Western Kentucky Plastics Inc., an injection molder of thermoplastics and thermosets, is starting a major expansion after receiving several new contracts.
The Bowling Green company has purchased a 10,000-square-foot space adjacent to the company's 18,500-square-foot plant, said operations manager and co-owner Randy Baxter. By June, the company plans to install six thermoset injection presses and secondary equipment at the expanded facility.
The company will invest close to $1 million in the plant and equipment purchases, Baxter said.
In November, the molder also received two Milacron Roboshot electric presses with clamping forces of 75 and 150 tons. The presses were sent from GE Fanuc Automation North America Inc., a maker of machinery controls.
GE Fanuc is outsourcing lens molding for its hand-held programmable controllers to the company and dispatched the presses and auxiliary equipment to the Bowling Green plant, said Western Kentucky President James Baxter. GE Fanuc previously had molded the lens in-house at its Charlottesville, Va., plant.
The company also purchased five more thermoset and thermoplastic molding presses in 1998, Randy Baxter said. The presses have clamping forces of 75-150 tons.
Western Kentucky injection molds high-tolerance printing, computer, automotive and household products from both engineered thermoplastics and phenolic materials. The company currently operates 10 injection presses with a clamping force as large as 210 tons.
The molder, which has 65 employees, recorded about $3 million in sales during 1998, James Baxter said. The company also operates a captive, 5,000-square-foot tooling shop in Bowling Green. Western Kentucky started its injection molding business in 1995.
