CHICAGO — Hot-runner systems producer American MSI Corp. of Moorpark, Calif., is moving its recently purchased MSI Mold Systems division near to the parent firm in a $1.5 million expansion.
The division makes a variety of hot-runner systems in North and South America. The company decided this year to move the rapidly expanding group from its present Irwindale, Calif., facility — about an hour's drive from Moorpark — to a new site at American MSI's corporate headquarters.
Timothy Triplett, American MSI chief executive officer, disclosed the move at an interview June 17 at NPE 1997 in Chicago.
``The division needed more space and equipment to grow, and that gave us an opportunity to bring them closer to the rest of our operation,'' said Triplett.
The facility, scheduled to open in September, will shift the Mold Systems group from a 5,000-square-foot building to an area four times that size. The company also is in the process of purchasing new lathes, presses and other equipment.
Mold Systems is known for its M-Form and Ottomanner valve-gating technology. The division also makes a variety of valve pins, tandem pneumatic systems and other components.
Triplett also announced that American MSI is in the process of selling its Resource Recovery Systems division to an outside investment group from Nevada. A letter of intent was signed in June. Details were unavailable.
American MSI also operates MSI Controls Inc., a manufacturer of hot-runner controls.
The firm introduced its new Data Wave data-transfer technology at the show. The system is used with hot-runner injection molds to eliminate thermocouple cables. On a typical, 16-cavity injection mold, as many as 20 cables provide about 240 thermocouple connection points between a mold and the hot-runner controller, Triplett said.
The Data Wave system would reduce that number of connection points to 40 on the 16-cavity mold and controller through a system of electronic signals sent through a minimum number of cables.
The company also opened new sales and customer-support offices earlier this year in Offenburg, Germany, and Tokyo, and has offices in Singapore and the United Kingdom.
