Cumberland Metal Industries: Engineered Products Division, 1980 • CMI was about to introduce a new product – curled metal cushion pads – an integral part of the process of driving piles • Curled metal cushion pads seemed to have more potential than any other product the company had every introduced • A successful introduction to the market could double the sales of the company as well as compensate for a decline of some existing product lines • The key factor was pricing of the new product which would have a significant impact on everything they do with it • Cushion pads prevented the shock of the hammer from damaging the hammer or pile. • Despite the importance of these pads to the pile-driving process, little attention had been paid to them by most of the industry. Hardwood blocks had been used and the performance of them was considered poor. Most of the industry had shifted to using asbestos pads, which performed adequately. • Cumberland Metal Industries (CMI) was one of the largest manufacturers of curled metal products in the country • Overtime, CMI evolved it’s philosophy from selling metal as a finished product to selling products that used it as a raw material • CMI purchased the wire from outside vendors and performed the flattening and curling operations in-house. The advantage gained in the manufacturing process was that any diameter pad could be produced. • CMI persuaded Colerick Foundation Company to try its pads on a project • Colerick first drove a number of pads using the conventional asbestos pads to determine their characteristics for the job • Then they used the new CMI pads for the remainder of the job • CMI and Colerick both were very pleased with how well the pads had performed. o They lasted the entire job – eliminating downtime required for changeover o They drove piles 33% faster than the asbestos pads o They eliminated energy loss in the