In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

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@ Above: The original Stockwell Elastomerics’ office and warehouse were located on Sixth and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. Below: Stockwell Elastomerics installed its first water jet cutter in 2001. Elbridge F. Stockwell, Jr., Scott Shrey, and Jay Hough observing initial cuts. STOCKWELL ELASTOMERICS, INC. Our fourth generation, privately held business provides custom gaskets and engineered solutions for the fast-paced and demanding technology equipment sector— where service conditions may require silicone rubber gaskets and special components that must function in harsh environments, temperature extremes, and perform for years in remote locations. Our products can be found in outdoor LED lighting; analytical instrumentation used to test food and drugs; medical diagnostic equipment; and aerospaceand defense-related equipment. While many other manufacturers were outsourcing production or setting up facilities in Asia, Stockwell Elastomerics chose to remain in Philadelphia. It was not easy! We “doubled down” by changing our business model to support the low volume/fast turn requirements of the customers in our niche markets, yielding the market for high volume and commodity components to low cost global producers. Frederick Elbridge Stockwell founded Stockwell Rubber Company in 1919, an era when Philadelphia was considered the Workshop of the World. The company began as a distributor of belting, air and water hose, sheet rubber packing, and wholesale rubber products. The office and warehouse were located on Sixth and Arch Streets until 1950. The building was demolished prior to the bicentennial celebration and the location is now part of a federal park. The business relocated to 1117-1121 Shackamaxon Street in the Fishtown neighborhood, just north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The business operated from three remodeled row homes to house offices, fabricating facilities, and inventory storage. During the 1950s the company was fabricating closed cell sponge gaskets used in the production of RCA color televisions assembled across the river in Camden, New Jersey. In the 1960s the customer base included the General Electric Re-Entry and Space Division as highly engineered materials and seals provided by Stockwell Rubber Company orbited the earth and landed on the moon. By the 1970s the space race concluded and RCA, along with other regional manufacturers, had left the area for the Sunbelt. The remaining Philadelphia rubber distributors and fabricators were fighting for market share in a shrinking market. In 1980 the company expanded sales efforts far beyond the region, gaining opportunities for new business. As the need for enhanced production efficiencies became apparent, the search for a new location began. In November 1980 a one-story manufacturing facility was purchased in Northeast Philadelphia, despite interest rates in the eighteen percent range and an uncertain economy. The business relocated to 4749 Tolbut Street, near the Academy Road exit off I-95 in March 1981. IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBERTY 144
The company capitalized on the strategic defense build-up during the 1980s, providing many requirements for silicone rubber gaskets and cushioning pads in radar and surveillance apparatus, missiles, and solid fuel rocket motors. The company developed “core competence” in the fabrication and molding of silicone rubber during this period. As expenditures for strategic defense declined after the break-up of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s, the company faced challenging times. Fortunately, the discovery of new markets for its silicone materials and production capabilities in high technology commercial markets rejuvenated growth following a brief transition period. After purchasing a neighboring facility in 1996, the business expanded its customer rubber molding operations and invested in liquid injection molding to serve a strategic market segment in the hand-held and portable technology sector. In 2001 the company invested in water jet cutting, enabling its rapid response capability for cutting prototypes for mechanical engineers. In 2005 the company changed its name to Stockwell Elastomerics, Inc. The product line continued to shift away from the traditional black rubber materials such as neoprene, Buna-N, and natural rubber that were the mainstay of the business for so many years. “Rubber” no longer seemed to fit. Seeing the signs of a recession on the horizon, the company invested time and resources learning lean business practices in 2007. Using the tools of Kaizen and Continual Improvement, the company learned to respond faster, enabling growth as the technology market recovered after the recession. The employees of Stockwell Elastomerics wish to acknowledge those who preceded us: founder Frederick E Stockwell served as company president until 1946; Frederick Ames Stockwell served as president from 1946 until his untimely death in 1948; his brother Elbridge Forrest Stockwell served as president from 1948 to 1965; and his son Elbridge F. Stockwell, Jr., served as president from 1965 to 1980. Elbridge’s son William B. Stockwell has served as president from 1980 until the present. All employees of the business wish to recognize Elbridge F. Stockwell, Jr., who recently passed away, for his many technical contributions and for modeling our principles of quality, integrity, service, and continual improvement. Thanks to our dedicated employees and our customers who have fueled our growth, the company is positioned for continued growth in its core markets and planning another facility expansion. @ Above: Mike Sisco and Mark Irizarry with silicone foam Gasket Tape. Below: Dean Swisher, Cole Robinson, and Gerald Wright are members of the lamination crew for Stockwell. PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA 145
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IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
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IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
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CONTENTS 4 FOREWORD 6 ACKNOWLEDGEME
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@ Michael A. Nutter, Former Mayor,
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For the historical images that enli
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This is a history of manufacturing
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While other manufacturing centers w
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@ Above: Workers at Midvale Steel p
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aircraft that dates to the earliest
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would hold into the early nineteent
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technology, transportation, and com
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age had joined the Religious Societ
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Philadelphians lived in the city’
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“and many boats, which are useful
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Quaker merchant Thomas Masters purc
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INDUSTRY INVENTORS Manufacturers in
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Quaker upbringing. Known as the “
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MAKING A CASE FOR AMERICAN MANUFACT
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up cotton manufacturing operations
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After receiving a patent for the en
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The Globe Mill on the Cohocksink Cr
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@ Opposite: Detail from 1849 map sh
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of the town’s total population. S
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On a positive note, a group of Fran
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factories with a powerful energy so
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and flagship for Commodore Matthew
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@ Left: Penn Steam Engine & Boiler
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Garrett & Eastwick Locomotive Works
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seen. The episode brought Hagner co
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United States, the nation’s de-fa
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The turn of the twentieth century p
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in various categories at the Centen
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makers, 20 stove manufacturers, 12
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and lace, in which Kensington manuf
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through exploitation of their worke
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@ Left: Yard locomotives at Midvale
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among the largest in the world at t
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factory nearby. This became the lar
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she writes of the sad circumstances
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@ Clockwise, starting from the top:
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BEER AND TOBACCO Beer making contin
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MILK AND ICE CREAM Like any major c
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the Philadelphia Phillies. Located
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and a half later from a city of man
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After major cutbacks in the auto in
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into countless lunchboxes throughou
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hangar space in 1980 at Northeast P
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Page 97 and 98: fuel for local industries, current
Page 99 and 100: centralize operations in the buildi
Page 101 and 102: BOOKS AND ARTICLES Bridenbaugh, Car
Page 103 and 104: Sutcliffe, Andrea J. Steam: The Unt
Page 105 and 106: Penrose, Bartholomew & Thomas shipy
Page 107 and 108: PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA H
Page 109 and 110: @ Left: An early Kingsbury advertis
Page 111 and 112: PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA 1
Page 113 and 114: Aerodynamics. The name DeVal was a
Page 115 and 116: packaging and shipping; and nondest
Page 117 and 118: Another step in product advancement
Page 119 and 120: PHILLY CASE From the basement of a
Page 121 and 122: Under Yost’s direction, The Rowla
Page 123 and 124: The story of Tioga Pipe is a classi
Page 125 and 126: neighborhood. The increased product
Page 127 and 128: Humphrys is one of the oldest manuf
Page 129 and 130: The Doherty brothers realized, to s
Page 131 and 132: Centrally located off the Pennsylva
Page 133 and 134: Jersey and Delaware. Outgrowing the
Page 135 and 136: Philadelphia is famous for its appr
Page 137 and 138: injection molded plastic to enter t
Page 139 and 140: had expanded from smaller pieces fo
Page 141 and 142: for many years and they know the fi
Page 143 and 144: furnace as well as a custom flame h
Page 145: and Salmon Streets. The company wou
Page 149 and 150: discharges. The supercapacitors are
Page 151 and 152: products that are custom designed t
Page 153 and 154: Today manufacturing matters, now mo
Page 155: LEADERSHIP SPONSORS Historical Publ
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