JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Although he sees a surplus of production capacity for stretch film products, Armin Kaufman, president of Armin Plastics in Jersey City, said his company intends to build a new stretch film production plant. Kaufman said his firm will be ready to produce 60 million pounds of stretch and specialty films a year from a plant he intends to build. A site has not been chosen.
In an interview at his spartan headquarters office March 27, Kaufman said stretch and specialty films will be a natural expansion of his company's products.
A division of Tyco International Ltd., Armin Plastics already is one of the largest producers of film and sheet products in North America.
It ranked 13th in the 1995 Plastics News listing of North American film and sheet manufacturers, with estimated sales of $305 million from 11 locations.
Kaufman said his company may choose Oklahoma, Kentucky, or North or South Carolina as a location for its stretch film facility, which will provide films to durable goods, soft goods and automotive manufacturers across the midsection of the United States.
Even with his own plans to build such a facility, Kaufman said he believes the stretch film market is nearly saturated, and that there will be some fallout or consolidations before market conditions turn.
Kaufman said his plans are based on demands from his customers, and serving customers has always been the quintessence of his business.
Kaufman arrived in the United States in 1956 from Hungary as a 26-year-old who knew machinery and plastic resins, but no English.
With his industry knowledge and entrepreneurial drive, he launched Armin Corp. in 1967, and sold it in 1979 in a corporate takeover to then-Tyco Labora-tories of Exeter, N.H.
Within 17 years of its founding, Armin Corp. had grown from one facility to eight, and that growth was founded on the same principles by which Kaufman plans to enter the stretch and specialty films bus-iness - serving customers.
``Our business includes making in-depth analysis of our customer's needs and custom-tailoring our products to those needs,'' Kaufman said.
While plans for Armin's own facility are being made, Kaufman said he plans to meet those customer demands by negotiating to purchase stretch films made to his company's specifications.
Later, he will supplant those films with product made in Armin's own facility.
The specialty films will include a stretch film that could be used as packaging for new cars.
The film would be made from a metallocene technology-based, nonslip material that contains no antiblock agents. The film would cling to cars without adhering too strongly to paint surfaces, Kaufman said. Although several companies reported success in recent years, many previous attempts at wrapping cars in films failed primarily because paints would peel when the films were removed.
Although he is planning to enter a crowded field, Kaufman said that he has learned that demand eventually eases crowded manufacturing conditions and reduces extra production capacities, leaving a few victorious companies.