Triple S Plastics Inc. recently added nine new injection molding presses at plants in Michigan and Arizona to keep pace with an expanding custom molding business. The Vicksburg, Mich.-based manufacturer added three machines at its Tucson, Ariz., plant, bringing the total number of presses in operation there to 22. In Battle Creek, Mich., Triple S added six presses, increasing the number to 21.
The company also said it selected Georgetown, Texas, as the site for its previously announced plan to expand into the Southwest. The new Texas plant, in a leased 64,000-square-foot building, is scheduled to open by early October with seven new injection presses ranging in clamping force from 85-210 tons.
The Texas plant, which can accommodate 24 presses, is targeted at the telecommunications and electronics industries in the region and also will help Triple S serve existing customers.
Triple S did not disclose its investment in the Texas plant but the company did announce that it received approval to issue $5 million in industrial revenue bonds to equip the facility.
The Texas plant will be the fifth molding facility for Triple S. In the Vicksburg area, which is near Kalamazoo, the company also has two molding and two toolmaking operations.
JSW Plastics Machinery Inc. supplied all the new presses Triple S purchased for its Michigan, Arizona and Texas plants. With the addition of the new machines, Triple S will operate a total of 92 presses ranging in clamping force from 55-500 tons.
``We're real excited about our prospects in Texas and we continue to be excited about the growth that's going on at our existing facilities,'' spokeswoman Vicki Eichstaedt said.
In the first quarter ended June 30, Triple S reported sales of $14.9 million, up 24 percent compared with sales of $12.1 million in the same year earlier period. Net income was $925,000, a decrease of 3 percent compared with the $950,000 reported in the first quarter of last year.
The company said costs related to hiring and training new employees, higher resin prices and increased depreciation costs on new machinery and facilities combined to put pressure on profits.
