Snapshot

• Name and role: Tim Blashford, Sales Manager
• Location: Aurora, Ohio, USA
• At Trelleborg since: 2010 (off and on)
• Area of expertise: Experienced, multifaceted sales professional, with 15 years working in diverse roles across the extruded rubber and plastic industry.

The journey

I first joined the Trelleborg Group in 2010. In 2019, I left and spent a period working in similar roles with two other companies in the Midwest region. I then rejoined Trelleborg in 2023 (don’t burn bridges!). I’ve been part of the Trelleborg team for over 12 years in total, across two relocations and three different roles.

My first role was as a process and tooling engineer, responsible for tooling and process development of mostly EPDM-dense and sponge rubber profiles, design of extrusion tooling, and downline guides and bushings. I also worked on programming waterjet-cut products, process optimization and documentation, and training employees to use new equipment.

After that, I filled an open applications/design engineering position. There, I applied the knowledge I had gained in my previous role to create new product designs tailored to our materials and tooling capabilities. Moving to the sales and procurement side of the business exposed me directly to customers and suppliers, and I began developing essential skills that I would later rely on as a sales professional.  

I left Trelleborg to work in program engineering before moving into my first dedicated sales role with a different employer. This company had a mostly single-sourced aerospace product line. Since returning to Trelleborg, I’ve enjoyed the faster pace of life: rapid and continuous product and project launches. New opportunities are constantly emerging, and keeping up with the pace of change requires an entrepreneurial mindset, which I find really exciting!

Behind the expertise

It’s an interesting time to be in sales, and it’s not without its challenges. For one thing, artificial intelligence (AI) systems are advancing rapidly, and many organizations are adopting AI-driven equipment and software at an accelerated pace. In the manufacturing sector, we are seeing increased automation in production processing and monitoring, and this trend is steadily filtering through to the extrusion industry. These tools and networked profile size and shape vision and measuring devices will have an increasingly significant impact on areas such as reducing material scrap, improving scheduling efficiency, and enhancing product quality.

Material sustainability is another hot topic. There are big discussions around reducing carbon footprints and expanding the use of recycled content. There is also growing focus on chemical compliance, and regulatory and customer pressure to phase out substances such as PVCs, PFAS, phthalates, bisphenols, and chloroprene is ramping up. However, customer expectations currently lag behind these initiatives, as buyers prioritize shorter lead times and cost sensitivity. This can make switching to lower-impact material alternatives difficult.  

At Trelleborg, we are well positioned to navigate this dynamic and fast-changing landscape. We have dedicated AI teams that offer training to colleagues (I’ve already attended three sessions myself). These teams are also overseeing the release of customized AI tools for our manufacturing site, and we are starting to ramp up the use of vision and measuring devices.

We are also taking the initiative on the supply side. While many of our peers in the extrusion industry rely heavily on third-party compounder suppliers, we are becoming more vertically integrated. We are expanding our material mixing teams in Europe and the United States. By developing our own material mixing capabilities aligned with our sustainability efforts, I believe Trelleborg will be in a strong position to quickly adapt to new industry regulations and consumer demands.

Beyond work

I spend most of my free time motorcycling. Despite Ohio’s temperamental weather, I currently clock more than 10,000 miles each year. When I’m not on the open road, I enjoy spending time with friends and my large extended family. There is a steady stream of local festivals for us to partake in: Italian, Polish, German, Greek, Viking, Transylvanian, and so on – whatever ethnicity or interest happens to be celebrated in our local neighborhoods!

A little-known fact about me is that I collect vinyl records and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video games. I also consider 1986’s “The Transformers: The Movie” to be the greatest movie of all time.

Quick facts

• Coffee or tea? Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon
• Early bird or night owl? Hoot, hoot
• Best part of your job? No question: it’s the people I work with, both internally and externally. After a long and varied career, I relish working at our facility here in Aurora, Ohio. Everyone based here is here on merit; they bring together a diverse mix of manufacturing backgrounds, as well as educational and corporate experience work.