What a fine mesh: Entrepreneurs look to nanotechnology

What a fine mesh: Entrepreneurs look to nanotechnology
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (June 8, 2007)

Jun. 8--APPLETON -- Imagine a window screen with so many microscopic holes that the breeze blows in, but the rain is filtered out. You can smell the flowers outside, but the pollen can't squeeze through the mesh.

That's the concept behind a proposal for a high-tech manufacturing venture called AMW NF Nonwovens. It would apply a new process to make ultra-skinny strands of plastic fibers to be used in fabric that could revolutionize the effectiveness of surgical masks, building material and biological warfare gear.

The "nano" fibers -- about 10,000 times thinner than conventional material -- would fit into the non-wovens industry, a thriving spinoff from the papermaking business, which has been centered in the Fox Valley for generations.

While paper is made from wood fibers, non-wovens use plastics to make webs of non-woven fabric that is stronger than paper and is the base material for such ubiquitous products as disposable baby wipes and cleaning rags. Building the non-woven material from exponentially finer fibers would allow more holes in a given area, much the way you could make a more effective window screen with a mesh of wire than by crisscrossing 2-by-4s.

Bob Waldron and Bob Makolin, principals of the manufacturing consulting firm Abba Makolin Waldron & Associates, or AMW, have proposed the nano-fiber non-wovens business along with partners Rod Abba and Kent Kordsmeier.

Their initial market would be medical masks and gowns. With 10 times the ability to breathe through the masks, AMW says, medical professionals will be more comfortable using the masks effectively to protect themselves from blood-borne pathogens. Likewise, medical gowns would be cooler.

As planned, AMW NF Nonwovens would leverage $4.07 million in start-up capital to license technology and buy equipment to make the nano-fiber non-wovens. Initial projections are contingent on all sorts of variables, but the plan suggests that after five years the business would have a staff of 110 employees and annual sales exceeding $21 million.

Friends started business

At a strip mall coffee shop, Waldron and Makolin discuss their business plan. On the table between them is a sampling of non-woven products -- a surgical mask, a diaper, and a menstrual pad. Waldron, 54, is a chemical engineer. He wears a short-sleeve button-down oxford shirt. Makolin, 52, is a research chemist with 19 patents under his belt. He wears a Hawaiian print with hula dancers on it.

They are longtime friends who worked together with Abba and Kordsmeier at Kimberly-Clark Corp. Combined, they have 25 patents and more than 100 years of experience.

Abba, Makolin and Waldron lost their jobs through Kimberly-Clark's downsizing in 2003. Following entrepreneurial training by Makolin and Waldron at the Venture Center at Fox Valley Technical College, the three formed AMW consulting.

AMW has been helping manufacturers increase efficiency and squeeze out costs through technical advice and process engineering. But Waldron and Makolin say they want to do more than just control costs on existing products. Adding value to those products through innovations such as nanotechnology will do more for profits and the economy, they say.

"We're kind of repositioning the company and changing our marketing approach to being innovation technical resources as opposed to just being process specialists. We don't want to have our main focus be what we've done the last 25 years, which is cost saving and process optimization," Waldron says. "Rather than trying to make your cost of paper one cent per pound cheaper, we'd rather help you make a new kind of paper."

The Bobs note that they are past the point of making career moves. They're more interested in making their work more meaningful.

"There's a bit of an altruistic aspect to what we're doing," Makolin says. "I love this area. My kids were raised here. This is a great area. The quality of life is good. But if we depend on the paper industry -- ."

"As it is," Waldron adds.

"The quality of life isn't going to be so good for my grandkids," Makolin finishes.

Innovation needed

David Ward, an economist who does development consulting in northeastern Wisconsin, agrees that innovations such as those proposed by AMW are vital to the paper, printing and non-woven industries clustered in this part of the state.

"What has held the paper industry back in the state is that by and large the industry has been sitting on commodity goods," said Ward, who's president of Madison-based NorthStar Economics Inc. When told of AMW's plan, Ward called it "very encouraging."

"What these guys are doing is pushing the envelope and getting to the point of adding to the value chain," Ward said.

David Hollenberg, director of the Paper Industry Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, says what AMW has proposed would add a new dimension to the capabilities and expertise already established in what he called the Silicon Valley of non-wovens.

Waldron says there's a "ready-made environment" for a nano-fibers non-wovens business here, with machine shops, converters, customers, technical expertise and experienced workers already available.

"It fits in perfectly," Waldron says. "We'll have the trained work force. We'll have the support system. And that's what makes it perfect for this area."

Being a finalist in the Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest offers visibility and credibility to AMW's efforts. Winning the $50,000 first prize would provide some capital through which Waldron and Makolin say they could develop marketing plans and pursue further financing.

Hollenberg wasn't aware of AMW's business plan. But he used to work with Waldron and Makolin and the others at Kimberly-Clark. He has followed the progress of AMW, he says, and he believes the partners could be successful with their new venture.

"I think they have a pretty good shot at making something come out of this," Hollenberg said.