Q&A with Jon Campbell: Reflecting on a Brilliant Career at Saint-Gobain®

Let’s start with some advice. As you reflect on your career journey, what advice do you share with your fellow colleagues?

I would like to encourage colleagues to always stay curious. Curiosity helps drive innovation, fosters learning, and helps keep everyone engaged with the ever-evolving market needs. It’s been a key part of my own journey and a large contributor to the success we’ve seen as a team.

What would you say to new employees who are just starting their careers at Saint-Gobain Tape Solutions?

In a manufacturing environment like ours, it is critical to understand the products, how they are made and their relevance to our customers. I would advise anyone starting out to observe, listen, and learn from colleagues. Everyone at Tape Solutions is committed to achieving success so if you ask the right questions and seek support, you will succeed, together with the team.

Could you highlight some of your favourite memories from your time at Saint-Gobain?

One memory that stands out is the acquisition of the Norwood organisation based in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Although their technology was similar to ours, Norwood specialised in different materials and allowed us to enter markets we hadn’t explored before. While Granville, under the Norton umbrella at the time, historically focused on gasketing and bonding solutions, Norwood was more involved in cushioning capabilities.

After the acquisition, we integrated their products into our offerings, allowing us to enter the electronics market — something entirely new to us. This helped our products enter industries related to handheld devices, like mobile phones and computers, and also allowed us to expand internationally, to Europe and Asia. This was an exciting time because many new products and applications were involved. The project expanded, grew, and evolved over time. Ultimately, it was transferred over to our sister organisation in Asia where they were able to bring even more success to it. Overall, this was a great project that involved many different teams and touchpoints.

Could you share a favourite customer success story?

There are so many different success stories that I could highlight, but for brevity I will narrow it down to just one. It also dates to the early years of my career. At the time, I was an applications engineer deeply involved with the Dyanafoam® Foam-In-Place Gasketing System. Granville served as an automated work cell prototyping lab, where we hosted customers to validate their parts and support their start-up processes. A notable customer at this time was General Motors (GM), specifically with the Saturn vehicle platform.

At the time, GM was moving away from traditional hand-applied gasketing and we were helping them with process automation and with developing the programming and fixturing needed for the Dynafoam system. We spent significant time with GM at our Granville facility, demonstrating prototypes to help with their start-up.

This project was incredibly fulfilling, especially when I was able to see our materials on the final vehicles and know that we had contributed to that success. The whole experience was a collaborative effort involving the customer, manufacturing, sales, and other engineers. Seeing it through from start to finish was truly rewarding.

What made you want to maintain a long-term career at Tape Solutions?

One of the key factors that attracted me to Saint-Gobain was the stability it offered. Since both my wife and I are from the local area, the role allowed us to maintain our roots in the place we’ve always known as home.

I started at Tape Solutions as an applications engineer, and this role allowed me to interact with both the operational and commercial sides of the business. I later transitioned into marketing, where I learned about promotional activities, worked on traditional advertising strategies, and broadened my understanding of the company’s overall operations. Eventually, I moved into product management, where I had the opportunity to work on long-term strategic plans and budgets.

My career at Tape Solutions has given me many opportunities to grow, be involved in various aspects of the business, and has always kept me both motivated and engaged.

Can you provide more examples of how your role helped develop and drive customer relationships?

Over the years, the focus has always been on developing strong relationships with our customers. Our primary objective is to provide reliable, high-quality products and support. These relationships are built on trust and collaboration.

Tapes, particularly in the gasketing space, are valued for being fast, clean, and easy to apply. This makes them an ideal solution for a range of applications. With a broad polymer selection, we can offer products that are off-the-shelf or customised to meet specific needs. Our flexibility allows us to quickly prototype and scale products, responding rapidly to large OEM needs. Whether it’s a quick turnaround solution or something more specialised, we can deliver efficiently while maintaining high standards for reliability and performance.

Throughout the years, for example, we’ve worked closely with converter partners to develop unique products to meet the specific needs of their end customers, ultimately adding value to the entire supply chain — from manufacturer to converter to OEM.

By nurturing our partnerships and offering ongoing support and training, we’ve been able to strengthen customer relationships and contribute to their success.

Based on your experience, how does the legacy of Norseal® products attract new customers and how do you see the Norseal product line evolving and impacting future trends in EV, industrial and automotive markets?

The Norseal product line has a legacy of over 60 years of proven success. Whether our products are used in high-rise buildings, truck trailers, or rail applications, they have a well-established reputation for reliability and performance. Over the years, we’ve been able to enhance these products with newer technologies and more sustainable materials, allowing us to adapt to new demands. This ability to adapt is largely driven by our global footprint. Our teams share best practices across regions and leverage the collective expertise of our worldwide R&D, engineering, and operations teams.

Norseal, as a brand, has significantly evolved over the decades. Originally defined by PVC polymers, it has since expanded to include polyurethanes and silicone elastomers, making us well-positioned to meet the demands of industries like automotive, EV, rail, and other transportation sectors, providing everything from gasketing and cushioning to dampening solutions.

As Jon embarks on the next chapter of his life, we wish him a wonderful retirement and all the time in the world to enjoy the activities he truly loves, such as spending time with his family and grandchildren, skiing, white-water rafting or travelling the world. We also wanted to express our gratitude for the lasting impact he has made on each team member he worked with. The knowledge he shared and the contributions he made to the business, customers and people will leave a lasting legacy at Tape Solutions.

Thank you, Jon, for your extraordinary dedication, commitment and — most importantly — care for our teams, our customers and our manufacturing community.

Best wishes for retirement!