The following items were gathered by staff reporter Steve Toloken at the Western Plastics Expo, held Jan. 6-8 in Long Beach, Calif.
Gordon mulls alliance with Mexican molder
Injection molder Gordon Manufacturing Co. Inc. said it seriously will consider investing in or forming an alliance with a Mexican molder to compete for high-volume, commodity business.
The Petaluma, Calif.-based molder lost a contract making surge-protector casings to a South Korean processor two months ago, the first time it has lost a commodity product, said Michael Blumenfeld, vice president and director of sales and marketing.
``This has a lot of urgency,'' he said. ``It is a high priority.''
The company is interested in a molder in the Tijuana area, just across the U.S. border, and hopes to complete the deal in three months. The Mexican partner would work on projects that are simple and can be done with cheaper labor, Blumenfeld said.
But the company has not made up its mind on how to structure any potential partnership.
``We're open to anything,'' he said.
Pa. PVC compounder opens R&D facility
PVC compounder Roscom Inc. opened a $250,000 research and development center at its headquarters in Croydon, Pa., in the fall.
The new center, located in space added to the headquarters, is being used for improvements to rigid and flexible PVC and alloys, said Vice President Jeffrey Malovetz.
The center also has a small version of the firm's compounding line, and the company plans to start underwater cutting of PVC pellets in April, he said.
Calif.'s Deco invests in 4 regional offices
A relative newcomer to the pad printing business, Deco Technology Group Inc., plans to put $6 million in four regional offices that each will duplicate the capabilities of its small California headquarters.
The first office, in Charlotte, N.C., will be completed in six months and the other three should be built in two years, said Michael Learmouth, president of the Orange, Calif.-based distributor of pad printers and equipment. The company also manufactures some printer components.
The firm, launched in mid-1997, is owned by Learmouth and Ray Flint, a former owner of pad printer maker United Silicone Inc.
The offices will be in Chicago, New England and either the Pacific Northwest or Missouri, Learmouth said. Each will be about 10,000 square feet and employ about 20.
Ill. equipment maker seeks new location
Extrusion equipment manufacturer Processing Technologies Inc. hopes to move in the next 18 months into a facility that almost would double its size.
The company is looking for a 75,000-square-foot plant near its current 40,000-square-foot headquarters in St. Charles, Ill., said Alan Farkas, sales manager. It would move its current operations into the new plant, he said.
The firm needs the additional space because it has started building dual-diameter extruders and complete extrusion lines, including a melt pump, a screen filter, a roll stack and a winder, he said. The company has been growing 25 percent a year, he said.
