Mulay Plastics of Addison, Ill., broke ground March 21 for a custom injection molding facility in Tijuana, Mexico. The 100,000-square-foot plant, on 6 acres the company purchased, will house 18-20 presses with clamping forces as great as 1,500 tons. The company did not release any cost estimates for the project.
President Doug Mulay said the decision to put a facility in Mexico despite the present state of the Mexican economy was in re-sponse to invitations from customers in the consumer electronics industry.
Tijuana is experiencing a flurry of activity particularly in the growing consumer electronics arena.
All the major players in the television industry have plants along the border, including Sony, Sanyo, and Samsung in the Tijuana area.
Mulay, a 25-year-old company, is a custom manufacturer of injection molded television cabinets. The Tijuana facility also will house complete finishing and assembly operations, and in-house mold maintenance and repair.
The plant will employ 150-200 people.
``We intend to continue to lead the television injection molding market through facilities that feature automation, technology and strategic location,'' Mulay said.
In addition to the Addison plant, closely held Mulay operates similar plants in Holly Springs, Miss., and Casa Grande, Ariz.
Each of the company's U.S. facilities are about 150,000-200,000 square feet in size and offer tooling, finishing and assembly operations.
Companywide, Mulay employs more than 1,000 and operates about 75 molding presses with clamping forces of 500-1,500 tons.
