A Canadian custom and proprietary injection molder will expand its U.S. presence through an alliance with a new company setting up in Libertyville, Ill.
P.P.C. Group of Mississauga, Ontario, has teamed up with recently formed P.P.C. America LLC, which is moving molding equipment and other machinery from its current Chicago location to Libertyville. P.P.C. America expects to have its 20 presses and finishing and assembly equipment in operation at the new location in January. The presses are as large as 500 tons.
P.P.C. America President Peter Gamoff said the new operation will focus on packaging products such as caps and dispensing systems for health, beauty and household goods and proprietary deodorant stick packaging. Those are the major product lines of its Canadian partner.
P.P.C. America has invested millions of dollars to buy and renovate a 60,000-square-foot plant in Libertyville that will be more efficient and productive than its aging Chicago plant.
Gamoff and two other investors bought the Chicago operation, a family-owned business formerly called Janler Plastics LLC, about a year ago. Gamoff was U.S. sales manager for P.P.C. Group and helped arrange the alliance as a way of boosting P.P.C. Group's U.S. sales. Gamoff said ownership of P.P.C. America and P.P.C. Group are not related.
Elgin Strong, P.P.C. Group chief executive officer, said the alliance will combine more than 40 injection presses and annual sales of about US$18 million to US$20 million. The combination will benefit from increased purchasing power, and he expects service to be more responsive and efficient.
P.P.C. Group, owned by Strong and other investors, has been molding packaging products in Mississauga for more than 10 years.
