- Dow Corning
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Dow Corning Corp. 
Type Joint Venture Industry Manufacturing Founded 1943 Headquarters Midland, Michigan Key people Robert Hansen, CEO & President Products Speciality Chemicals, silicon derived polymers Revenue $5.09 billion(2009) Employees 10,000 Website www.dowcorning.com Dow Corning is a multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, USA. Dow Corning specializes in silicon and silicone-based technology, offering more than 7,000 products and services. Dow Corning is an equally-owned joint venture of Dow Chemical and Corning.
Contents
Products
Products developed over the years include silicone sealants, adhesives, silicone mold-making rubbers, lubricants, release agents for cookware, sound-absorbing silicone, leather treatment, skin care lotion, preceramic polymers for high temperature applications, liquid silicone drycleaning solvent, High purity silicon wafers for use in semi-conductors and solar panels, as well as silicone waxes.
History
In 1942, moisture in aircraft engines and the formation of corona discharge from aircraft electrical systems at high altitudes made high-altitude flight all but impossible. Dr. Shailer Bass developed Dow Corning's first product, a simple silicone grease (Dow Corning #4 Compound) that solved the problem. Dow Corning was formally established in 1943 specifically to explore the potential of silicones. Dr. E.C. Sullivan was named president and Dr. William R. Collings was named general manager in 1943. Dr. Collings later became president from 1954 until 1962.
A large, majority-owned subsidiary of Dow Corning Corporation is the Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation. Founded in the 1960s before the computer revolution, it is still one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-purity polycrystalline silicon which is sold in varying purity grades for use in both semiconductor silicon wafer manufacture and photovoltaics applications as solar cells.
The XIAMETER® Brand
In 2000, Dow Corning was facing an increasing number of competitors around the world that were getting into the standard silicones business. At the same time, for a growing customer segment called “priceseekers” who needed little or no service attached to the products, price had become the driving force.
Dow Corning needed to defend their position as a provider of innovative silicon-based materials and solutions (which, for the most part, came bundled and priced together). They knew they needed to find a better way to meet customers’ needs exactly.
It was time for a game-changing strategy – one that would simultaneously:
• Meet customer needs for efficient, cost-effective silicone products
• Empower the company to continue to innovate and grow the silicones market overallThey decided the best way to take advantage of the potential in the mature market segment, without detracting from the value of the Dow Corning offering, would be to create a separate brand. This brand, the XIAMETER® brand, would offer a clearly defined value proposition and set of products via a web-enabled platform to provide competitive pricing.
The product set would be a wide range of standard silicone products generally thought of as commodities by customers. These standard products would be – and still are – manufactured by Dow Corning. The tone would be “no frills” – just straightforward business terms and conditions, high-quality products, a reliable supply, and market-driven prices.
The global drive to find greater efficiencies in business through a web-enabled business model worked in their favor. It helped them maximize productivity and reduced human error, while keeping costs competitive for customers. Rather than cannibalizing the Dow Corning brand as some feared, the XIAMETER brand made it stronger. The two brands worked in harmony, helping increase Dow Corning’s financial results dramatically during this period.
To this day, no other silicone company in the world has been able to replicate Dow Corning’s two-brand strategy.
Breast implant controversy
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, class-action lawsuits claimed that Dow Corning's silicone breast implants caused systemic health problems. The claims first centered around breast cancer, and then migrated to a range of autoimmune diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and various neurological problems. This led to numerous lawsuits beginning in 1984 and culminating in a 1998 multi-billion dollar class action settlement. As a result, Dow Corning was in bankruptcy protection for nine years, ending in June 2004.
A number of large, independent reviews of the scientific literature, including the U.S. Institute of Medicine, have subsequently found that silicone breast implants do not appear to cause breast cancers or any identifiable systemic disease.[1][2][3]
See also
- Silicone
- GreenEarth Cleaning
- Breast implant controversy
References
- ^ "Panel Confirms No Major Illness Tied to Implants" (June 21, 1999), The New York Times
- ^ Chronology of silicone breast implants. Frontline
- ^ Colas, André; Curtis, Jim (2004). Biomaterials Science, Second Edition: An Introduction to Materials in Medicine. Elsevier, Academic Press. ISBN 978-0125824637. http://www.dowcorning.com/content/publishedlit/52-1069-01.pdf.
External links
Categories:- Dow Chemical Company
- Chemical companies of the United States
- Companies based in Michigan
- Midland, Michigan
- Joint ventures
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