EAST WILTON, MAINE - Forster Inc. is emphasizing its plastics and wood household products and crafts businesses after the recent sale of its sporting goods division to Hutch Inc. of Erlanger, Ky. Forster injection molds plastic cutlery, toothpicks and clothespins in East Wilton. General manager Rich Campbell said his firm has no plan to expand, since recent equipment modernization will accommodate any extra business.
The unit Hutch acquired makes sports equipment mainly of wood and metal. Hutch, a bicycle and sporting goods producer, did not disclose terms of the March deal. Hutch did not buy Forster's Wilton, Maine, plant, which made the sporting goods.
Campbell said Forster employs about 500, but he would not reveal sales figures or the size of its molding operation.
Australia probes packaging, labeling
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Australia's federal government is investigating the nation's packaging and labeling industries, including the efficiency and regulation of plastics packaging. The investigation follows complaints from Australian food and beverage manufacturers about the high costs of packaging.
The Melbourne-based Industry Commission, a governmentfinanced, independent group that reviews industrial policies, will examine the supply of packaging and labeling for downstream industries, particularly plastics, and report to the government in February.
A commission report says Australia's current industry structure has resulted in higher packaging prices than are warranted by production costs. In most sectors of Australia's packaging industry, a small number of firms dominate end-user industries - such as food processing and beverages - and the lack of competition creates overpricing, the report said.
The commission will study the structure and competitiveness of the labeling and packaging industries, international markets, regulatory conditions and waste minimization, disposal and recycling.
PN seeks reader input for Mexico report
AKRON, OHIO - Plastics News is planning an in-depth special report on Mexico's plastics industry in its May 15 issue, and would like your help.
Clearly, the peso's sharp fall and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo's latest austerity plan have altered the economic landscape drastically. If you operate in Mexico, or have been considering doing business there, tell us how these factors have affected your Mexican business or strategic plans. Please share any tips about other companies; we will check them out.
We are interested both in companies that have been adversely affected and those that may stand to benefit - perhaps by using the cheaper peso to increase exports.
We want to personalize the special report as much as possible, and we are interested in your story. You may call reporter John Couretas in Akron, Ohio, at (216) 836-9180, ext. 159, or fax him at (216) 836-2322. Alternatively, you may telephone or fax correspondent Richard Higgs in Mexico City at (525) 673-3260. Please contact us as soon as possible.
Western Summit moving to larger plant
SOUTH GATE, CALIF. - Film converter Western Summit Manufacturing Corp. will close its 18,000-square-foot plant in South Gate and move production to a 55,000-square-foot plant in City of Industry, Calif., by mid-1995.
President Donald Clark said the firm is investing about $2 million in the move, and has no plans to buy equipment. All 70 employees will work at the new site, he said. The company bought the larger plant from Scott Paper Co.
Western Summit buys film roll stock and converts it with printing and processing machines into products such as bread bags and T-shirt bags. The firm has plants in North Hollywood, Calif., and Tecate, Mexico.
Internet will offer AlliedSignal Data
MORRISTOWN, N.J. - AlliedSignal Plastics, a unit of AlliedSignal Inc. of Morristown, said March 20 it will offer product information on the Internet by May 20.
Sales and engineering data will be available through the company's Internet address, which it expects to have by the first week of April. Customers and potential customers will be able to ask questions and place orders via electronic mail.
Spartech buyback offer ends March 31
ST. LOUIS - Spartech Corp. is allowing investors with 50 shares or less to sell each share back for $6.25 without paying any brokerage commissions. The offer ends March 31.
Bradley B. Buechler, Spartech president and chief executive, said the company is trying to reduce costs of administering shareholder accounts. About 3,000 of the company's 6,000 investors are eligible.
