malaya and Sumatra, which
eventually lead to the manufacture, by U.S. Rubber Company, of more than
30,000 end products used in the daily lives of everyone. Take Tyres—which
are used in almost every country in the world, under all conditions from the
torrid heat of the equator to the freezing cold of Alaska. Do you realize
how much work is involved in the development of a Tyre, do you know that 600
engineers combine their experience and knowledge in producing a single new
model tyre, that vast facilities are available in the field of research for
testing new products, improving the textiles that make for better footwear
and mechanical items; but we are rushing too fast. Lets go back several
years.
ORGANIZATION OF COMPANY
Formation of
United States Rubber Company on March 30, 1892 brought together other
eastern rubber companies, most of which were engages in the manufacture of
waterproof footwear. Their union was prompted by a desire to operate more
economically and efficiently.
One of the
important functions of the new company in the first few years was to act as
a central purchasing agent, with the component companies still maintaining
their identities. This system of purchasing in the abnormally high and
erratic commodity market of those days resulted in substantial savings.
A lot of dates
are marked out as stepping stones for U.S. Rubber Company; it is difficult
to pick out any because each year was as important as the last.
In 1904, Naugatuck
Chemical Company was formed—
it was acquired by United States Rubber Company in 1910,
In 1905, The first overseas office was opened in London, England,
In 1907, acquired controlling interest in Canadian consolidated Rubber
Company, Now known as Dominion Rubber Company.
The first
aeroplane tyre was developed by the Company in 1908 and in 1910 they
established Rubber Plantations in Sumatra, which eventually became the
world’s largest. The United States Rubber Export Company Limited was
organized in 1914 to centralize export activities which previously had been
handled separately by various departments.
In 1916 U.S. Royal
Trade Mark was adopted for tyres: two items interest us in 1917, first, the
introduction of U.S. Keds, (a canvas rubber soled shoe with scientific last
and other improvements), second, an established pension plan for employees,
(one of the first such plans to be adopted by a business firm in the United
States).
In 1919, more
plantations were established—these being in British Malaya.
In 1920, Company
Sales reached a new peak—the highest since the Company’s formation at
$256,000,000.
U.S. Rubber
Company was now the world’s largest rubber company.
In 1934, U.S.
Keylon Foam Cushioning was made experimentally.
From hereon the
Company began to prosper and in 1936, U.S. Kedettes, rubber soled shoes for
women were announced to the public.
1938, Rayon
Cord for Tyres was developed, which led to safer, more durable tyres. In
1941, the U.S. Rubber Plantations were invaded by the Japanese and almost
immediately ground was broken for synthetic Rubber Plant in Naugatuck, one
of the first three built for the Government. In 1942, Herbert E. Smith was
elected as the Company’s President, ground was broken for the new Government
munitions plant in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, and
Pennsylvania. The Eau Claire Tyre Plant was converted to munitions, U.S.
Rubber started construction of synthetic plants at West Virginia and Los
Angeles, and the textile division built an Asbestos plant in Georgia. The
Reid Mill was also purchased in this year. In 1943 war work boosted the
number of employees to an all time peak of 89,000. In 1944 U.S. Rubber took
over management of the T.N.T. plant in Joliet, Illinois. The Mechanical
Goods Division made rubber lined tanks for atomic energy plant. The L.H.
Gilmer “V” belt plant in Philadelphia was acquired by the Mechanical Goods
Division, and a new family of plastic resins, known as vibrins, were
developed by U.S. Scientists. In 1945 a Rayon Tyre Cord Plant in
Scottsville, Virginia was purchased from the Government.
Butyl inner
tubes were developed during World War II and went into mass production for
the civilian market. In 1946 the first low pressure tyre, the U.S. Royal
“Air-ride” was developed by U.S. Rubber Company, setting a new tyre pattern
for the entire industry. The company resumed operation of its Malayan
plantations following the Japanese occupation and additional plants were
purchased during this year. The most outstanding feature of 1947 was that
the U.S. Rubber Company sales passed the $500,000,000 mark for the first
time. The footwear and General Products Division acquired a plant in
Chicago for the production of plastics. In 1948, ’49, and ’50 advances were
made with synthetic rubber, additional plant purchases were made and Ustex
Nylon Conveyor Belt was introduced, incorporating a high strength and low
stretch—thus making possible an increase in the span and capacity of
Conveyors. Plantation operations in Sumatra were resumed. In 1951 sales
totaled $837,000,000, a new record and the Gilmer Timing Belt was also
introduced this year. 1952 saw the U.S. Rubber International, a division of
the United States Rubber Company, in its placed. In 1953 a new foam rubber
plant was constructed at Santa Anna, California, the Company’s interest in a
perfume compounds business was sold and the Marvibond process was developed
to bond Marvinol Vinyl Resin to sheet steel and aluminum. In 1954 the U.S.
Rubber Company purchased a government owned synthetic rubber plant at
Naugatuck, Connecticut and formed the Texas—U.S. Chemical Company, a tie-up
with the Texas Company for the purchase of Synthetic rubber plant and a half
interest in the butadiene plant at Fort Neches, Texas. They introduced the
U.S. Royal tubeless tyre as a regular first line tyre and a new trade mark
and buying mark was adopted. The U.S. Sealdbin collapsible container was
developed for transporting and storing liquid and granular materials.
PRODUCTS FOR
INDUSTRY
Con current with
expansion in the footwear and tyre industries, the company intensified its
interest in mechanical rubber goods, chemicals and natural rubber.
To increase its
capacity for making belting, hose, packing and other products for industry,
the company acquired, through the purchase of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing
Company, a mechanical rubber goods plant at Passaic, New Jersey.
The significance
of this step is best illustrated by the importance of the products. Without
rubber air-brake hose, American railways would face constant disaster.
Without rubber conveyor belting, most of the nation’s coal mines would be
unable to operate efficiently. Without rubber-insulated wire, factories
would shut down for lack of power and entire cities would be plunged into
darkness.
The Company now
has six mechanical goods plants serving industry. They are located at
Bristol, Rhode Island, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Passaic, New Jersey, Providence,
R.I. Sandy Hook, Connecticut and Tacony, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A number of
general products such as drug sundries, golf balls, soles and heels and
beach wear are also produced in the Providence plant.
The synthetic
rubber plants operated by United States rubber Company during the war had a
combined rated capacity of 150,000 tons a year, or more than a fourth of the
country’s total production of synthetic rubber. The Company has developed
more than 100 new varieties of the rubber.
Lastex, an
elastic yarn which imparts stretch to all types of fabric, is made at
Providence, and also at Burlington, N. Carolina, Central Falls, R.I.
Manchester, N.H. and Needham Heights, Mass.
IMPORTANCE OF CHEMICALS
Interest in
chemicals stemmed from operation of a rubber reclaiming factory in Naugatuck
as early as 1986. Sulphuric acid was needed in the reclaiming process. The
Naugatuck Chemical Company was organized in 1904 to fill that need.
Subsequently it joined the rubber family.
Rubber chemicals
are essential in the production of all rubber products. Accelerators are
required in the modern methods of vulcanization. Anti-oxidants must be used
to insure the maximum life of rubber products. Special chemicals such as
plasticisers and tackifiers are used for top production efficiency and the
best possible performance of the finished product.
Most of the
Company’s chemicals are produced at Naugatuck. More than one-third of all
rubber products made by the industry contain Naugatuck chemicals.
The
familiarity with organic chemistry gained in the development of rubber
chemicals led the company into other fields. Today Naugatuck products
include agricultural chemicals, aromatics, and plastics.
GROWTH OF TEXTILE
BUSINESS
As a further
step to assure the quality of its finished products, the Company in 1917
entered the textile business by acquiring a controlling interest in the
Winnesboro Mills at Winnsboro, S.C. This was a logical move, as textiles
are second in importance only to rubber in numerous products, especially
tyres.
Through
installation of new equipment and increased operating efficiency, the plant
quadrupled production of cotton cord in three years. For a decade it
supplied all the tyre cord needed by the company. Then, as tyre production
mounted, there arose the need for additional textile mills.
After Winnsboro
Mills had been made an official member of the rubber family through outright
purchase, at varying intervals the following mills came into the textile
division: Stark Mills, Hogansville, GA, Shelbyville Mills, Shelbyville,
Tenn., Fisk Cord Mills, New Bedford, Mass., Reid Mills and Asbeston Plant,
Hogansville, GA.
Rayon and nylon
subsequently joined cotton as fibers to be processed in the textile mills.
Operation of a government-owned plant for the production of rayon tyre
fabric was begun in Scottsville, Va in 1944 and this plant was purchased by
the company in 1945.
Combed yarn for
Lastex was the principal purpose for the acquisition of Ruby Cotton Mills,
Inc. of Gastonia, N.C. in September, 1946.
In February of
1947 the Company purchased the textile plants of Stevens Manufacturing
Company and Seaboard Mills, Inc. in Burlington, N.C. now designated as one
unit, Seaboard Mills. This brought the total number of the company’s
textile plants to nine and greatly increased the capacity to produce a wide
variety of new fabrics. United States Rubber Company not only produces tyre
cord and textiles for its other rubber products but has developed such new
textile products as burn-proof ironing board covers, highly absorbent dish
towels and asbestos glass draperies.
The development
of new products and the business expansion of the various divisions have
resulted in a parallel growth in distribution facilities. Today 48 branches
within the United States serve as the principal cog in the
distribution of goods from plants to customers.
We mentioned
earlier the number of divisions which are controlled from the U.S. Rubber
Company building in Rockefeller center, New York City. Here is a list
showing the types of plants in U.S.A. controlled by U.S. Rubber:
6
Chemical Plants
5 Tyre Plants
10 Footwear, and General Products plants
6 Mechanical Goods Plants
7 Textile Plants
1 Fiber Industry Plant
1 Test Fleet headquarters
5 Tyre testing stations
1 Agriculture chemical laboratory
1 Lotol plant
1 Wellman sole cutting subsidiary plant
1 Latex handling plant
1 General laboratory greenhouse
1 Textile/general laboratory
16 Additional sales organizations
48 Distributory and Sales branches, stocking points, and
district sales headquarters
This year we
have learned of a tremendous step taken by U.S. Rubber in the building of a
modern research center at Wayne, New Jersey. This is one of the most modern
and scientific rubber and technical research centers in the U.S.A.
United States
Rubber Company is continuing to grow. It appears that its sales this year
may reach an all time high. Its research and development activities
continue at a high level. In addition to new product research, continued
efforts are devoted to new production methods, new materials, and
improvement of quality in existing products. Its approach to all problems
is progressive. This should be indicative of successful years ahead.
At the back of
this book can be seen a breakdown of the manufactured products which are
made by the respective divisions of U.S. Rubber Company.
Well, so much
for the U.S. Rubber—now let’s turn to a division of U.S. Rubber Company—The
International Division, which is a part of U.S. Rubber Company, and the
division of U.S. Rubber in which we, in North British Rubber, belong.
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