VANCOUVER, WASH. -- Custom injection molder Kaso Plastics Inc. has expanded into vinyl window and sliding glass door parts by acquiring a business from VPL Enterprises Ltd. for undisclosed terms.

Kaso of Vancouver, Wash., bought the fenestration products line from VPL Enterprises Ltd. of Langley, British Columbia, on March 5 for an undisclosed amount of cash. Products include handles, rollers and weep holes injection molded of polycarbonate and nylon, Kaso general manager Darin King said in a telephone interview. Assets bought are inventory, dies and manufacturing fixtures.

Kaso is a diverse molder which should find the extra work helps level off capacity utilization and improve efficiency, King explained. He expects Kaso will add six or seven new jobs to its staff of 90 over the next four or five weeks as the firm ramps up production of the fenestration products. The company has enough injection capacity to handle the extra business. Other key Kaso markets include auto, truck, consumer electronics and sports equipment.

"We sold the entire plastic fenestration business to focus on construction and telecommunications," said VPL vice president of sales and marketing Donovan Hammersley in a telephone interview. "A year ago we sold our metal fenestration business."

VPL injection molds construction products such as HVAC parts, wire management items and similar goods and telecommunications housings under its Primex brand name. Its Vanguard branded products include ABS shelf supports and retail shopping baskets with molded polypropylene baskets and nylon handles, some of which contain 25 percent recycled plastic. Hammersley said VPL will continue to make the baskets and shelf supports.

VPL will consolidate all its businesses under the Primex Manufacturing Ltd. name effective April 1, according to Hammersley. Its Primex division has a warehouse in Bellingham, Wash.