WCA November 2018

Industry news

50 years of innovation from Paramount

IN 1968, two brothers raised $750, bought some manual die lapping machines and set up shop in a shed behind their parents’ house. The company they founded, Paramount Die Company, is now a large supplier of finished carbide wire drawing dies, and is celebrating its 50 th anniversary. Paramount has introduced several of the wire industry’s ground-breaking innovations, according to the com- pany. One of its biggest innovations, the wire drawing die insert, has become a global standard. Significantly reducing the shipping cost of dies and making the manufacturing of dies easier to automate, the wire drawing insert has led to many transformations in the wire industry. No longer constrained by internal die shops or the need for local supply, wire drawers can now procure highly advanced and optimised wire dies from global die experts. In half a century, Paramount has evolved from a start-up operation to a large company in the industry, and maintains the culture of innovation that inspired its original success. In 1992, the current owner and president, Rich Sarver, took the lead. Working within his company, Mr Sarver has transformed Paramount from a regional die company, to the global organisation it is today. Compound acquisitions

❍ Rich Sarver, president and CEO of Paramount Die, right, celebrating his company’s 50 th anniversary with Friedrich Kehrer, global portfolio director metals and flow technologies at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, at wire 2018 earlier this year

advances in material science and metrology, Paramount is exploring advanced coatings, grade developments and geometric optimisation. The company is developing the technologies which it expects will once again move the wire drawing die industry forward. Paramount Die Company – USA Website : www.paradie.com

In the early 90s Paramount developed the ParaLoc © pressure system. This innovation improved the wire drawing process by increasing lubrication and reducing drawing temperatures. ParaLoc made higher line speeds and drawing higher tensile materials possible. Moving into the future with even greater

aimed at increasing MCC’s footprint in the ASEAN medical market. MCC has stepped up its mergers and acquisitions activities in the performance polymer sector in recent months. Mitsubishi Chemical Corp – Japan Website : www.m-chemical.co.jp Contract for EHV LS Cable & System has won a contract worth $40 million to supply extra-high voltage cables in eastern India. The company said the contract with Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation is the largest project ever won by the company’s local subsidiary, LS Cable and System India. LS Cable & System – South Korea Website : www.lscns.com

Japanese materials supplier Mitsubishi Chemical Corp (MCC) has announced plans to buy the Indonesian PVC compound producer PT ABC Plastindo. Plastindo supplies products for various applications including automotive components, electronic cables and electrical appliances. MCC has thermoplastic elastomer and PVC compound production sites in Thailand, operating its business mainly for automotive application. With the acquisition of Plastindo, MCC expects to accelerate its business expansion into the automotive and electronic cable segments in the growing ASEAN region. In late June the company announced its acquisition of the India-based PVC compounder Welset Plast Extrusions Pvt Ltd,

14

www.read-wca.com

Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2018