Ralph Hakim’s first version of the now patented ECO NO-OIL™ coating technology, emerged over four decades ago and was marketed as Dri-Form 90 through the marketing partnership of Champion International and 3-M Corporation. The coated plywood panels gained instant popularity with major contractors in the United States and were frequently used on large, high profile construction projects such as dams, water treatment facilities, hospitals, and nuclear power plants. The Atlantic Richfield Towers and the Security Pacific Plaza building in Los Angeles were two such high profile projects where the ECO coated panels were used with great success.
In the late 1990’s, WORLDTECH ceased marketing the ECO NO-OIL™ panels in the United States as a direct result of the EPA’s revisions to the air quality regulations restricting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) allowed by companies applying coatings. Now with the reformulation of the ECO NO-OIL™ coating, utilizing environmentally compliant solvents, having minimal VOC’s , WORLDTECH is re-introducing the ECO coated plywood forming panel to the cast-in-place forming segment. We are confident that the ECO coated panel will be welcomed with great enthusiasm and regain the popularity it had with contractors in the past.
WORLDTECH’s migration to the rapidly growing precast concrete segment was a natural transition as the same advantages found in the ECO NO-OIL™ coated plywood panels also apply to ECO coated steel forms and molds. WORLDTECH COATINGS, INC is a member of the NPCA and is working with several of its member companies, testing the NO-OIL coating on various steel forms and molds. The excitement generated thus far, within this segment, leads us to believe that WORLDTECH’s patented coating technology will have a very positive impact on the precast concrete industry.
Joint Venture Rocks Concrete Industry, Turning Plywood Form Panels Into A Specialty Item
Article By: Diana Granitto of Construction Marketing Today Magazine
Champion International Corp. and 3M Co. perked their ears when entrepreneur Ralph Hakim explained how his polymeric resin coating would put an end to oiling plywood form panels. Envisioning a product that would shake the concrete industry, the two manufacturing giants joined forces recently to make Hakim’s dream a reality. 3M Protective Chemical Products Div. and Champion, a leading forest products manufacturer, are jointly marketing the no-oil panels. The coating is applied at the mill, and the panels arrive at the jobsite ready to use. The innovation turns plywood panels from a commodity into a specialty.
3M acquired the sole rights to the technology and brand of the Dri-Strip Coating™ line from Hakim, president of WORLDTECH COATINGS, INC., Palm Desert, CA. Hakim will be a consultant to 3M’s new Specialty Coatings Products Group.
Champion owns exclusive US manufacturing rights for an undisclosed period, as well as international distribution rights.
Hakim took the concept to Champion about 2 years ago. “We were interested, but we couldn’t take it any further ourselves,” says James DiStefano, a Champion marketing projects manager.
So, Hakim went to 3M where they had the technical resources to develop the product. “It came back as a package that fit us perfectly,” says DiStefano.
The fit was good for 3M, too. To market the product, 3M needed a progressive partner in the construction industry, says Richard Galash, new business development manager, Protective Chemical Products Div.
Partnering is one of 3M’s strategies for entering new markets without starting new businesses. “It leverages our position in the market place,” Galash says.
“Champion had the marketing focus we wanted. They’re not just commodity oriented,” says Thomas G. Gerlach, the division’s marketing communication manager.
Dri-Strip was introduced in January with a media blitz at World of Concrete in Las Vegas. Ten days before the show, the manufacturers sent a direct mailing to people on the pre-registrant list.
During the show, Dri-Strip commercials aired on local morning news programs. A longer presentation was shown on closed circuit TV in some hotels. Advertising appeared on bus billboards and in publications distributed at the show.
“Response was far beyond our expectations,” says DiStefano. Champion took home more than 900 inquiries and fielded phone calls for several weeks after the show.
Acceptance of the concept also was encouraging, says DiStefano. Getting people to change how they do something is always a marketing challenge. Contractors will have to unlearn oiling, and they’ll have to be convinced the new way will work. That should not be too difficult.
In 3M’s market research, contractors indicated an overwhelming need for the product, says Galash. They quickly recognized potential cost savings. The panels can be used for 25 or 30 concrete pours without requiring form oils or release agents. Less time is spent cleaning panels between pours. Contractors don’t have to buy panels as often. They also don’t have to buy and store barrels of release agents. And the slippery surfaces that oils create are not a hazard.
The marketers haven’t overlooked the environmental angles. They’re playing up the fact that there’s no disposal problem and no evaporation or seepage of release agents into the air or groundwater.
In their research, the manufacturers also called on architects, who said they liked the consistent results of the concrete surface. Surfaces are denser, smoother, and lighter in color, in some cases making it possible to reduce lighting requirements or eliminate the need for painting, says DiStefano.
It was the surface consideration that gave inventor Hakim the idea in the first place, back when he worked with polymeric coatings in the late 1960’s. On one of his projects he happened to observe concrete forms being stripped. “I noticed the wood sticking to the concrete and the discoloration,” Hakim says. That spurred him to develop a coating that would solve those problems.
Hakim’s coating was marketed by a major commodity-oriented plywood company until it later abandoned its specialty programs, he says. Disillusioned, Hakim let his invention lie dormant for many years. He finally took it to the right place. A 3M policy is that an average 35% of sales each year must represent products that didn’t exist 4 years earlier. New products usually are developed internally rather than acquired, but the doors are open.
“It makes us proud,” says Gerlach.”He came to us and we made his dream possible.”
