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New Look Same Quality, Value and Service

by | May 23, 2016 | "Ask John" - Free Tech Support, Airaflex™, Bondaflex™, Duraflex™, Durafoam™, John M. Bonforte Sr., Monmouth Rubber & Plastics, Tech Support | 0 comments

At Monmouth Rubber & Plastics our customers are always our top priority, said John Bonforte Jr. President and COO.

So we are excited to announce our new website, please visit it. The site is a resource that will add value to your business operation https://monmouthrubber.com/

Here are some items you will find on the site.

Our Products

We have several top-of-the-line brands, including Durafoam™, Airaflex™, Duraflex™, and Bondaflex™, Our Buns, Sheets, Rolls, and Foam Tape  have stood the test of time for 50 plus years and are used around the world.

Our Support

Not only are we an ISO 9001:2008 certified manufacturer with industry leading support – we also have free tech support with John Sr., available at https://monmouthrubber.com/ask-john-free-tech-support/, All decisions that affect your business are made 100% in-house. We’re a big business with that small business feel.

Our Winning Smile

Since 1964, we have been here for you, with family values that make us more than just a manufacturing company – we apply our family values to our relations with our employees, suppliers and most importantly with you our customer.

So check out our new website, view our current products and services, and let’s continue to be your partner in the rubber and plastics industry. You helped us build this business, and we built this business for you. Have any questions or needs? Ready to order? Want to let us know what you think? Contact us today.

 

 

MONMOUTH RUBBER & PLASTICS CORP
75 LONG BRANCH AVENUE LONG BRANCH, NJ 07740 U.S.A

INT’L PHONE: (732) 229-3444
TOLL FREE: (888) 362-6888
EMAIL:SALES@MONMOUTHRUBBER.COM

Family run business: Monmouth Rubber & Plastics Corp.

by | May 21, 2016 | John M. Bonforte Jr., John M. Bonforte Sr., Monmouth Rubber & Plastics | 0 comments

Family run business: Monmouth Rubber & Plastics Corp.

By RUBBER & PLASTICS NEWS REPORT

John M. Bonforte Sr. and John Bonforte Jr. hold a certificate at the Gasket Fabricators Association’s Gasketing and Converting Expo, held recently in Orlando, Fla.

Founder: John M. Bonforte Sr.

Headquarters: Long Branch, N.J.

Number of employees: 53.

Key family members active in the company: John M. Bonforte Jr., president, chief operating officer.

What it does: Monmouth Rubber & Plastics is a U.S. manufacturer of closed cell sponge rubber and plastic foam.

Markets served: Automotive, medical, sports, construction, electrical, miscellaneous industrial.

Number of generations involved in the business:Two.

What are the strengths of a family owned business? Family values. Our family values guide us in our business operations: How we treat each other, our employees and our customers. We bring to work the Bonforte family values and apply them to all aspects of our business.

What are the challenges of a family owned business? John Jr. is our succession plan. He now owns Monmouth Rubber & Plastics. He grew up in the business. After college, he worked for GE Plastics, learned the realities of the world, and then he came back ready to assume his current role. His having complete ownership resolves many possible issues. I advise; he decides.

Do non-family members hold any executive or ownership roles? Joann Buonomo is the office manager (who has) 42 years with Monmouth. Putting family values to the front is important. All issues are worked out just fine.

How much does the younger generation influence decisions? All four of my children and many of my grandchildren do and have worked at various tasks in the company. They bring vitality and a fresh approach, which helps us to stay focused on the people aspects of business.

Something you might not know about the company: When Monmouth started, there were 13 companies that manufactured closed cell sponge rubber buns. When I said I was going to go into manufacturing the above products, many said I was crazy. They said, “All 13 companies are struggling with quality, etc.” My answer was, “You can be crazy and still have a good idea.’ Today there are three of us left in the U.S. We are doing just fine.”

What advice would you offer a young entrepreneur who wants to start a family run business? Follow your dreams. Stick to it. If you feel it in your heart, run with it. Don’t give up. Be prepared to dream in the sky with your feet planted firmly on the ground.

And another thing: As a U.S. manufacturer of closed cell buns, Monmouth offers all the things that the government is trying to do to bring business back. The firm believes its business model works, products proudly made in the U.S.

WEBSITE: https://monmouthrubber.com/

Monmouth Rubber & Plastics Retooling

by | May 1, 2016 | John M. Bonforte Sr., Monmouth Rubber & Plastics | 0 comments

Monmouth Rubber Retooling

By MICHAEL L. DIAMOND
BUSINESS WRITER
Published in the Asbury Park Press 8/02/04

In business for 40 years, Monmouth Rubber and Plastics Corp. in Long Branch has done everything it can to survive. The company is in a tax-friendly urban enterprise zone, it trains its work force continually and it exports to emerging markets.

The company needs every edge it gets, owner John M. Bonforte Sr. said, because its competitors are operating less expensively overseas. But in New Jersey, those edges are hard to find.

“As soon as we innovate and save a dollar, we find the state has added 20 or 30 cents to our operating costs,” Bonforte said.

Bonforte and other executives are calling on state government to improve the climate for manufacturers, even though some observers believe the continuing shrinking of the sector is inevitable.

To stem the job losses in manufacturing — 74,000 in the last three years alone — the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the state’s largest business lobby group, has unveiled a set of 31 proposals, from tax breaks to easing environmental regulations, that it says will help its manufacturing members compete — at least regionally.

New Jersey once was a hub of manufacturing activity

Saving the once powerful industry could be tough. New Jersey once was a hub of manufacturing activity, building everything from slide rules to television sets, said James W. Hughes, an economist and dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

But in some cases, the products became obsolete. In others, companies searched for other states — and countries — where land is more available for expansion and the workforce is more affordable, allowing them to sell their final product cheaper, Hughes said.

As a result, the sector has eroded from 900,000 workers in the late 1960s to a little more than 340,000 workers today.

Nonetheless, the Business and Industry Association said the sector is worth trying to save. It still represents more than 10 percent of the private-sector work force; the jobs typically pay 20 percent more than the state’s average wage; and many of those jobs are available to less-skilled workers who live in urban and older suburban areas, where good-paying jobs are harder to find, the association reported.

“It’s still a significant component to the economy, and it still pays significant taxes. And it’s something that shouldn’t be ignored,” Hughes said. “If there are some public policy or regulatory adjustments to help us retain manufacturing . . . then it’s worth pursuing.”

Monmouth Rubber and Plastics

Monmouth Rubber and Plastics has 48 workers, and it makes foam for rubber and plastic used in flotation vests, wet suits and padding for football and baseball helmets. Bonforte pays his entry-level workers $8 an hour along with overtime pay; he covers half their health insurance; and he offers a 401(k) retirement plan.

The company has survived, Bonforte said, by automating its plant and changing its product line. It once made rubber and plastic; now it makes closed cell foam that’s used to make rubber and plastic. But the competition from overseas is intense, he said.

 

A family of materials; A world of solutions provided by Monmouth Rubber & Plastics!

by | May 1, 2016 | Durafoam™, John M. Bonforte Sr., Monmouth Rubber & Plastics | 0 comments

Monmouth Rubber & Plastics Corp. has been a leader in the innovation and technology of cellular polymeric materials for over 54 years.

As a recognized leader and innovator of proprietary closed cell cross linking technology and polymer blend technology, Monmouth was retained to do product development and improvement by a variety of companies. Some of these companies, in chronological order, are:

B.F. Goodrich, Sponge Products Div. – Shelton, CT
Neoprene/Vinyl Nitrile Blends

Uniroyal Chemical, Ensolite Div. – Mishawaka, IN
IV-1 IV-5 Series – Neoprene/Vinyl Nitrile Blends – Ensofoam Crosslinked EVA Blends

Plymouth Rubber, Plymouth, MA
Crosslinked Low Density EVA Blends

Sentinel Products Corp. – Hyannis, MA
Polyolefin Blends, all types including Metallocene Resin Crosslinked Foam

Monmouth Rubber & Plastics Corp.’s in-house technology timeline is as follows:

1968 – Monmouth develops and perfects the Durafoam™ multi-step process for the curing and blowing of low-density closed cell materials. Prior to 1968, most materials were cured with the one step or jump-blow process which resulted in densities no lower than 12 pounds per cubic foot. By using a controlled multi-step-cure blow process, Monmouth was able to crosslink and blow materials in densities down to 2 pounds per cubic foot. Monmouth has made significant improvements to this Durafoam™ multi-step process over the years as polymers, products and customer needs have changed.

1969 – Monmouth develops for B.F. Goodrich, Shelton CT, a low density, Vinyl/Nitrile/Neoprene blend for industrial and automotive markets. Monmouth’s proprietary technology in hydrocarbon polymer blending has been the keystone in its technology firsts. The product line developed for B.F. Goodrich in 1969 is the forerunner of the Vinyl/Nitrile/Neoprene blends produced today by Rubatex®, Uniroyal Ensolite and Halstead.

1971 – Monmouth develops the first commercial, low density, Neoprene/SBR blend for the industrial and automotive markets. Listed under ASTM-D-1056, SCE41 through SCE45, Monmouth produced and sold commercial blends of its Durafoam™ C121A series in densities as low as 3.5 pounds per cubic foot.

1974 – Monmouth commercializes the world’s first 100% EPDM, low density, closed cell sponge. Proprietary Durafoam™ technology allowed Monmouth to produce the C191XLDS in densities as low as to 2.0 pounds per cubic foot. One outstanding, commercially successful application for this technology was as a sealing gasket for all Chrysler tail lamps. Durafoam™ C191XLDS was used exclusively during the 1980’s in all Chrysler vehicles. Monmouth is currently listed as an approved source under Chrysler MSAY 430.

1977 – Monmouth provides some of the initial EVA Polyethylene crosslinked foam technology and developmental work for the Ensolite Division of Uniroyal. The product was ultimately marketed by Uniroyal under the trade name “Ensofoam”. This developmental work included pilot plant production at our Long Branch facility as well as product development.

1986 – Monmouth introduces its Bondaflex™ line of recycled cellular and solid rubber and plastic materials. Monmouth’s technology centers around its proprietary process for controlled particle size distribution of similar and dissimilar materials. Since 1998, the Bondaflex™ process has resulted in Monmouth being able to recycle in-house 98% of all the materials it manufactures.

The Bondaflex™ process also allows Monmouth to guarantee to its customers that Monmouth will accept back at its Long Branch facility 100% of the material that Monmouth supplies. This includes skids, banding wire, stretch wrap, as well as the cellular and solid material that Monmouth makes and sells. Monmouth knows of no other manufacturer that offers such a guarantee.

August 1996 – Monmouth commercializes its Durafoam™ DK series of Kinetically Grafted Blends. KGB blend technology allows dissimilar polymers (those that do not blend well mechanically) to blend as a result of a chemical bond that develops through proprietary KGB technology. The DK benefit to the customer is a blend product with superior performance and value as opposed to more expensive, homogenous polymers. The DK series of closed cell Neoprene/EPDM blends covers the five hardness ranges of ASTM and have UL listing for flame resistance and gasketing applications.

January 1998 – Monmouth is the first to introduce a 54″ and 60″ wide pressed cured bun in a neoprene blend. The Durafoam™ process results in a press cured bun having an exceptionally large size, a tight cell structure, and superior physical properties as compared to a continuously cured roll by the open air process.

The above technology events allow Monmouth to offer to its customers the following commitment:
“To become and remain the highest quality producer of cellular rubber and plastic buns in the world”.

Other Monmouth products include:

AIRAFLEX™ – Open Cell Sponge Rubber & Plastic Foam
DURAFLEX™ – Solid Rubber & Plastic Sheeting

The Monmouth family of materials has performed well for over 40 years for sound absorption, shock absorption, conductive, non-conductive, fire retardant, high strength to weight ratio, hot and cold insulation, and floatation.

The Monmouth family of materials is made from Neoprene, Natural Rubber, SBR, Butyl, Butadiene, Nitrile, EPDM, ECH, Polystyrene, Polyethylene, Polypropylene, EVA, EMA, Mettalocene Resin, PVC, Polyurethane, and Proprietary Blends of the above.

The Monmouth family of materials is offered in Buns, Sheets, Rolls, Stripping, with and without pressure sensitive adhesive, and specialty laminations.

The Monmouth family of materials is used in the automotive, athletic, shoe, construction, leisure products, and miscellaneous industrial products industries. Monmouth is a global supplier with distribution points in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Monmouth Rubber & Plastics

The Monmouth family of materials is sold through Gasket Cutters, Fabricators, and Resellers Worldwide.

Free Technical Support

Monmouth Rubber & Plastics has a comprehensive state-of-the-art physical testing laboratory, including shock attenuation testing equipment. Monmouth is equipped to test and certify to a multitude of industry and government specifications. Some of these specifications are: ASTM-D-1056, SAE J18, MSAY 430, GM6086M, Mil-R-6130, Mil-C-3133, Mil-R-6855, Mil-G-1149, Delphi SD2-207 Sec. 6.1. Product development, product testing, product evaluation, and product sampling are offered by Monmouth as part of its technical support program.

JOHN BONFORTE, SR.
TECH SUPPORT & GM

EXT. 12
Intl: +1 732-229-3444
Toll Free: (800) 375-1960

EMAIL JOHN BONFORTE SR.

 

Related Topics and Resources:  Rubber and Plastics  |  Closed Cell Gaskets  |  Rubber Library

Monmouth Rubber & Plastics earns ISO 9001:2008 Re-Certification

by | May 1, 2016 | Bondaflex™, John M. Bonforte Jr., John M. Bonforte Sr. | 0 comments

ISO 9001:2008 Re-Certification

LONG BRANCH, NJ – Recycled rubber provider Monmouth Rubber & Plastics Corp. has been re-certified to ISO 9001:2008 standards.

“This is particularly gratifying because the certification is provided by SGS, one of the premier ISO houses worldwide,” company President and COO John M. Bonforte Jr. said. “There are no shortcuts in ISO. It provides a universal language of quality and dependability. Customers know that a company dedicated to ISO adheres to procedures, processes and attention to detail that are highly repeatable.”

Major expansion at Monmouth

The re- Certification is equally exciting, Bonforte said, because it serves as a prelude to a major expansion at Monmouth, which manufactures and distributes a wide range of closed cell sponge rubber and plastic foam, in addition to its Bondaflex recycled rubber products.

A complete announcement of the expansion is expected this fall, Bonforte said.

Sought a different benefit

Company founder John M. Bonforte Sr. said his original decision to seek ISO certification diverged from the motivation often cited by other manufacturers. While many companies pursue ISO as a path to gain business from auto makers, Monmouth sought a different benefit.

ISO provides an independent opinion

“In a small company, where you feel like one big family, it’s sometimes hard for the owner to instill, inflict, enforce the necessary discipline,” Bonforte Sr. explained. “But ISO provides an independent opinion as to what a company’s internal discipline should be”.

“When you adhere to ISO standards, everybody works from the same sheet of music, supplied by a third party that speaks with authority and without bias,” he said.

ISO certification has changed the whole character of our business

“ISO certification has changed the whole character of our business,” Bonforte Jr. said. In fact, Monmouth has become so committed to the international standards that it invites an independent ISO auditor, Rick Casswell, to visit the company each month and provide feedback on Monmouth’s success at adhering to the standards.

 

Monmouth Rubber & Plastics