Harry Miller Corporation, which manufactures proprietary chemicals for steel and metalworking industries around the world, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

If there's one thing the folks at the Harry Miller Corporation have learned in 70 years of business, it's this: Adaptability is the key to success.

The Harry Miller Corporation (HMC) manufactures proprietary chemicals for the steel and metalworking industries—acid inhibitors, rust preventives, coolants, cleaners, lubricants, test fluids and more. Founded in 1936, the company originally served the leather, paper and textile industries. During World War II, however, the company shifted its market focus, like so many other manufacturers, to meet the new demands of the times.

It was another national crisis more than 50 years later—the events of September 11—that accelerated the company's reach into the international market.

"We had already been working through some tough times leading up to 2001," says Bruce Entwisle, company president. "Domestic demand was on the decline, and 9/11 just made it worse," as it did for many U.S. manufacturers.

Matching Efforts to Customer Needs
HMC's strategy is based on customizing their products to the clients' needs—not by competing on price. "We've been in the business so long, we start with the latest technology applicable to their need, and then modify it based on specific requirements," says Entwisle. "We also have the expertise to tailor products to a company's specific needs, based on local conditions."

This philosophy of "smart evolution"—adapting existing products to meet new consumer needs—is something that Ben Franklin Technology Partners firmly believes in. BFTP encouraged HMC to take a hard look at the company's line of rust preventives, which are used as barrier films in the metals industry.

"We knew we could do better with our rust preventive efforts, particularly in the steel galvanizing market," says Entwisle. Part of the problem is that the cheapest and most effective rust preventives use chromate, which contains heavy metals.

"Chromate is a real environmental no-no. It causes waste treatment problems, so the Environmental Protection Agency wants to eliminate its use," says Entwisle. "We wanted to get ahead of the game, and Ben Franklin was the conduit to get us going in a new direction."

Teaming with Higher Education for In-Depth Research
BFTP introduced the company to the Electrotechnology Applications Center at Northampton Community College to help develop the next generation of rust-preventive additives that are as effective as chromate but more environmentally friendly. BFTP provided $15,000 to co-fund the project.

"This project will launch us into a market where we don't normally compete. It'll give us 15 to 20 percent growth, easily," says Entwisle.

Entwisle credits BFTP with providing new hope for this segment of the market. "We had reached the limits of our capabilities on this product," he says. "We were ready to give it up. But this is a lifeline, a new approach."

With sales of up to $10 million today, HMC sells through a network of distributors, partners and licensees. The model has been so successful that today the company does no print advertising whatsoever.

"Our website is our advertising," says Entwisle. "I admit I was skeptical at first, but our web developer convinced me that online marketing was the way to go. We've put a lot of work into identifying ourselves and describing the benefits of products on our website—to good effect, I think."

The decision is paying off—recently, a potential partner in India read about the company's products online and contacted HMC directly. "It was completely out of the blue," he says. "We never would have made that market contact otherwise."

 From the July/August 2006 issue