Hexcel Corporation
As a leading producer of carbon fiber reinforcements and resin systems, and the world leader in honeycomb manufacturing for the commercial aerospace industry, we are the strength within hundreds of products offered in multiple markets across the globe. Hexcel is a global leader in manufacturing advanced composite materials for the commercial aerospace, space and defense, and industrial markets. At Hexcel, our suppliers and supply network play an important role in the success of our organization. We work with more than 1,000 suppliers globally to provide raw materials, goods and services.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Aerospace & Air Transport
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
This company also provides solutions for other industrial applications.
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About Us
In addition to local contributions in 2019, the Hexcel Foundation granted a total of $120,000 to three charitable organizations that are focused on improving education, fighting cancer, and relieving hunger and homelessness worldwide. Our charitable gifts at both the local and global levels will increase over time as we share with others the rewards we achieve through excellent performance in driving results and meeting commitments. Grants were made to:
- The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for its STEM in 30 program, an Emmy-nominated webcast series that engages middle school students across the globe in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) topics in just 30 minutes. Museum curators, astronauts, and experts in various STEM fields connect to classrooms with real-world, relevant content to show students that science extends beyond the walls of their school.
- The Cancer Research Institute which works with a global network of leading researchers, supporters, patients and advocates to fund the most promising clinical and laboratory research in fighting cancer through immunotherapy in hopes of harnessing the power of our immune systems to control and potentially cure all types of cancer.
- Convoy of Hope for its Children’s Feeding Initiative, providing nutritious meals and monitoring the health and growth of children in countries including El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Uganda, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, and Lebanon. The Initiative also works to provide clean and safe water and healthy living environments.
Hexcel Values
We strive to be an industry leader and a responsible steward of resources – both human and natural. These values guide our actions, reflect our culture and drive our performance.
We embrace the curiosity to explore ideas, the passion to challenge the impossible, and the conviction to succeed beyond expectations.
We work with uncompromised integrity on behalf of our shareholders, employees and customers. We strive to be good citizens in the communities in which we live and work.
We are accountable—to customers, shareowners, the community, suppliers and ourselves for achieving superior performance by expecting excellence in everything we do.
We thrive on the contributions each person brings to the Company by valuing diversity, developing talent, fostering teamwork, and rewarding success.
History & Timeline
From Roger Steele’s post-war laboratory in the basement of a suburban home to the production of the lunar struts of the Apollo 11 lunar landing module, Hexcel has been synonymous with innovation throughout its history. Hexcel was ready when the defense aerospace industry needed strong lightweight materials in 1946, and our company remains a leader in delivering innovative advanced composite solutions to our customers.
The House That Berkeley Built
The company that came to be known as Hexcel was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area of Northern California, nurtured by a band of fraternity brothers from the University of California at Berkeley. The bonds that joined Hexcel’s co-founders – Roger C. Steele and Roscoe T. 'Bud' Hughes – were forged on the football fields of Piedmont High School and were reinforced by their stints in the Navy together during World War II. From football contests to fraternity rites to fighting for their country, it’s little wonder that Hexcel demonstrated remarkable cohesion during its early years.
Indeed, the pioneering spirit and sheer persistence that have always epitomized Hexcel – or, as it was first known, California Reinforced Plastics – were the very qualities that distinguished its early leaders -- Roger Steele (1920-2014), Bud Hughes (1920-86), Paul V. Ammen (1920-81), Ken Holland and Ed Rule (1918-2011). As Hexcel’s first management team, these veterans from the Bay area possessed a fortuitously well-matched and diversified set of talents. Steele furnished the visionary spirit and the unrelenting conviction that “honeycomb was and is the most efficient structure that man will ever achieve.” Bud housed and helped finance this vision and brought extraordinary sales skills to the task of purveying Roger’s inventions. “Bud could sell ice to the Eskimos,” Roger said.
Paul, the one member who did not attend Berkeley or study engineering, served as chief financial officer, having secured an economics degree from Stanford. A friend from Piedmont High, Paul arrived in 1948, and none too soon. “I used to go to the bank every Friday to borrow money against receivables to keep the payroll checks from bouncing,” Roger said. In addition to his economics background, Paul brought the good faith and financial skills of his mother, Vera, who financed many of Hexcel’s first offices.
Ken Holland, a fraternity brother of Roger, joined the company in 1948 with Paul, bringing with him a chemist’s expertise in resin and adhesive technology. That expertise quickly proved invaluable as Roger contended with the challenges of manufacturing fiberglass honeycomb for the company’s first contract with the military.
Finally, Hexcel secured the managerial and production talents of Ed Rule, “the backbone of Hexcel for decades,” Roger said. Ed Rule, a late arrival to the inner circle having met Steele after the war, took perhaps the biggest gamble on this fledgling outfit. He left a job as head engineer of an established tool and die company in 1951 to join a company that was operating on a shoestring and struggling to keep up with sales. Rule quickly took over all manufacturing responsibilities, overseeing every aspect of plant construction and production design for the next 30-plus years. When Ed retired, Hexcel had grown into a global company with more than 3,500 employees.