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There are many challenges involved in bringing a new product to market. Here are the stories behind some companies that are inventing new products or introducing existing products to new markets.
Thessius Wall Sealing System
Although he’s not an engineer, Mark Curtis has 45 years of experience in the design, supply and installation of geosynthetic materials for civil engineering projects. Twelve of those years have been spent developing his innovative Thessius wall sealing system, the world’s first patented, vertical-sided impermeable precast wall sealing system and floor basal lining system for containing solids and liquids in structures such as dams, ponds and landfills.
The idea for Thessius, which is launching in 2025 on the market for both new and existing construction, struck Curtis while he was visiting a landfill and noticed its sloping walls. “I hadn’t thought of it previously,” he says, “but it just glared at me that the earth sloped walls were inefficient to maximizing storage capacity.”
That was the genesis of the system that features a polymer embedment sealing profile cast into an impermeable precast wall panel, providing each construction joint with an impermeable, high-strength seal.
Because the system does not require internal or external batter slopes, it provides significant volumetric capacity without changing the footprint. Thessius can increase capacity by more than 190% and reduce fill materials 33% to 40%, Curtis says. It also reduces the required footprint and the need for earthworks, emissions and other costs.
Curtis worked with a global retaining-wall manufacturer to create a precast panel prototype with the polymer embedment that quickly tested successfully, which was the easy part.
Patenting the product worldwide was a different story.
“It was a very long process where I would submit a patent application and the patent reviewer would mention seven or eight patents that he felt I’d infringed on,” Curtis says. “I would have to review the comments and argue and defend that my patent didn’t infringe on other patents because of X, Y and Z.”
Today, the wall sealing system has between 13 and 16 patents that cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to win, he says. “And that’s just the patent fees. There was also my time and other costs, which are very expensive.”
Creating a new product “is always a challenge because you are aspiring to invent something that is innovative, unique and has relevance. If it comes under that definition, you are granted a patent, but it doesn’t guarantee commercial success,” he notes.
While a challenge, the extensive patent process reinforced his belief in Thessius.
“There were many patents I came across that I could see were a bad design,” he says. “And that makes you think about ‘Why is my design different?’ and ‘Why is it better?’ I was satisfied that in over 12 years, I had something that provided solutions to reducing land usage, that provided significant volumetric capacity, would be constructible and testable, provided secure long-term storage, reduced liner exposure, would increase revenue and be commercial.”
To market the system, Curtis is approaching the target markets of end users including mining, waste management, infrastructure and energy companies. He would advise other inventors to be persistent.
“It’s important to believe in what you are doing and make sure the solution has a wide range of applications,” he says.
HeatGard® HDPE
It took over five years for Layfield Geosynthetics to bring its HeatGard HDPE, a new geomembrane produced from bimodal resins, to market.
The idea for HeatGard was generated in 2014 by Layfield’s product development group, which worked closely with a large global resin supplier to spearhead development, including use of a special polyethylene raised temperature (PE-RT) pipe-grade resin employed extensively in the plastic pipe industry for high-temperature water and liquid applications.
“HeatGard can handle higher temperatures up to 185 degrees Fahrenheit (85 degrees Celsius) for longer periods as compared to most other standard geomembranes and handle more aggressive chemicals,” says Brian Fraser, vice president of Layfield Geosynthetics.
He says the product addresses the limitations of standard-grade HDPE geomembrane, which has shown a rapid decline in its protective antioxidant and stabilization package in certain high temperature and chemical containment applications. “This can result in early degradation of mechanical and endurance properties, including stress cracking problems,” Fraser notes.
One challenge of developing HeatGard was completing the extensive chemical immersion testing required for leachates, brine and chlorine, as well as doing oven aging and environmental stress crack resistance testing.
“A lot of the development costs were directly related to the significant time and cost to extensively test the HeatGard formulation at third-party geosynthetics labs and in-house,” Fraser says.
The company also had to adapt its manufacturing extrusion equipment to produce HeatGard, including making modifications to extrusion towers and winders. Field welding trials also were conducted to determine seam integrity and welding windows for thermal hot wedge and extrusion welding.
One of the first large-scale projects using HeatGard was at a major mining company in Australia, which tested the product for a year before ordering it. “This was a very large-scale and challenging containment project that took about six months of production just to fill the order,” Fraser says.
Noting that the geosynthetics industry historically has not seen an abundance of innovation in the geomembrane market, Fraser says that is changing.
“Within the last 10 years or so, we have seen some good advancements in resin and performance additive technology, as well as advancements in extrusion equipment,” he says. “This has provided the ability to develop improvements in existing HDPE and more flexible LLDPE geomembrane products as well as new generation geomembranes with better performance properties, including UV and chemical resistance and providing better endurance and aging performance.”
While HeatGard is not patented, Fraser says Layfield’s market advantage is in being “the first to market and the first adopter.” He says, “The geosynthetic industry as a whole was also very interested and watching closely what we were doing.”
In early 2023, Layfield shared information about HeatGard with the Geosynthetic Institute, including samples and materials specifications as part of the development of a new HDPE standard called GM 42. This also included five technical papers produced during development.
Fraser says Layfield wanted to share credible information about the testing and performance of the product for the betterment of the industry.
HeatGard has caught the notice of other industries that deal with high temperatures and challenging liquids, such as mining, waste, oil and gas, thermal energy pits and agriculture. “Over the next few years, as the market adopts the use of higher-performance HDPE geomembranes, we expect a number of our competitors will be producing bimodal HDPE following our HeatGard as demanded by the marketplace,” he says.
DELTA®-TERRAXX Drainboard Solutions
Launching an existing product in a new market is a challenge that Dörken Systems Inc. is tackling in North America, where Peter Barrett, product and marketing manager for the company, says it is seeking to overcome the notion that “a drainboard is a drainboard is a drainboard.”
The company, founded in Germany in 1892 as Dörken GmbH & Co. KG, expanded to North America in 1988, but its DELTA-TERRAXX Drainboard Solutions product had never been sold in North America even though it’s been on the market in Europe for more than 20 years. The company’s goal is to become the go-to product in a market that is “focused on price rather than on appropriate drainage capabilities,” Barrett says.
He notes that “the North American market is dominated by the standard black drainboard with the black non-woven needle-punched geotextile either glued or heat-bonded to the dimples.”
In contrast, DELTA-TERRAXX is made of high-density polyethylene rather than the more common polystyrene or polypropylene. “You can always tell polystyrene because the lids on your coffee cup are polystyrene, and polystyrene, as a drainboard, will tear in exactly the same manner that your coffee cup lids will tear,” he says.
Dörken was inspired to bring DELTA-TERRAXX to North America because “we’ve been very frustrated with the ‘drainboard is a drainboard’ viewpoint and wanted to bring performance characteristics and qualities back to the market and create a little differentiation based on performance,” Barrett says.
Overcoming the perception that it really doesn’t matter what drainboard is used is the company’s greatest hurdle. “The biggest roadblock at the moment is industry attitude,” he says, explaining that the company is targeting its marketing to architects and contractors.
Armed with engineering reports that support DELTA’s drainage capabilities, “our strategy really is to focus on the reputation of Dörken in the market as thought leaders and as technical leaders, and to present people with really good technical arguments so they can think about the drainage they need in the particular situation they are in,” he says.
The company also is doing presentations for the architectural community broadly, meeting with individual firms, and has done several webinars. “Our engagement rate for the DELTA-TERRAXX campaign was 80%, which said to me that the market is very interested in this,” he says.
Dörken also is looking to put the product in the hands of contractors so they can experience firsthand its benefits, including how easy it is to cut, carry and roll out.
Another of Dörken’s strategies is to leverage current relationships. “We didn’t just drop in out of the blue on them. We’re already known by our other products and reputation,” Barrett says.
For other companies looking to introduce a product to a new market, Barrett advises focusing on the important parts of performance. “For us, it involves explaining to people how to get the drainage rate you want when you put the product in,” he says.
Ecodeck Geopaving Range
Last year, a strategic initiative at Geoworks—a provider of geosynthetic solutions for infrastructure, construction and environmental projects—led to a transformative partnership with Ecodeck, a manufacturer of geopaving systems made from 100% recycled plastic.
David Fisher, head of geosynthetics sales at Geoworks, explains that the team had been actively exploring innovative, sustainable solutions when it identified Ecodeck as a potential key partner. After thorough research and planning, Geoworks initiated discussions with Ecodeck, recognizing the potential to scale the product for the construction and civil engineering markets.
Previously, Ecodeck had focused on small-scale domestic projects, selling directly to end users via platforms such as eBay and Amazon. However, the company wanted to expand into the B2B market. Recognizing the product’s potential, Geoworks—a newly branded division of Wrekin Products with an extensive UK customer base—stepped in to help.
“Ecodeck had been successful in the domestic market, but they wanted to move into larger applications, and we had the reach to make that happen,” Fisher says.
One of the product’s standout features is its interlocking panels, which simplify installation and offer a clean, durable connection, Fisher says. Combined with its sustainability credentials, Ecodeck was well-suited for applications ranging from parking areas to landscaping and access roads.
Moving into the B2B space wasn’t without challenges. Fisher says Geoworks conducted a thorough review to ensure Ecodeck’s manufacturing capabilities could meet the demands of large-scale projects. “They had recently expanded their facilities, which reassured us of their ability to scale production,” he says.
The partnership sees Ecodeck focusing on manufacturing while Geoworks takes on the technical, marketing and sales roles, leveraging its network to introduce the product to new markets. Marketing efforts include case studies, social media campaigns and video content to showcase Ecodeck in real-world applications.
“There was a need to create strong visuals of the product being installed,” Fisher says. “This has been key in demonstrating its value to contractors and specifiers.”
Since the partnership began, monthly sales of Ecodeck have steadily increased. Its success has encouraged Geoworks to explore similar opportunities with other manufacturers.
“This partnership has been a blueprint for how we might work with others in the future,” Fisher says.
Annemarie Mannion is a Chicago-based freelance writer who specializes in writing about business and related topics.