CHICAGO — Pereles Bros. Inc. is boosting injection molding capacity at its Milwaukee plant, with the addition of a 250-ton Toshiba press later this month.
Last month the molder installed a new 60-ton Toshiba and two 28-ton Boy machines, said sales manager Charles Buehler. The Boys replaced two Engels of similar tonnage, but Pereles bought both Toshiba presses to meet increased business demand, Buehler said during the National Design Engineering Show, which ran from March 10-13 in Chicago. Pereles exhibited at the show.
The company is using the 60-ton press to mold parts for such customers as Emerson Electric of St. Louis, he said. The second new Toshiba, due to arrive in late March or early April, will meet growing customer demand in the 250-ton range. Pereles, which employs 135 at its 50,000-square-foot Milwaukee headquarters plant, does not expect to hire more workers, Buehler said.
The molder works mostly with engineering resins, such as glass-filled nylons and acetals, to manufacture plastic parts for power hand tools; lawn and garden equipment, such as John Deere machines; and a large number of insert-molded components for the automotive and electronics markets, Buehler said. About six of its presses are insert molding machines; two of them, an Autojector and a Cincinnati Milacron, were added just last year.
Insert molding, which has simplified the manufacture of products such as printed circuit boards and distributor caps, is gaining popularity among Pereles customers, he said.
``I think that's the [business] we could probably grow the fastest,'' he said.
Pereles reported $12.5 million in sales in 1996. The firm has a total of 34 injection presses.