Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
As used herein, the “Company,” “Rogers,” “we,” “us,” “our” and similar terms include Rogers Corporation and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Such statements are generally accompanied by words such as “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “foresee,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “seek,” “target” or similar expressions that convey uncertainty as to future events or outcomes. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and beliefs that we believe to be reasonable; however, assumed facts almost always vary from actual results, and the differences between assumed facts and actual results could be material depending upon the circumstances. Where we express an expectation or belief as to future results, that expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and based on assumptions believed to have a reasonable basis. We cannot assure you, however, that the stated expectation or belief will occur or be achieved or accomplished. Among the factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements are risks and uncertainties inherent in our business including, without limitation:
• failure to capitalize on, volatility within, or other adverse changes with respect to our growth drivers, such as delays in adoption or implementation of new technologies;
• failure to successfully execute on our long-term growth strategy as a standalone company;
• uncertain business, economic and political conditions in the U.S. and abroad, particularly in China, South Korea, Germany, Belgium, England and Hungary, where we maintain significant manufacturing, sales or administrative operations;
• the trade policy dynamics between the U.S. and China reflected in trade agreement negotiations, the imposition of tariffs and other trade restrictions, as well as the potential for U.S.-China supply chain decoupling;
• fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;
• our ability to develop innovative products and the extent to which they are incorporated into end-user products and systems;
• the extent to which end-user products and systems incorporating our products achieve commercial success;
• the ability and willingness of our sole or limited source suppliers to deliver certain key raw materials, including commodities, to us in a timely and cost-effective manner;
• intense global competition affecting both our existing products and products currently under development;
• business interruptions due to catastrophes or other similar events, such as natural disasters, war, terrorism or public health crises;
• the impact of sanctions, export controls and other foreign asset or investment restriction;
• failure to realize, or delays in the realization of, anticipated benefits of acquisitions and divestitures due to, among other things, the existence of unknown liabilities or difficulty integrating acquired businesses;
• our ability to attract and retain management and skilled technical personnel;
• our ability to protect our proprietary technology from infringement by third parties and/or allegations that our technology infringes third party rights;
• changes in effective tax rates or tax laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate;
• failure to comply with financial and restrictive covenants in our credit agreement or restrictions on our operational and financial flexibility due to such covenants;
• the outcome of ongoing and future litigation, including our asbestos-related product liability litigation;
• changes in environmental laws and regulations applicable to our business;
• disruptions in, or breaches of, our information technology systems; and
• our terminated merger with DuPont, which may cause us to incur substantial costs that may adversely affect our financial results and operations and the market price of our capital stock, including as a result of litigation.
Our forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements, which you should consider carefully, along with the risks discussed under the headings “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Position” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or anticipated results. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.
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Company Background
Rogers Corporation designs, develops, manufactures and sells high-performance and high-reliability engineered materials and components to meet our customers’ demanding challenges. We operate two strategic operating segments: AES and EMS. Our remaining operations, which represent our non-core businesses, are reported in our Other operating segment. We are headquartered in Chandler, Arizona.
Operating Segments
Advanced Electronics Solutions
Our AES operating segment designs, develops, manufactures and sells circuit materials, ceramic substrate materials, busbars and cooling solutions for applications in EV/HEV, automotive (e.g, ADAS), aerospace and defense (e.g., antenna systems, communication systems and phased array radar systems), renewable energy (e.g., wind and solar), wireless infrastructure (e.g., power amplifiers, antennas and small cells), mass transit, industrial (e.g., variable frequency drives), connected devices (e.g., mobile internet devices and thermal solutions) and wired infrastructure (e.g., computing and internet protocol infrastructure) markets. We believe these materials have characteristics that offer performance and other functional advantages in many market applications, which serve to differentiate our products from other commonly available materials. AES products are sold globally to converters, fabricators, distributors and OEMs. Trade names for our AES products include: curamik ® , ROLINX ® , RO4000 ® Series, RO3000 ® Series, RT/duroid ® , CLTE Series ® , TMM ® , AD Series ® , DiClad ® Series, CuClad ® Series, Kappa ® , COOLSPAN ® , TC Series ® , IsoClad ® Series, MAGTREX ® , IM Series™, 2929 Bondply, SpeedWave ® Prepreg, RO4400™/RO4400T™ Series and Radix™. As of December 31, 2023, our AES operating segment had manufacturing and administrative facilities in Chandler, Arizona; Rogers, Connecticut; Bear, Delaware; Eschenbach, Germany; Evergem, Belgium; Budapest, Hungary; and Suzhou, China.
Elastomeric Material Solutions
Our EMS operating segment designs, develops, manufactures and sells engineered material solutions for a wide variety of applications and markets. These include polyurethane and silicone materials used in cushioning, gasketing and sealing, and vibration management applications for EV/HEV, general industrial, portable electronics, automotive, mass transit, aerospace and defense, footwear and impact mitigation markets; customized silicones used in flex heater and semiconductor thermal applications for EV/HEV, general industrial, portable electronics, automotive, mass transit, aerospace and defense and medical markets; polytetrafluoroethylene and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene materials used in wire and cable protection, electrical insulation, conduction and shielding, hose and belt protection, vibration management, cushioning, gasketing and sealing, and venting applications for EV/HEV, general industrial, automotive and aerospace and defense markets. We believe these materials have characteristics that offer functional advantages in many market applications, which serve to differentiate our products from other commonly available materials. EMS products are sold globally to converters, fabricators, distributors and OEMs. Trade names for our EMS products include: PORON ® , BISCO ® , DeWAL ® , ARLON ® , eSorba ® , XRD ® , Silicone Engineering and R/bak ® . As of December 31, 2023, our EMS operating segment had manufacturing and administrative facilities in Rogers, Connecticut; Woodstock, Connecticut; Bear, Delaware; Carol Stream, Illinois; Narragansett, Rhode Island; Evergem, Belgium; Blackburn, England; Siheung, South Korea; and Suzhou, China.
We also own 50% of two unconsolidated joint ventures: (1) RIC, a joint venture established in Japan to design, develop, manufacture and sell PORON ® products predominantly for the Japanese market and (2) RIS, a joint venture established in China to design, develop, manufacture and sell PORON ® products primarily for RIC customers in various Asian countries. INOAC Corporation owns the remaining 50% of both RIC and RIS. RIC has manufacturing facilities at the INOAC facilities in Nagoya and Mie, Japan, and RIS has manufacturing facilities at Rogers’ facilities in Suzhou, China.
Other
Our Other operating segment consists of elastomer components for applications in the general industrial market, as well as elastomer floats for level sensing in fuel tanks, motors, and storage tanks applications in the general industrial and automotive markets. We sell our elastomer components under our ENDUR ® trade name and our floats under our NITROPHYL ® trade name.
Terminated Merger Agreement with DuPont
On November 1, 2021, we entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by DuPont in an all-cash transaction. Our shareholders approved the merger agreement at a special shareholder meeting held on January 25, 2022. Consummation of the merger was subject to various customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval by the SAMR, and either party had the right to terminate the merger agreement if the merger had not closed on or before November 1, 2022. As of November 1, 2022, the parties had not received regulatory approval from SAMR and on that date, DuPont issued a notice of termination of the merger agreement. Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, we received a regulatory termination fee in the amount of $162.5 million, before taxes, and incurred a transaction-related fee of $20.4 million.
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Sales and Competition
We sell our materials and components primarily through direct sales channels positioned near major concentrations of our customers in North America, Europe and Asia. We sold to approximately 3,200 customers worldwide in 2023, consisting primarily of OEMs and component suppliers. No individual customer represented more than 10% of our total net sales for 2023; however, there are concentrations of OEM customers in our AES operating segment (semiconductor and automotive manufacturers). Although the loss of any one of our larger customers would require a period of adjustment, during which the results of operations could be materially adversely impacted, we believe that such events could be successfully mitigated over a period of time due to the diversity of our customer base.
We employ a technical sales and marketing approach pursuant to which we work collaboratively to provide design engineering, testing, product development and other technical support services to OEMs that incorporate our engineered materials and components in their products. Component suppliers convert, modify or otherwise incorporate our engineered materials and components into their components for these OEMs in accordance with their specifications. Accordingly, we provide similar technical support services to component suppliers.
We compete primarily with manufacturers of high-end materials, some of which are large, multi-national companies, principally on the basis of innovation, historical customer relationships, product quality, reliability, performance and price, technical and engineering service and support, breadth of product line, and manufacturing capabilities. We also compete with manufacturers of commodity materials, including smaller regional producers with lower overhead costs and profit requirements located in Asia that attempt to upsell their products based principally upon price, particularly for products that have matured in their life cycle. We believe that we have a competitive advantage because of our reputation for innovation, the performance, reliability and quality of our materials and components, and our commitment to technical support and customer service.
Our sales are generally pursuant to short-term purchase orders. These purchase orders are made without deposits and may be rescheduled, canceled or modified on relatively short notice, without substantial penalty. Therefore, even though we may have a large backlog from time to time, we believe the purchase orders or backlog are not necessarily a reliable indicator of future sales.
Research and Development
We have a history of innovation, and innovation leadership is a key component of our overall business strategy. The markets we serve are typically characterized by rapid technological changes and advances. Accordingly, the success of our strategy is in part dependent on our ability to develop market-leading products, which is primarily driven by efforts in R&D. We are focused on identifying technologies and innovations related to both our current product portfolio as well as initiatives targeted at further diversifying and growing our business. As part of this technology commitment, we have a Rogers Innovation Center co-located at Northeastern University in Burlington, Massachusetts, as well as Rogers Innovation Centers at our facilities in Chandler, Arizona; Eschenbach, Germany; and Suzhou, China. Our Innovation Centers focus on early stages of technical and commercial development of new high-tech materials solutions in an effort to align with market direction and needs.
Patents and Other Intellectual Property
We have many domestic and foreign patents, licenses and additional patent applications pending related to technology in each of our operating segments. These patents and licenses vary in duration and provide some protection from competition. We also own a number of registered and unregistered trademarks and have acquired and developed certain confidential and proprietary technologies, including trade secrets that we believe to be of some importance to our business.
While we believe our patents and other intellectual property provide a competitive advantage to our operating segments, we believe that a significant part of our competitive position and future success will be determined by factors such as the innovative skills, systems and process knowledge, and technological expertise of our personnel; the range of new products we develop; and our customer service and support.
Manufacturing and Raw Materials
The key raw materials used in our business are as follows: for our AES operating segment, copper, including copper foil, polymer, polytetrafluoroethylene, fiberglass materials, ceramic and brazing paste materials, including silver, and various fillers and flame retardants; and for our EMS operating segment, polyol, isocyanates, polytetrafluoroethylene, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene materials and silicone materials.
Some of the raw materials used in our business are available through sole or limited-source suppliers. While we have undertaken strategies to mitigate the risks associated with sole or limited source suppliers, these strategies may not be effective in all cases, and price increases or disruptions in our supply of raw materials could have a material adverse impact on our business. For additional information, refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
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Seasonality
Except for some minor seasonality for consumer products, which often aligns with year-end holidays and product launch cycles, the operations of our segments have not been seasonal.
Human Capital Management
The Company’s continuing success derives from our talented and dedicated employees globally, who are responsible for the innovation, operations and ethics foundational to our business and its future.
As of December 31, 2023, we employed approximately 3,300 people, of whom approximately 1,200 were employed in North America, 1,100 in the EMEA region and 1,000 in APAC region. Approximately 300 of our domestic employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements or by specific labor agreements and approximately 600 of our European employees are covered by work council arrangements.
Our approach to human capital management is based on our culture of respect, which is built on the ethical foundation of our Code of Business Ethics and our commitment to making choices that are based on what is ethically sound and not just what is easy or expedient. Additionally, we connect our day-to-day work with our organizational objectives through our Cultural Behaviors: Live Safely, Trust, Just Decide, Speak Openly, Simply Improve, Innovate and Deliver Results. Management’s principal objectives, with oversight from our Board of Directors, are Health and Safety, Employee Experience and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Health and Safety
Promoting the health and safety of our employees is one of our most important objectives. We strive to minimize lost workdays and recordable incidents. To promote awareness and accountability, our vision is clear: Everyone, Everywhere goes home safely Every Day. Our commitment is to put safety first and we ask for everyone’s commitment to never compromise their safety or the safety of others.
Employment Experience
We take a comprehensive approach to the employment experience, striving to use a fair and inclusive recruiting process to select talented individuals. Once we hire, we endeavor to provide our employees a safe and ethical work environment that includes fair compensation, opportunities for career development and employee engagement. We are proud to invest in our employees’ futures through a variety of technical and other training opportunities internally, as well as education reimbursement programs globally.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We continue to advance efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion within the Company, focusing on attracting and maintaining diverse talent within the organization and promoting awareness and acceptance globally. We believe that our diversity, equity and inclusion will make our Company a more desirable workplace and will lead to improved business performance.
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Information About Our Executive Officers
Our executive officers as of February 26, 2024 were as follows:
Name Age Present Position Year Appointed to Present Position Other Relevant Positions Held
R. Colin Gouveia 60 President and Chief Executive Officer, Director, Principal Executive Officer 2022 Senior Vice President and General Manager of EMS from June 2019 to December 2022; Vice President and General Manager, Eastman Chemical Co., from December 2014 to June 2019.
Ramakumar Mayampurath 60 Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Principal Financial Officer 2021 Vice President, Corporate Finance from December 2020 to May 2021; Vice President, Business Transformation from March 2020 to December 2020; Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis from November 2014 to December 2020.
Brian Larabee 57 Senior Vice President and General Manager of Elastomeric Material Solutions 2023 Vice President and General Manager of EMS from November 2022 to November 2023; Senior Director, EMS Product Management from February 2021 to December 2022; Director, EMS New Product and Business Development from November 2016 to February 2021.
Jeff Tsao 45 Senior Vice President and General Manager of Advanced Electronics Solutions, Senior Vice President of Asia 2023 Vice President and General Manager of AES from September 2019 to November 2023; Vice President of Sales and Marketing of PES from December 2018 to September 2019; Global Sales Director of PES from August 2017 to November 2018.
Larry Schmid 62 Senior Vice President, Global Operations and Supply Chain 2023 President, Pilko & Associates, from January 2020 to January 2023; Global Manufacturing & Engineering Operations Director, The Dow Chemical Company, Performance Materials & Coatings, from June 2018 to June 2019; Global Operations Director, The Dow Chemical Company, Dow Performance Silicones, from June 2016 to June 2018.
Jessica Morton 44 Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary 2023 Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of FMC Corporation from April 2021 to March 2023; Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of FMC Corporation from April 2019 to March 2021; Assistant General Counsel of FMC Corporation from July 2016 to March 2019.
Griffin Gappert 50 Vice President and Chief Technology Officer 2023 Global Head of Innovation for Automotive OEMs at Henkel from April 2021 to August 2023; Vice President of Innovation and Technical Customer Service at Henkel from January 2020 to April 2021; Vice President of Product Development and Technical Customer Service at Henkel from June 2018 to January 2020; Global Technical Director of Industrial Supplies at Ashland Inc from June 2016 to May 2018.
Michael Webb 56 Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer 2023 Executive Vice President - Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Administrative Officer at Nutrien from January 2018 to May 2022; Senior Vice President, Human Resources at Agrium from January 2014 to January 2018; Senior Vice President of Human Resources at HSBC from August 2010 to January 2014.
Available Information
We make available on our website (http://www.rogerscorp.com), or through a link posted on our website, free of charge, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, reports filed by our executive officers and directors pursuant to Section 16 of the Exchange Act, and amendments to those reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. In addition, the SEC maintains an internet site that contains these reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC (http://www.sec.gov).
We also make available on our website the charters for our Audit Committee, Compensation and Organization Committee, and Nominating and Governance Committee, in addition to our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Bylaws, Code of Business Ethics, and Compensation Recovery Policy. Our website is not incorporated into or a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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