Springdale company unveils advanced manufacturing product
by February 18, 2009 3:44 pm 68 views
An advanced manufacturing company once interested in moving to Fort Smith announced its first major commercial product resulting from research at the University of Arkansas.
Springdale-based Duralor said Wednesday (Feb. 18) its “TuffTek” tool coating is on the market after seven years of “intensive” research and development.
While the technology and processes are advanced and complicated, the bottom line is this: Duralor uses nanotechnology — the manipulation of materials at the extreme microscopic levels — to create compounds that allow cutting tools to cut more precise and to last longer.
According to the Duralor statement, TuffTek-coated tools outperformed traditional coatings by more than 300%. For example, in forming shafts from high-quality steel, TuffTek tools yielded nine finished shafts per tool while conventional titanium aluminum nitride coated tools typically yielded three. In addition, TuffTek provided a 50% reduction in the time required to machine each shaft thus reducing labor, according to Duralor.
Calvin Goforth, president of Duralor, told The City Wire there is no reason the company can’t reach $50 million in sales in a few years in the $20 billion global cutting tool market. Company owners and investors are confident the venture is on target, with Goforth saying the 6-person company is also on track to employ between 100 and 150 — most receiving wages much higher than average manufacturing wages — in a few years. The company is scheduled to move in April to a new building in the Springdale Technology Park.
Once interested in moving to Fort Smith, Duralor settled in Springdale after city and chamber officials there showed a greater willingness to recruit advanced manufacturing companies built around university research.
Goforth said the company has a large auto manufacturer as a customer. He said the new customer was unable to consistently make parts within “necessary critical tolerances. They tried us (TuffTek) and now every part comes out perfect.”
He said other manufacturers in the auto sector are now more interested in TuffTek, and noted that Fort Smith-based Baldor Electric is a company Duralor hopes to gain as a customer.
“This (Duralor) has the opportunity to be a real success story about how to build a commercial product from university research,” Goforth said Wednesday.
The core technology behind TuffTek was exclusively licensed from the University of Arkansas in 2002 by Duralor’s parent company, NanoMech, a Fayetteville-based technology company. The technology is covered by multiple patents and patents pending. Pinnacle Investments, an Arkansas-based global technology venture firm, helped gather funding 2008 for both NanoMech and Duralor.