Photo by Star Plastics .
Innovation in Industry
New Ideas from Lasting Companies
MEGAN BEVINS
Many companies in West Virginia have been around for decades and thus have long provided the Mountain State and beyond with essential products and services . Despite their already impressive strategies , there are always opportunities for businesses to excel and innovate . A few local companies have chosen to do just that .
Warwood Tool , Amsted Graphite Materials , Star Plastics and MHI RJ Aviation Inc . are four examples of innovation taking place in longstanding companies , all of which have made great strides by implementing new ideas .
Warwood Tool dates back to 1854 , when Henry Warwood , an English immigrant , opened a blacksmith shop that sold gardening and coal mining tools . Warwood went on to provide high-quality products for the railroads as they expanded across the nation . Now , the company continues to manufacture a wide array of industrial grade tools that can be used for any purpose .
Also in operation for more than 100 years , Amsted Graphite Materials was built by the National Carbon Company in 1904 and has been a notable contributor to the carbon and graphite industries . It was the first graphite electrode plant in the country , the primary carbon supplier for the 1940s Manhattan project and a key component for many space shuttle missions , as well as the production of freight railroad wheels .
Star Plastics , formed from its parent company SDR Plastics , began operation in 1988 . The company started out receiving plastic materials that were about to be put in landfills
in order to recycle and market them . Today , the company specializes in custom formulated engineering grade resins and continues turning used plastic into quality products .
Slightly newer , MHI RJ has been around for 33 years , the result of a merger between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Canadair Regional Jet ( CRJ ) Series Program . It is the largest maintenance , repair and overhaul ( MRO ) provider for CRJ and has one of the world ’ s largest regional aircraft bases .
Despite the longevity of these companies , their original processes were bound to need updated as new responsibilities and problems began to arise .
For Warwood Tool , innovation is constant as the company is always looking for new ways to make its day-to-day operation more efficient . Chris Azur , president of Warwood Tool , says this can happen in many ways .
“ Whether it ’ s rearranging the layout of machines to create a more streamlined flow or finding new vendors for parts that can take twice the amount of wear before needing changed out , we are focusing on changing the way we always do it to something newer and better ,” he says .
For the company to do this , it must always keep an eye out for new staff that can bring fresh ideas to the table . This way , Warwood Tool can continue to hold its ground in a market constantly changing .
“ We are specifically looking to recruit new talent who possess experience in other plants and industries to bring new ideas to this old process ,” Azur says .
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE