Industry report:

This classification covers companies that primarily make abrasive grinding wheels of natural or synthetic materials, abrasive-coated products, and other abrasive products. Companies cutting grindstones, pulpstones, and whetstones at the quarry are classified under mining industries.

Industry Snapshot

According to industry statistics, there were an estimated 658 companies that primarily made abrasive grinding wheels of natural or synthetic materials, abrasive-coated products, and other abrasive products with shipments totaling $946.1 million in 2008, and industry-wide employment of 19,009 workers. The majority of companies were scattered through California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Among the natural abrasives used in the manufacture of abrasive products are diamonds, corundum, garnet, pumice, talc, quartz, sandstone, and certain vegetable fibers. Synthetic abrasives, which were invented by Edward G. Acheson in 1891, include silicon carbide (also known as Carborundum), aluminum oxide, and boron carbide. Aluminum oxide, produced from bauxite, is used to cut hard metals, while boron carbide is one of the hardest abrasives.

Organization and Structure

The top four types of abrasive products by product share were nonmetallic coated abrasive products and buffing and polishing wheels, nonmetallic abrasive products, including diamond abrasives; nonmetallic sized grains, powders, and flour abrasives; and other nonmetallic shapes, coated or impregnated with any natural or artificial abrasive material, cloth-resin, and waterproof bond.

The largest organization serving the industry is the Abrasive Engineering Society (AES), headquartered in Butler, Pennsylvania. The society was founded in 1957 and has 400 members (its name changed from the American Society for Abrasive Methods in 1975). In addition to an annual technical conference and semiannual educational seminars, AES publishes the quarterly AES Magazine, with a circulation of 3,000, and promotes the exchange of technical information about abrasive materials and their uses. The industry also is served by a number of smaller organizations, including the Grinding Wheel Institute, the Abrasive Grain Association of Cleveland, the Coated Abrasives Fabricators Association, the Diamond Wheel Manufacturers Association, and the Association of Electroplaters and Surface Finishers.

Background and Development

Abrasives have been vital to making metal products since the earliest days of metallurgy in ancient times, but the modern abrasive products industry arose from the technical developments of the late nineteenth century. These developments involved not only abrasives but also the binders used to create bonded abrasive products.

A key development for the industry was that of synthetic abrasives. In 1891, Edward G. Acheson synthesized silicon carbide, the first synthetic abrasive grain to attain broad, commercial success. Fused aluminum oxide abrasives, pioneered by C. B. Jacobs in the 1890s, became a commercial product by 1904. Along with the naturally occurring corundum, garnet, and diamond, silicon carbide and fused aluminum oxide dominated the abrasive products market into the 1930s. In 1938, a new technique for producing aluminum oxide was developed, resulting in the most successful abrasive grain for precision grinding that existed to that time. In the 1950s, aluminum oxides were produced by nonfusion methods. Fused mixtures of aluminum and zirconium oxides also became commercially viable.

Diamonds gained widespread use as abrasives in the 1930s as a result of the creation of the first bonded wheels, using industrial diamonds, and was accelerated by the need for a very hard abrasive to grind tungsten carbide, which became important in the 1930s. Synthetic diamonds were produced in 1960 by General Electric. Along with cubic boron nitride, diamonds made up the hardest class of abrasives, known as superabrasives.

In 1987, aluminum oxide and silicon carbide, the oldest synthetic abrasives, led industry output, with $104 million and $51 million in value consumed, respectively. Ranking next in order of value of materials used were natural abrasive materials ($30 million), diamond ($27 million), aluminum-zirconium oxide ($23 million), and cubic boron nitride ($7 million).

The development of binders for bonded abrasive products, including grinding and buffing wheels and flexible abrasives such as sandpaper, were as important as the development of synthetic fibers. Rubber was used to bond abrasives for grinding wheels in the 1850s. Sand, corundum, and diamond bonded by shellac were used to make grinding wheels in India in the early nineteenth century. The shellac process was used by the Waltham Emery Wheel Company. Rubber and shellac remained the only organic binders until synthetic resins were made beginning in the 1920s.

Inorganic binders were developed in the late nineteenth century to simulate the properties of sandstone. Key among these were vitrified products commercialized by the Norton Co. of Massachusetts in the late 1800s. In addition to these binders, so-called "active" fillers were used to make grinding wheels. Active fillers enabled cooler grinding and increased wheel porosity, and they increased the uses for grinding wheels.

At the start of the twenty-first century, abrasive product shipments weakened, reflecting the recessionary economic climate. Among the abrasive materials that showed weakness during the 1990s were fused aluminum oxides and metallic abrasives. The use of silicon carbides, aluminum-zirconium oxides, and superabrasives was strong, with the most dramatic growth reported for sales of superabrasives. U.S. firms lagged behind the European and Far Eastern competition in using high-technology superabrasives. Shipments in 1999 declined to $4.36 billion, and fell again in 2000 to $4.07 billion. In 2002 products in this industry were valued at $3.3 billion, and in 2003 values had increased slightly to $3.4 billion.

In 2005 product shipments were valued at $3.69 billion. Several new high-tech superabrasives, including aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, and silicon carbide, began to gain popularity in the United States in the early 2000s. However, the industry needed to continue working to familiarize customers with these products. By the end of 2004, abrasives made with a combination of stainless steel and white aluminum oxide were contaminant free and were marketed for use in the stainless steel and food markets.

Current Conditions

Of the companies in this industry, those manufacturing abrasive products, controlled one-third of the market. In the late 2000s, shipments for this segment totalled almost $291 million. Manufacturers of abrasive metal and steel products shipped $81.2 million in goods, 13.5 percent of the market, and abrasive wheel manufacturers shipped $302.2 million in products.

Most of the top firms in the industry were subsidiaries and divisions of larger firms, while the others were private companies. Each of the industry's top companies generated more than $10 million in sales and employed 100 or more workers.

Industry Leaders

The leader in the U.S. abrasives industry was Saint-Gobain Abrasives Inc. of Worcester, Massachusetts, a subsidiary of France's Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. The division had 11,500 employees in 2006 and revenue of approximately $820 million, out of the parent company's $33 billion. In late October 1999, the company acquired Furon Co., a leading designer and manufacturer of engineered products made primarily from high-performance polymers. In addition to being the world's leading manufacturer of abrasives, Saint-Gobain Abrasives produces ceramics, plastics, and chemical process products. The abrasives division was the former Norton Co., which was founded in 1885 and acquired in July 1990 by Saint-Gobain, which bought a majority share of the U.S. company's common shares. The French firm also owned Norton-affiliated makers of abrasives and ceramics in Australia, Bermuda, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Norway, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Brazil. Saint-Gobain restructured the Norton Co., including $50 million in modernization investments over three years.

Saint-Gobain reported global weakened sales in the majority of its operating units during the first quarter of 2009 following revenues of $33 billion in 2008. U.S. sales fell 15.1 percent as the construction and industrial markets remained sluggish. Although Saint-Gobain did not see further dampening, the company does anticipate volatile market conditions through the remainder of 2009. In the meantime, the company would remain committed to research and technology, specifically in the areas of "energy efficiency and solar technologies, " according to Ceramic Industry in July 2009.

Workforce

From a high of 17,500 production workers in 1984, employment levels in the abrasives industry followed a general downward trend. In 2005, the industry reported 14,384 employees, compared to a workforce of 16,914 in 2002. The 9,689 production workers in 2005 earned an average of $15.67 an hour. The workforce continued to shrink with 19,009 employees reported in 2008.

Research and Technology

Much of the research and new technical developments in the industry were related to the increased importance of superabrasives. Superabrasives development was summarized by J.L. Metzger in Superabrasive Grinding. "Our experience indicates major developments are likely to continue--possibly even to accelerate--in the following areas: (1) New, custom-designed, 'hard-to-grind' materials for an ever widening spectrum of industrial applications; (2) Creep feed grinding, also known as plunge or deep feed grinding; (3) High performance, high-speed grinding of hardened steels with CBN-wheels; (4) Form or profile grinding, in part with electroplated, in part with crushable wheels, in high removal, high precision, high surface quality applications; (5) CNC-control of production grinding machines, with, possibly, partial adaptive control optimization." Other superabrasives developments included the use of chemical vapor deposition for optimal bonding of diamond coatings. Flexible-belt superabrasive products were advocated over bonded-wheel superabrasives for grinding ceramics, because flexible products were less likely to chip and crack ceramics.

Additional areas of technical development for the industry included improvements in coated (sandpaper-like) abrasives, such as new backings, adhesives, grains and joint designs (for belt abrasives), and the use of cushioned belts. These improvements made coated abrasives faster and more economical than traditional grinding and cutting techniques for many applications. Substantial research also was undertaken to improve liquid coolants and lubricants used in many grinding operations.