Container Industries Inc. in Denver recently changed its name to Intertech Plastics Inc. to better reflect the fact that it is a true custom molder. ``The container side is a very small portion of our overall business,'' said Pat Zeller, sales manager for the firm. ``We're about 90 percent custom molding.''
Intertech still makes its proprietary ``tray packs'' used in the fast-food industry for sauces and mayonnaise, Zeller said.
The company has expanded its injection molding capabilities during the past 18 months, adding six presses, primarily in the smaller tonnages. Currently, Intertech operates 16 presses with clamping forces of 50-1,000 tons.
Intertech recently added another, large-capacity blow molding machine from Cincinnati Milacron. The company had one machine on which it blow molds gallon bottles on a custom basis. Two more large blow molding machines are on order, one to be delivered in January or February and the other in April or May.
Zeller said Intertech added the bigger equipment to give it the capability to do large-part blow molding, a service that is lacking in the Colorado area.
``We're filling this new machine up quickly and are fast-tracked to receive the other two,'' he said.
Zeller, who used to work for a local customer of Intertech's, said his former company used to ``design around blow molding'' because there were no capabilities for large-part blow molding in the Colorado area.
Intertech operates in a 105,000-square-foot facility and employs 140. The company has a full in-house engineering/technical staff including a plastics engineer and product engineers to assist customers with design and development.
It offers in-house mold making, extensive assembly services, and secondary operations such as decorating and silk-screening.
