Precise shopping for molding facilities
NORTH VERSAILLES, PA. — Precise Technology Inc. is looking to buy injection molding plants in Europe and on the West Coast by the end of the year.
The North Versailles-based molder has closed two plants since it purchased the much-larger Tredegar Molded Products in 1996, but now the firm says it wants to buy two midsize molding facilities, ideally with 15-20 molding machines in each plant.
The West Coast plant probably would do work in all three of the company's markets — consumer products, packaging and health care — while the European plant would focus on consumer products, said Mike Farrell, vice president of marketing and sales for Precise.
The company particularly is interested in the United Kingdom, but also has looked in the Netherlands, and wants either an acquisition or a joint venture, officials said.
The company is making other expansion plans, but Farrell declined to elaborate. Precise now has nine molding plants, plus three mold-making plants. The firm ranked 28th in Plastics News' 1997 survey of North American injection molders, with relevant sales of $128 million.
Calif. proposal to boost plastic recycling
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — California waste regulators adopted a plan March 25 to boost the plastic container recycling rate. The effort was praised by both industry and environmental organizations.
As expected, the California Integrated Waste Management Board decided to pursue a more-cooperative approach, rather than relying heavily on enforcement actions against companies that do not meet the state's recycling guidelines.
But the proposal includes a specific plan to gauge industry compliance by sending certification forms to 250-500 companies.
Lance Hastings, a California lobbyist with the Washington-based Grocery Manufacturers Association, said it was not a ``command and control'' plan and said industry will continue to have input.
CIWMB Chairman Dan Pennington also said that the agency needs to work more closely with the Washington-based American Plastics Council, and told his staff to initiate a report on ways to develop markets for recycled plastic, Hastings said.
The board took the action because the state's plastics recycling rate fell to 23.2 percent in 1996, below the required 25 percent.
Aim outgrows facility, plans August move
LONGMONT, COLO. — Aim Processing Inc. will move to a larger molding facility in August and begin adding more injection presses for small, tight-tolerance parts.
Aim President Jacqueline Jones said her firm is outgrowing its 4,800-square-foot facility in Longmont. Aim's current landlord is building another, 16,500-square-foot facility in Longmont, custom designed for Aim's needs. Aim will occupy 10,000 square feet of the plant and lease the rest.
Jones said Aim plans to buy an 88-ton Boy injection press for the new plant and over time will add five more presses. It now has four molding machines with clamping forces of 24-88 tons.
Jones said Aim's sales grew to about $1.1 million last year, mainly in electronics and medical markets. It focuses on small parts molded from engineering and hard-to-process thermoplastics. The 4-year-old firm, founded by Jones and Fred Stone, also does hot stamping, pad printing, ultrasonic welding, heat inserts and subassembly.
Mich. auto supplier continues expansion
BURTON, MICH. — Soroc Products Inc. has won a new customer, added 40,000-square-feet of space with the purchase of a building adjacent to its plant and expects to install an eighth thermoforming line in April.
The privately held automotive supplier does not disclose financial information, but Dean Miller, director of sales and marketing, said the addition provides Soroc with a total of 140,000-square-feet of space on a 7-acre site in Burton.
``We are currently operating seven thermoforming lines consisting of both single-sheet and twin-sheet capabilities,'' Miller in a March 24 telephone interview.
Miller said Soroc, a vendor to both Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., now is an approved materials-handling supplier to Chrysler Corp., as well.
Soroc's processing capacity is about 12 million pounds annually. The company, which employs 65, forms pallets and other returnable packaging for the automotive and other industries.
