PHOENIX - Maidware Corp., a Newark, Ohio, manufacturer of plastic housewares, closed its Maidware Products of Phoenix Inc. molding operations Oct. 6, less than a year after relocating that division to a leased facility in Tempe, Ariz. The company plans to contract with local custom molders for production ofhigh-volume items, and to ship lower-volume products from Ohio.
Maidware Products of Phoenix operated six injection molding presses with clamping forces of 500-1,500 tons. The company plans to sell some of the equipment and ship some back to other plants in Ohio.
The company produced polyethylene and polypropylene products including 11/2and 21/2-bushel tubs, footlockers and stackable storage bins in a variety of colors.
Maidware Products of Phoenix began operating in 1991, and in November 1994 combined its warehousing and manufacturing operations into a 64,000-square-foot leased facility that had been used only for warehousing.
William C. Kraner, president and chief executive officer of Maidware Products of Phoenix, said Maidware Products Inc., one of six related Ohio companies, ``has every intention of retaining and possibly expanding its distribution'' as it continues to serve West Coast customers.
Kraner said the company actively is seeking custom molders in the Phoenix and California areas to mold the company's high-volume products.
``We simply made the decision that it would be more economi-cal for us to use custom molders [in the Southwest] than continue to tie up our own capital in our own molding facility,'' he said.
Other Maidware Corp. companies, all based in Ohio, include Maidware Products Inc. in Hebron, Central Ohio Plastics Corp. in Johnstown, Ohio Plastics Co. in Frazeysburg, Lancaster Plastics Corp. in Lancaster, and Newark Tool & Die Co. in Newark.
During the past year, housewares manufacturers have been hit hard with resin price increases and material shortages. Many of the large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Kmart that purchase their products dictate price, making it difficult for those manufacturers to pass along price increases.
