Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CFO of the Year
    • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Bioplastics Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • PFAS Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
    • Europe - Virgin
    • Europe - Recycled
    • Europe - Feedstock
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 18, 1999 01:00 AM

BEMIS MFG. BUYS KELCH

Michael Lauzon
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More

    Bemis Manufacturing Co., an injection molder of medium and large parts, has expanded its capacity by acquiring Kelch Corp., a specialist in small to medium components, for an undisclosed amount.

    The two firms agreed to the deal to offer customers value-added services at low cost, Bemis announced Jan. 11.

    Bemis, based in Sheboygan Falls, Wis., and Kelch of Cedarburg, Wis., completed the deal Dec. 31.

    The companies offer complementary press sizes and technologies, making the combination attractive to original equipment manufacturers, said Bemis Executive Vice President Peter Bemis. OEMs want to work with fewer suppliers.

    Bemis and Kelch officials did not disclose annual sales of the firms. Bemis of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., employs 2,000 in custom and proprietary injection molding, compression molding and profile extrusion. Kelch employs about 400 in custom and proprietary molding.

    Plastics News estimates Kelch's sales at $53 million a year, but Kelch President Dennis Nourse would not confirm the figure. He said in a telephone interview that Kelch has about 60 injection presses with clamping forces to 1,000 tons. Kelch and Bemis overlap in 750- to 1,000-ton sizes.

    Bemis' molding technologies include coinjection, while Kelch offers injection welding, said Kelch spokeswoman Mary Scheibel. The firms' major common customer base is lawn and garden equipment. Each also participates in appliance and furniture markets. Bemis does some automotive custom molding too, said John Howell, legal counsel for Bemis.

    Each firm also is big in proprietary products. Bemis is a major toilet seat molder and makes proprietary casual furniture and other consumer products and health-care items. Kelch molds under-the-hood parts for the lawn and garden market, and a proprietary line of steering wheels, caps and gauges.

    Kelch has been streamlining to focus on its niche markets. A month before the Bemis deal, it sold its Twinsburg, Ohio, molding operation to local management led by Mark McCollum, former Twinsburg general manager and now president of CIMA Plastics Corp., the new name of the Twinsburg operation. Two months before then, Kelch sold its aluminum molds division to local management.

    Twinsburg molds appliance parts and a range of other custom components. McCollum said CIMA will expand its customer base. It employs about 70 and forecasts sales of $6 million to $7 million this year. Its presses range from 150-700 tons. Kelch bought the Twinsburg plant, formerly called Orha Industries, in 1992, according to McCollum.

    Bemis and Kelch began working together about five years ago on projects for Deere & Co. and other original equipment manufacturers. They established a loose alliance with other suppliers of design, tool-building and other services, which they often enlist on a job-to-job basis.

    The alliance, called Consortium, helps OEMs working with Bemis and Kelch to get products to market faster and at lower cost, officials said. Howell said the two companies will continue to work with other suppliers on OEM orders.

    Last spring, Bemis and Kelch started a joint venture expansion in Kelch's Lenoir, N.C., facility to give Bemis better access to the Southeast, key region for lawn and garden product manufacturing. The expansion will triple the size of the plant to 90,000 square feet when it is complete by March. No details on cost or machinery were disclosed.

    Kelch will operate as an independent subsidiary and Nourse will remain president. Its manufacturing plants are in Cedarburg and Mequon, Wis., and Lenoir.

    Bemis expanded its Barrie, Ontario, plant last year and is building a new plant in Monterrey, Mexico. Its other manufacturing facilities are in Sheboygan Falls and Crandon, Minn., and Burnley, England.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Auto lighting supplier ZKW invests $108M to further expand Mexico plant
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Illinois molding company owner arrested on child pornography charges
    2
    Congress proposes nationwide ‘Farewell to Foam' legislation
    3
    Japanese EV battery pouch maker invests $233M in first US plant
    4
    Complications on the rise for concentrate makers
    5
    Kickstart: Covering growth in roofing
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CFO of the Year
        • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Bioplastics Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • PFAS Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
      • Europe - Virgin
      • Europe - Recycled
      • Europe - Feedstock
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified