HARBORCREEK, PA. - Port Erie Plastics Inc. of Harborcreek plans to begin injection molding pallets this month, after a development project with the Plastics Technology Center at Penn State Erie's Behrend College. PTC claims the nestable, nine-leg pallet is the lightest full-size pallet available, at less than 16 pounds. Jon Connole, marketing manager for Port Erie Plastics, said the pallet can be sold for less than $20 in high volumes when made from virgin resin. The use of recycled resin would lower the price, he said.
The research project was supported, in part, by a grant from Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Partnership Program. Port Erie Plastics has made several of the pallets for potential customers, Connole said.
Plastic pallets usually cost $30-$60, while wood pallets cost about $6-$10, according to PTC.
John Beaumont, assistant professor of engineering and director of PTC's Plastics Computer Aided Engineering Center, worked with Port Erie Plastics to develop the pallet and molds using a simultaneous engineering strategy.
New firm to make cast PU roll covers
WARE SHOALS, S.C.-Honea Path Corp., a new company, is building a $750,000, 15,000-square-foot factory in Ware Shoals to manufacture polyurethane rollers.
Rain has delayed construction, but Deborah Chapman, owner and president, said the company will meet its production start-up date of March 1.
Honea Path initially will employ 12, plus several support-staff workers.
Roll-covers will range from 1 inch to 187 inches, Chapman said, with outside diameters as large as 17 inches.
The firm primarily will serve South Carolina customers at the start, then branch out to the southeastern United States.
``Right now, customers are going outside the state to get cast polyurethane rollers,'' Chapman said, adding that the company also has talked with several rubber roller companies about supplying them with polyurethane rolls.
Some of the markets Honea Path expects to supply include film, textiles, printing, tire, mining and automotive.
Chapman said she recognized the need for a specialized urethan roller company while she was a manager at W.R. Grace & Co.'s Cryovac Division in Simpsonville, S.C.
