Russ LaBelle's career began with college job

Little did Russ LaBelle know that a job at thermoformer Fabri-Kal Corp. during college would be the start of a distinguished plastics industry career of more than 50 years and counting. Now the owner and president of Wilmington Machinery, which specializes in blow molding and injection molding equipment, he discussed his career with PMM senior staff reporter Bruce Adams.

How did you become involved in the plastics industry?

LaBelle: After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1964, I began to pursue a degree in industrial management at Western Michigan University while working full time at Fabri-Kal Corp. I graduated from WMU in 1967, and Fabri-Kal kept me to start and manage their first satellite operation near Lancaster, Pa. I was the plant manager in my dream job.

But my engineering juices kicked in, and I put out feelers to machinery builders and was hired by NRM [National Rubber Machinery] in Akron, Ohio. They were the largest maker of extruders in the world, and my specialty was sheet extrusion. ... I had great teachers at NRM, I learned a lot and became a guru in that process. The company wanted to venture into thermoforming machinery, and I had that background. I helped develop the concept, the design and build and testing of [NRM’s] thermoforming machine.

I was lured away from NRM by a smaller company that wanted to build extrusion machinery. That company was Extruders Inc., which today is part of Xaloy, which is part of Nordson. I worked on developing a new line of extrusion machinery that was hydraulically driven.

I got a call from Structural Foam Plastics in North Carolina. They do a type of injection molding. I visited them and they bought an extruder from me, and I was fascinated by structural injection foam molding and suggested we build a structural foam molding machine because companies were making their own machines.

The big opportunity for a structural foam molding machine was in the furniture industry. In the fall of 1972, I moved to Wilmington, N.C., with $10,000 to my name and an idea for a machine to make furniture parts. I started Wilmington Machinery in 1973 during the oil embargo. My timing was bad because the price of [poly]styrene went from 15 cents a pound to 75 cents a pound. Making brush handles for the brush industry saved the day.

In the late 1970s, we built foam extruders and developed an accumulator device to produce slabs of foam that were formed into boogie boards and other products. We had a breakthrough in 1979 when we built an extrusion system with four identical extruders mounted on one base, driven hydraulically. Initially we built coextrusion systems for the major processors of the time for blow molding applications. In the early 1980s, the industry wanted the complete blow molder. We developed a rotary blow molder and produced it in 1983-84.

How did you get started building blow molding machines?

LaBelle: We entered the blow molding market by building the coextrusion systems for American Can, Continental Can and Owens-Illinois. They said they wanted the whole machine — the extrusion end, the die end and the rotary part that molds the bottles. We started in 1982 and delivered it in 1983-84. … When I visited those three companies, each had a rotary blow molder that they made themselves. I asked what they liked and disliked about it. They said they wished they had a simultaneously opposed clamp. They asked us to reduce trim scrap.

What challenges did you encounter as your business grew?

LaBelle: One challenge is lead time. We’ve overcome that by buying and stocking critical components, such as extruder barrels and some hydraulic components. The cost of the machine can be a challenge. It’s a substantial investment to buy a rotary machine. It takes an informed customer to realize that going with a rotary machine means less maintenance, fewer employees and a lower-cost product at a higher quality.

You are a below-the-radar guy, but your innovations are well-known. How would you describe yourself and what you want to accomplish?

LaBelle: My passion is to conceive, design and build machines that perform well. I’m a good listener and I have a can-do attitude, but I’m also flexible and willing to explore options and other possibilities. My career followed a series of lucky steps along the way. Experience helps a lot. I will never compete with a customer in any way. I’ve said no to all joint ventures that would have put us in that position. Some people have taken the other approach and made a lot of money.

How many patents do you hold?

LaBelle: One. It was for a multilayer industrial blow molder. It never took off, but we are looking to push that product again. The machine did what we wanted it to do. It was for a Coleman cooler that we did all in one molding. We could not get the price point to where it needed to be. My company has participated in several patents, and there have been patents that our customers have taken in joint development.

How did Wilmington gain its expertise in foaming?

LaBelle: We gained a lot of expertise as a result of the three-layer industrial blow molder. We have a rotary blow molder in our lab that we work with. The most demand for foam molded products is in injection blow molding. They want to reduce weight and retain properties. Our work suggests that can be done.

What evolutions in technology had the most impact on your business? Tell me about the all-electric trend.

LaBelle: Controls have changed the most. Once we became computerized, there were more servo devices that allowed you to do things you couldn’t previously do. Our rotary blow molding machines have been all-electric for several years. The advantage of a rotary blow molder is that everything is motorized and cam-actuated. Injection machines are hybrid — electric on the injection end and hydraulic on the clamping end. There may come a day when the clamping end could be electric.

How do you ensure consistent innovation in your machinery?

LaBelle: Being watchful for new things. The innovation often can be customer-driven. A customer wants to do something new. We attempt a prototype of new technology rather than just run with it, unless it is production proven in that application.

What is the greatest challenge you faced in your career?

LaBelle: The economic downturn in 2008. We had some years that were up and down during that period, but we did not have control of the economic downturn. It’s more difficult to continue to invest in the company when the economy is in a downturn. Last year, we had one of our best years ever.

Where do you see the blow molding and injection molding industries 10 or 20 years from now?

LaBelle: It will change cautiously. It will be more focused on sustainability of the raw material. There is a greater opportunity for machines that will accept recycled plastic. Our foam machines do that well. The environment will impact the industry, which will impact machinery. We will get increasingly concerned about what we are doing to the environment.

There will be an increased need for training due to employee turnover. Controls need to be more intuitive to the point where you can walk to the machine and get training from the operator interface on the machine. U.S.-made machinery will continue to be the choice for specialized machinery, which we build. It will be more challenging for U.S. commodity machine builders.

To what do you attribute your company’s success?

LaBelle: Customers, employees and vendors. Our success has been our ability to attract customers who wanted to do something better or different than commodity machinery allowed them to do. Better can be more of or a better-quality part. It could replace labor. We fit the machine to what somebody wants to do. We listen carefully to our customers. We serve niche markets. We built a nice customer base. We are a turnkey solution provider for people who don’t know about processing plastics. We jointly develop specs for what the machine has to do.

To what do you attribute your personal success?

LaBelle: My parents and the values that they gave me. I grew up in a disciplined home. Also, I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Going to college was pay as I go, not on a loan. It helped develop my work ethic and drive. I also have a creative mind, and I’ve been lucky. People I met who I’ve had for teachers and mentors were keys to my success. I did not do it all on my own.

How would you like to be remembered?

LaBelle: As a lucky person who had the privilege of working with the who’s who of the molders and jointly doing some exciting things.