SAN DIEGO (Sept. 28, 2:10 p.m. ET) — Apon Industries Corp. and Nishiba Industries Corp. USA have merged their operations under the new identity ANA Global LLC, based in San Diego. Terms were not disclosed.
ANA Global employs about 1,250, including 12 toolmakers. The firm utilizes four Mexican production facilities — three in Tijuana and one in Nogales — and operates 110 injection molding presses of 25-1,600 tons. It also operates four dual-head extrusion blow molding machines.
“Members of the new company have an almost 25-year relationship,” said Anisuz Zaman. “Nishiba and Apon have expertise in different fields and together will be a very strong organization.”
During 2012, principals Yoshiaki Nishiba, Anwarul Hogue and Zaman began talking in May about a strategic business merger. They forged a June 7 letter of understanding and on Sept. 4 signed a merger agreement that was effective Sept. 1. Hogue is ANA Global president and CEO, and Nishiba and Zaman are directors.
Projections for 2012 sales envision Nishiba Industries at about $45 million and Apon at $24 million, Zaman said. “Instead of two smaller companies, a larger company makes more sense.”
Medical work in metal and plastic accounts for about 35 percent of ANA’s sales volume and includes blow molded components for respiratory systems. Bezels, cabinetry and stands for the high-gloss television market represent 20 percent of sales, and air fresheners cover about 12 percent.
ANA’s operations include medical-component production sites in Tijuana and Nogales, a precision plastics processing facility in Tijuana and a sheet-metal fabrication plant, also in Tijuana.
ANA’s secondary operations include pad and silk-screen printing, hot stamping and component assembly, and the firm also has capabilities for painting and “all types of decoration,” Zaman said.
Nishiba Co. Ltd. of Kiryu, Japan, formed a North American entity in 1987 and, under the guidance of owner Nishiba, along with Hogue and Zaman, broke ground in Tijuana in April 1988 for a facility. Nishiba USA’s maquiladora Industrias Nishiba SA de CV in Tijuana has plastics operations in 86,000 square feet of space and metal work in 65,000 square feet.
Zaman, a native of Bangladesh, started his career in a part-time position at Nishiba in Kiryu and was a member of the initial Nishiba USA team, serving as vice president.
He left Nishiba and in November 1998 incorporated Apon Industries and established its maquiladora Industrias Apon SA de CV, initially in 10,000 square feet of space in Tijuana.
Now, Apon has 80,000 square feet of space in Tijuana with a Class 100,000 clean room and a controlled-environment room, and 33,000 square feet in Nogales. Both sites deal with plastics and medical applications.
In October 2010, Apon started the Nogales operation, which also has a controlled-environment room.
Portions of ANA operations are certified under ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14000 and ISO 13485; registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; utilize practices of total quality management; and adhere to statistical-process-control quality-assurance methods.
Zaman said ANA may invest as much as $3 million during 2013 for equipment, including plastics processing machines.
