BERLIN, CONN.-After nearly two decades of business, injection molder Dukon Corp. has closed its doors. The Berlin company folded in October, after several years of financial trouble, said Charles Karno, the city's economic development director.
Karno said he believes the company ``got caught in some highinterest loans'' that set it on a ``downward spiral,'' leaving it unable to attend to such needs as upgrading equipment.
Dukon's owner, Phil Kenney, could not be reached for comment.
In its heyday, the molder employed more than 100; near the end, it employed about 35, Karno said Nov. 27. Dukon custom molded consumer products, including cosmetic cases and toy components, he said.
On Oct. 31, Daley-Hodkin Corp. of Melville, N.Y., auctioned off 26 of Dukon's presses, mostly HPMs with clamping forces of 75650 tons, granulators, hoppers, dryers, milling machines and other auxiliary equipment.
In 1990, Dukon operated 25 injection molding machines and recorded sales of $7.48 million. More recent sales figures were not available. The firm overcame a financial setback in 1983, when it reorganized under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Stimsonite Corp. planning to relocate
NILES, ILL. - Stimsonite Corp., a plastics processor and proprietary manufacturer of highway safety products such as raised reflective lane markers, has a preliminary agreement to move its operations to a facility in Mount Prospect, Ill., from its current building in Niles.
Tom Ratchford, vice president of finance for the company, said although the company has no definitive proposal, a 190,000-square-foot building has been identified and negotiations are under way to acquire it either through lease or purchase. Plans call for a 60,000-square-foot addition within the next 10 years. The Mount Prospect Village Board gave preliminary approval last month to the firm's plans.
Growth necessitated Stimsonite's move from its current plant, where it employs 220.
Stimsonite primarily uses acrylic material to injection mold the plastic components of the highway safety markers. Ratchford declined to comment on the number of presses the company operates.
Ratchford said the company is acquiring the necessary permits to make the move possible, and full occupancy of the building is expected by Jan. 1, 1997.
Buckell Plastic Co installs equipment
LEWISTOWN, PA.-Buckell Plastic Co. Inc., a custom thermoformer based in Lewistown, on Dec. 1 installed a Sencorp 2500 thermoforming machine capable of forming a maximum sheet size of 311/2 inches by 33 inches.
The machine is equipped with a quick-change tool changer. Buckell also will take delivery of two Armac retrofit machines in early 1996. The machines cut and stack in line, and have 20-inch by 40-inch sheet capability.
The equipment enhances Buckell's overall capability in the light-gauge division of the company, which has a total of four thermoforming machines.
Earlier this year, Buckell expanded its heavy-gauge division with the addition of two, 48-inch by 60-inch rotary forming machines. That division now has seven machines.
The company has computer numerically controlled tooling and secondary operations. Buckell makes products primarily for the electronic component packaging industry and display business, and employs 35.
Norton Performance adds clean room
WAYNE, N.J. - Norton Performance Plastics Corp. has a new clean room.
Norton, based in Wayne, moved its fluoropolymer film extrusion operation into the new clean room because ``contamination was too high for the level of the market we were trying to reach,'' said spokesman David Brownstein.
The extrusion operation can produce films 65 inches wide and one-half to 30 mils thick.
The clean room meets Class 100,000 specifications and will house extrusion, corona-treating and slitting operations for fluoropolymer film customers in electronics, aerospace and protection/decoration industries.
Brownstein, citing proprietary reasons, declined to reveal the new clean room's square footage, the number of lines in production, or the company's investment.
The slitting operation in the clean room will make tapes from fluoropolymers, ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene and flexible laminates, as well as Norton's films cut from solid polytetrafluoroethylene.
The films are used for their insulating and barrier properties in electronics applications.
