For any newcomer to the personal care manufacturing and formulation scene, walking through NYSCC’s Suppliers’ Day at the Jacob Javits Center can be daunting. It is, after all, the largest US tradeshow devoted to formulating beauty and personal care products. But first-timers Keith Arnold and Jack Drawdy didn’t feel that way; as MFG Chemical’s CEO and vice president, sales and business development, respectively, this pair felt comfortable walking the aisles because they saw familiar faces—namely their clients that provide critical chemicals and materials to the leading brands in the personal care space.

MFG Chemical—a specialty and custom chemical manufacturer serving a variety of markets (paints and coatings, water treatment, graphic arts, pulp and paper)—came to walk the Suppliers‘ Day show floor as part of its effort to claim a bigger stake in the personal care category following a recent plant acquisition and a sizeable investment in its operations.

The Dalton, GA-based company operates three facilities in Georgia and, most recently, another in Pasadena, TX where it manufactures dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinates (DOSS), water soluble and non-aqueous polymers, amides, esters, imidazolines and surfactants.

Earlier this year, MFG Chemical upgraded the Pasadena plant, a former Lonza plant, which it acquired in March 2018, to keep pace with growing demand for specialty and custom chemicals. By adding this site, which sits on a 27-acre parcel of land outside Houston, to the firm’s three other plants in northwest Georgia, MFG Chemical has become one of America’s largest consumers of maleic anhydride and producers of DOSS.

The company’s multi-million-dollar investment in Texas included debottlenecking and new capacity additions, including two new reactors, one of which is 20,000 gallons in size.

“Our significant capital investments in the Pasadena plant…reflects our ongoing effort to deepen our manufacturing and formulating partnerships with soap and detergents and other valued customers,” said Arnold when the $5 million investment was announced.

The improvements in Pasadena have come on stream less than two years after MFG was acquired by Denver, CO-based Platte River Equity, in partnership with the family of MFG founder (Charles E. Gavin, III) and management.

MFG houses its technical department in Kimberly Park, GA with a satellite center at the Brooks, GA facility, the latter of which is also home to the company’s pilot plant. At Brooks, MFG’s chemists are supported by an engineering group, and there is also a 100-gallon stainless steel pilot reactor that is frequently used as an intermediate step between laboratory development and full-scale production.

This scale-up helps companies move out of the flask in the lab with confidence, noted Arnold.

Both of MFG’s development laboratories have access to analytical and synthesis tools and a fully staffed QA laboratory covering the manufacturing schedule, too.

Safety in Action

Financial investments and other steps undertaken in recent years will further position MFG Chemical as a “secret weapon” in formulating and custom manufacturing for the personal care industry, Arnold and Drawdy told Happi.

At Suppliers’ Day, Arnold also emphasized another element of its growth plan: safety.

Earlier this year, MFG received two Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA) Awards for plant safety and process efficiency, and the company has also achieved ISO 9001: 2015 Certification.

According to Arnold, MFG has taken steps to make plant safety the core value of the company.

“We owe it to our employees and the community,” he said.

MFG Chemical’s emphasis on safety spans from internal operations to the external, literally. For example, MFG this year installed a new software platform to improve information and workflow management in EHS&S processes. OESuite software modules improve management systems related to process safety, employee training and key compliance workflows, including risk assessment and mitigation, and organizational alignment to improve production operations, maintenance activities and employee safety.

More recently, the firm rolled out a reverse parking mandate at all four of its manufacturing, R&D and headquarters facilities.

According to Arnold, every step MFG takes reinforces and strengthens a safety culture across its facilities and with all employees.

In addition, MFG Chemical is investing in human capital to better serve its growing domestic and new international business by expanding its supply chain staff, including the creation of a new director of supply chain post. The firm promoted Melanie West, who had been chemical manager, materials and scheduling, to that position. In her new role, she will be responsible for the continuous integration and coordination of material handling, scheduling, sourcing and customer service and managers for each of these areas will report to her.

MFG Chemical also hired Kim Curtis as manager, customer service. She has more than 20 years of US and international customer service and logistics experience and will work with West and the entire team on all aspects of domestic and international customer orders.

With its investment in Pasadena, TX and a safety-focused mindset, MFG Chemical will be making moves in the personal care marketplace.

“We are ready to take on personal care,” concluded Arnold.