YPSILANTI, MICH. - Automotive molder Engineered Plastic Products Inc. has opened a $5 million plant in hopes of doubling its business in the next two to three years. The company's 80,000-square-foot plant in Ypsilanti, located on 7 acres of land, is equipped with 16 injection presses with clamping forces of 150-1,500 tons. Engineered Plastic, with about 100 employees, is running three production shifts.
Chief Executive Officer Gerald Edwards said sales, projected at $25 million in 1995, could approach $50 million by 1997 or 1998. The new plant has room to double the number of molding machines. Engineered Plastic had been based in Roseville, Mich., in a building owned by partner Becker Group Inc.
Engineered Plastic also can turn to partner Becker for ``top-of-the-line design and engineering capabilities,'' something that would be prohibitively expensive for a smaller molder to do on its own, Edwards said.
Edwards said he owns 55 per-cent of Engineered Plastic; the remainder is owned by Charles and Bruce Becker of Becker Group in Sterling Heights, Mich.
Charles Becker, president and chief executive officer, said the partnership was a ``win-win'' opportunity for both companies.
Engineered Plastic gets support and new business from a partner that is one of the largest automotive molders. The Becker Group, in turn, builds a relationship with an established black-owned subsupplier, satisfying automakers' demands for greater minority participation among parts suppliers.
