Remington increasingly manufactures engineered foam for orthopedic and diabetic applications.

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Ohio-based Remington Products is a third-generation, family owned and operated custom manufacturer of engineered foam products.    

The company got its start in 1934 and found its niche in producing cushioning for men’s dress shoes. Until the early 1980s, it primarily supplied cushioning components to footwear manufacturers, President Tim Remington says.  

When many shoe manufacturers moved operations overseas, the company had to shift its focus to after-market sales.
   
Today, it supplies retail foot care items as a contract and custom manufacturer. Remington says the company’s largest customer is Dr. Scholl’s largest competitor, Pro Foot. Sales to Pro Foot account for 30 percent of the company’s volume.

“The other half is divided among a number of things,” Remington says. “We still do supply shoe manufacturers, primarily men’s boot manufacturers and some military that are still made here.”    

Remington Products does an increasing amount of work in the medical segment, manufacturing products for orthopedic and diabetic applications.    

“That is a growing segment,” he says. “People go to a podiatrist and get a prescription for a shoe insert. We make these specialized inserts that can be customized for a diabetic foot. It equalizes the pressure. The diabetic foot is very delicate.    

The government has started doing reimbursements for shoe inserts for diabetics because many end up getting their feet amputated.   

The company also supplies non-footwear products to the office supply market.    

“We have a big customer who makes high-grade furniture
for day care and kindergarten,” Remington says. “We bring in materials from overseas and resell them. Ten percent of the business is products we bring in and distribute.”

The office products are upgraded pin boards and dry erase boards. Community Playthings, a commune with roots in Germany, is its largest customer in this segment.    

“They were looking to consolidate from 400 to 16 vendors,” he says. “We supply them with foam parts, die-cutting carpet and laminate fabrics.”

Specialized Process
Remington Products’ high-speed cutting process simulates the molding of material, Remington explains.    

“My grandfather started this process, and it has been fine-tuned and changed over the years,” he says. “Everything goes from there. Over the last 20 years, we have layered numerous types of capabilities. We mold and cut foam, do a lot of laminating and machining of tools.   

“It’s a very vertical operation, which is great, but it brings with it its own issues,” he adds.    

“It is difficult to operate from a schedule point of view, but in some ways, it protects us. We’re not a one-trick pony.

“So many of our processes are useful outside of footwear, and that’s why we’ve used them to move into other areas.”

Looking Forward
The company employs approximately 100 people at its facility in Wadsworth, Ohio.   

It has majority ownership in several other companies, as well as Sroufe Manufacturing, a sister company in Indiana that makes orthopedic soft goods. Sroufe is building a new manufacturing facility in Vietnam.    

“We are somewhat limited in growth potential in our core business, so we haven’t gone looking for acquisition, but some opportunities have come to us,” he says. “The facility in Vietnam will probably offer us a lot of opportunities for other potential products.    

“We have 100 people here, but our processes are not labor intensive, and what we make here wouldn’t lend itself to be made overseas,” Remington continues.    

“We’re not seeing the gush of products leaving to be manufactured overseas anymore; it’s down to a trickle now. It’s finally starting to slow down.”   

The company expects sales of $21 million in 2007, down 10 percent from 2006. Remington says he expects sales to stay the same in 2008.