Custom molder CD Concepts Inc. has broken ground on a 20,000-square-foot headquarters plant in Elgin, Ill. The company will gain about 5,000 square feet when it moves March 1 from a leased facility, also in Elgin, to the new site, part of a 1,000-acre business park, according to general manager Paul Yeh. He put the project's price tag at about $1 million.
The injection molder started out nine years ago making compact disc jewel boxes, when the CD business was hitting its peak. As more molders penetrated that market, it became less profitable, according to Yeh, so the company began taking on other business.
Today its plastic products include painting supplies, such as brushes and trays, marbleized feeding dishes for dogs and cats, display boxes for sports trading cards and bar taps for Miller Brewing Co. Automotive and electronics parts are the most-recent additions to its repertoire.
Once CD Concepts settles in, it will expand its injection capabilities with two or three new presses, possibly a 750-tonner and a couple of smaller-tonnage machines, Yeh said Sept. 8. For now, 12 presses with clamping forces of 150-500 tons run 24 hours a day, six days a week. The company employs 60 full-time workers. It also offers part design, mold building and maintenance.
This year CD Concepts expects sales of nearly $4 million, a 33 percent rise over 1994. The firm has experienced that growth rate for several years and hopes to maintain it for several more as it brings in new and bigger accounts, Yeh said.
The present plant's layout, rather than its size, is the main drawback for the growing company, especially for setting up computerized quality-control systems, Yeh said. The firm is working toward ISO 9000 certification.
``We've been looking to move for about two years now,'' Yeh said.
During that time the company checked out locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, but the city of Elgin wanted to keep CD Concepts there, he said. To do that, Elgin custom-sized a lot for CD Concepts in the city-owned business park, changed zoning requirements to accommodate the molder's equipment and helped it find an affordable builder.
Andrew Kovari is the company's president.
