AUBURN, N.Y. (Sept. 21, 1:20 p.m. ET) — Currier Plastics Inc. continues to build its injection and blow molding capacity, adding five machines recently while awaiting construction of its 55,000-square-foot addition.
The Auburn, N.Y., company is adding two Sumitomo all-electric injection molding machines to boost its medium-range lid and cap molding capacity, according to Al Gross, vice president of operations.
The Sumitomo machines come with clamping forces of 198 and 308 tons and are being set up in space already available in the facility.
Currier also continues to boost its lineup of injection stretch blow molding machinery, adding three Aoki machines in the fall, one more than was previously announced. It will boost the number of Aoki blow molding machines to seven when done.
“We created space in our existing facility. It adds capacity while we are in the middle of our expansion,” said Gross in a telephone interview.
The company had announced in May that it would construct a 55,000-square-foot addition that Gross said should be completed next spring. It will house Currier’s blow molding division and allow Currier to gain more room and efficiencies in its current facility. Overall, the facility will grow to about 110,000 square feet. It has about 120 employees.
“Over the last two years our target has been 15 percent growth per year. We hit it the last two years and that’s the target for next year,” he said, noting that it has experienced growth from business coming back from overseas.
He said two contracts that were formerly done in China are part of the reason for the purchase of the Sumitomo machines. They are designed to be more energy efficient, provide a cleaner molding environment and to be more precise at higher speeds and pressures, according to Gross.
