Manufacturing · Profile from Manufacturing Research Companion: Companies, Strategic Moves, and Technical Studies

DuPont

The Wilmington, Delaware company that Éleuthère Irénée du Pont founded as a gunpowder maker on the Brandywine River in 1802 and that became, in the twentieth century, the model of the science-led American chemical company — nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, Tyvek and Nomex came out of its laboratories — and that spent the next half-century taking itself apart. DuPont's manufacturing story turns on science-led specialties versus liabilities that outlive the product. The same fluorochemistry that made Teflon a household word left PFOA (C8) in the water around its Washington Works plant at Parkersburg, West Virginia, and the company's answer was structural: spin off the fluoroproducts and titanium dioxide businesses as Chemours (1 Jul 2015), merge with Dow (31 Aug 2017) and split three ways (Dow on 1 Apr 2019, Corteva on 1 Jun 2019), agree to share PFAS costs with Chemours and Corteva (Jan 2021), and then spin off its electronics business as Qnity (1 Nov 2025) and sell Aramids (Kevlar and Nomex) to Arclin (1 Apr 2026). What remains in late 2026 is a ~$1.9bn-a-quarter specialty company in water, healthcare materials and industrial technologies — a long way from the conglomerate that once owned an oil company and a seed company.

At a glance

Founded: 1802, on the Brandywine River near Wilmington, Delaware, by É. I. du Pont (from memory, verify); incorporated in various forms since; the current listed parent is DuPont de Nemours, Inc., the renamed DowDuPont (2019)
Headquarters: Wilmington, Delaware (from memory, verify current building)
Ownership / structure: Public (NYSE: DD). The historic operating company E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company became EIDP, a Corteva subsidiary, in the 2019 split (Corteva filings; the legal entity names matter for PFAS cases — EIDP is a party to the 2026 North Carolina settlement, reported)
Leadership (2026): Lori Koch, CEO (from Jun 2024, from memory, verify); Ed Breen, executive chair and architect of the 2015–25 separations (from memory, verify)
Segments (after Qnity and Aramids): Water (filtration and membranes), healthcare and protection materials (Tyvek, medical packaging and components), industrial technologies (segment names and grouping from memory, verify against the 2026 10-Q)
Scale: Q3 2026 (release 3 Nov 2026): net sales ~$1.868bn (+4%; organic +5%), GAAP income from continuing operations $171m, operating EBITDA $469m; full-year 2026 guidance raised again (8-K and 10-Q, reported). Aramids is reported as discontinued operations: its net sales were $343m in Q3 2025, and $349m in the first nine months of 2026 — all before the 1 Apr closing (10-Q)
Plants (US, selected): Washington Works, Parkersburg, West Virginia (fluoropolymer site where PFOA was used; transferred to Chemours in 2015 — from memory, verify); Spruance, Richmond, Virginia (Kevlar and Nomex; went with Aramids to Arclin in 2026 — from memory, verify); Tyvek at Richmond and in Luxembourg (from memory, verify); water-membrane plants in Minnesota and elsewhere (from memory, verify)
Signature moves (incl. failures): Brandywine gunpowder mills (1802); nylon, Teflon and Kevlar (1938–71); Conoco acquisition and exit (1981–99); PFOA at Parkersburg and the 2005 EPA settlement; the Chemours spin-off (2015); Dow–DuPont merger and three-way split (2017–19); PFAS cost-sharing and water settlements (2021–26); the Qnity spin-off and Aramids sale (2025–26)

8 strategic moves analysed

Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.

1802
Brandywine Gunpowder Mills
Founding / new plant (greenfield, water-powered black-powder mills)
1938
Nylon Teflon and Kevlar
Product and process launch from fundamental research (new polymers and the plants to make them)
1981
Conoco Acquisition and 1999 Exit
Acquisition (backward integration into oil and gas feedstock), later divestment by IPO and split-off
2005
PFOA Parkersburg and the EPA Settlement
Environmental and product-liability case (regulatory settlement and class litigation) — failure
2015
Chemours Spin Off
Spin-off (Performance Chemicals: titanium dioxide, fluoroproducts, chemical solutions)
2017
Dow DuPont Merger and Three Way Split
Merger of equals (all-stock) followed by three spin-offs along new business lines
2021
PFAS Cost Sharing and Water Settlements
Legal settlement and liability-sharing contract (binding memorandum of understanding), followed by class and state settlements
2025
Qnity Spin Off and Aramids Sale
Spin-off (electronics) and divestment (aramid fibres)

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