BRAY, IRELAND - Adding clean room facilities for existing medical and electronics customers is the major motivation behind a 30,000-square-foot, $5 million expansion by injection molder Nypro Inc. at its facilities in Bray. The facility, near Dublin, is set to go on-line in February.
Some 15,000 square feet on the upper floor of the two-story addition to the existing Bray plant will be a clean room that meets Class 100,000 requirements. It will house up to 30 new injection molding machines, all of less than 300 tons of clamping force, said Nypro spokesman Al Cotton.
Those initially installed will be 100-ton machines. Cotton said 80 employees will be added to the 200 already at work in Bray.
The expansion is part of the second phase of Clinton, Mass.-based Nypro's expansion in the British Isles. Included in the expansion is the company's purchase of a majority share of the Phillips Plastics Corp. plant in Wrexham, Wales, last year.
Unique about the expansion is the firm's target of producing products only for customers in the domestic Irish market.
Star Container expands capabilities
PHOENIX - Star Container Corp. of Phoenix has invested more than $1 million to expand its manufacturing capabilities.
The custom processor of containers for the food industry now manufactures using both a one-step process and a two-step process using preforms in the stretch-blow process.
President Jim Hughes said Star offers a broad line of product configurations ``that we can quickly customize to meet the specific needs of our customers.''
Speed and flexibility are primary considerations for Star, and the firm bought equipment to provide rapid prototyping.
Star does this by using modular blow cavities in its tooling and interchangeable panels in the mold to customize containers to individual requirements. The firm also has invested in automated labeling equipment and offers secondary packaging.
Star Container is part of the Tech Group, based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Star ranked 61st in Plastics News' 1994 survey of North American blow molders with estimated sales of $18 million.
Pace Industries adds extrusion line
REEDSBURG, WIS. - Pace Industries Inc. is installing its ninth extrusion line to support growing sales of styrenic sheet.
The Reedsburg firm has spent about $2 million for recent capacity and plant space expansion, and to upgrade equipment, Pace President David Pace said in a telephone interview.
The firm's annual growth has averaged 35 percent since its start in 1986 and reached $24.1 million in the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 1994, about 61 percent higher than the previous year.
David Pace said his firm focuses on high-end markets in printing and thermoforming applications. Its sheet end uses range from medical packaging to household appliances.
Pace recently built a 45,000-square-foot addition at Reedsburg, boosting plant space to more than 100,000 square feet. Its new sheet line includes an extruder purchased from an undisclosed supplier and downstream equipment built by Pace. It also added new coextrusion equipment and bought nine acres.
Pace said the addition can house seven extrusion lines and it expects to add one a year based on growth projections.
Rex-Rosenlew buys building in Texas
THOMASVILLE, N.C. - Rex-Rosenlew International Inc. of Thomasville recently purchased a 15,500-square-foot building in Longview, Texas, and has started building a 40,000-square-foot addition at an initial cost of $10 million.
The firm said it needs the space to expand its capacity to make heavy-duty industrial shipping sacks.
Charles J. Warr, president and chief executive officer, said he chose the site because the building, which formerly belonged to North American Plastics, was equipped with some essential auxiliary equipment necessary for plastics processing.
Increased capacity includes both mono and coextruded films to be used in the production of open-mouth, valve and form-fill-seal tubing and sheeting with printing capabilities of up to six colors. Warr said that plans call for doubling the size of the Texas plant within three years.
Rex-Rosenlew will serve its customer base in the West, Southwest and Midwest from Texas. The company has a third operation, a stretch film plant, in Stanton, Va. Companywide, it employs 240, with plans to hire 40 in Texas. The privately held firm has about $55 million in annual sales.
