PLYMOUTH, MICH. - Freudenberg-NOK G.P. is investing $1 million to double the size of its Scottsburg, Ind., plastics plant and consolidate its production of polyurethane hydraulic seals there. The company is transferring the $9 million worth of business from its Manchester, N.H., factory to create a world-class seal manufacturing facility, said Greg Keenan, vice president of manufacturing for the Plastics Products Division.
Freudenberg-NOK began transferring its equipment to the 20,000-square-foot Scottsburg unit from Manchester in early July and completed construction of the 10,000-square-foot addition later that month. The consolidation - 40 percent complete - will prompt the company to add 30 people to the factory's current staff of 20 before the project is completed, a company spokeswoman said.
The move will not affect the Manchester plant's employment roster, Keenan said, as freed-up employees there will work on added business for plastic composite covers and gaskets.
Freudenberg-NOK's Scottsburg plastics plant, which produces microcellular PU foam products and suspension parts for the automotive industry, will make the hydraulic seals for the heavy-duty equipment market.
The company employs 200 at a second plant in Scottsburg that makes rubber brake-booster diaphragms and brake parts. The Plymouth-based firm employs 3,600 and posted 1994 sales of about $500 million.