SimuTech International, Inc.
P.O. Box 1219
Hoodsport, WA 98548-1219
Tel: (360) 490-4029
Fax: (360) 877-9310
email: carlberg@hctc.com
S&SP was created as a Division of Weyerhaeuser in 1985 for the purpose of commercializing the manufacture and sale of laboratory equipment that Weyerhaeuser had developed for its own use. In 1987 S&SP agreed to make the CLC for 2 companies that had been very interested in this equipment for several years. The first commercial CLC was delivered in November, 1987 to Rohm & Haas (formerly Unocal). The following year the CLC was formerly introduced to the market at the 1988 TAPPI Coating Conference in New Orleans.
After selling 10 CLCs, S&SP asked their customers what they liked and what they would like to change about their CLCs. This input, and a strong push for more speed from interested companies in Japan, led to the development of the CLC-6000. This new CLC incorporated the higher speed (6000 vs 4000 ft. per minute), a lighter pond, the ability to double coat and to coat both sides and a several other improvements in operating controls. The CLC-6000 was introduced in 1989. S&SP also produced an upgrade kit so customers who had purchased the original CLC could convert their CLC into a CLC-6000. The idea of designing all improvements to be retrofitable has been a principle of the S&SP business since then.
The basic CLC-6000 is a blade/puddle coater. Early on several customers asked for coating heads to emulate other popular coating equipment. In the mid to late ‘90s S&SP introduced the Rod Coating Applicator, the Pressurized Pond Applicator (to emulate the short dwell time process), and later the Short Dwell Time Applicator, which incorporated the patented SDTA process. Again, all were created for retrofit to existing CLC-6000s.
In 1998, after 11 years in business, S&SP sold its 52nd CLC. Weyerhaeuser's decision to focus on its core businesses resulted in a search for a company that would have the skills to continue to support the existing CLC customers. In November 1998 Weyerhaeuser sold the business to SimuTech International, Inc., a new venture created to carry on with the service to existing CLC owners and to continue the sale of additional CLCs to new customers.