Kelch Corp. recently opened a new manufacturing plant and moved its corporate headquarters from Mequon, Wis., to the new facility in Cedarburg, Wis. Called Kelch Assemblies, the 60,000-square-foot plant provides room for expansion to supply its partner customers such as Deere & Co.'s Lawn and Ground Care Division in nearby Horicon, Wis.
Kelch Assemblies specializes in small-parts injection molding, and manufactures a proprietary line of fuel caps and innovative fluid measuring devices.
The facility houses 13 injection molding presses with clamping forces of 30-220 tons. The plant has room for 25 molding presses. A 125-ton vertical insert molding press recently was added, said Bill Foster, plant general manager.
The building contains a 2,000-square-foot area dedicated to new product research, development and testing.
Kelch also designs and builds its own automation equipment. Other services provided by Kelch include assembly and a variety of secondary operations such as ultrasonic welding, hot stamping and pad printing.
The company is designing an expansion for the building that will allow Kelch to eventually operate 50 molding presses.
Foster said Kelch Assemblies employs just more than 100 people, and the company plans to add another 35-40 jobs this year.
Kelch Corp. operates seven production facilities through four independent business units, including Kelch Aluminum Molds, which has facilities in Cedarburg and Middlefield, Ohio, serving the rotational molding industry; injection molding and assembly facilities in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Lenoir, N.C.; and another injection molding and welding plant in Mequon. It employs 700 companywide.
