Klockner boosting PET sheet capacity
GORDONSVILLE, VA. — Klockner-Pentaplast of America Inc. is adding another PET sheet extrusion line. The additional line will increase capacity at its Gordonsville manufacturing plant by 20 percent, the company said in a news release.
The expansion is ``in response to the increasing demand for polyester films on the part of both current and new customers, particularly in the medical device and electronics packaging areas,'' President Tom Goeke said in a news release.
The company did not disclose the amount to be invested in the new line, total capacity or plant size.
Klockner manufactures vinyl, PET and barrier film and sheet for pharmaceutical, medical device, food and general-purpose thermoform packaging, printing and specialty applications.
The Gordonsville-based company ranked 27th in Plastics News' 1998 survey of North American film and sheet manufacturers, with estimated sales of $200.5 million.
The firm is a unit of Klockner Werke AG of Duisburg, Germany.
Spencer expanding Ind. plastics facility
DALE, IND. — Custom thermoformer Spencer Industries Inc. plans to add 50,000 square feet to its 170,000-square-foot Dale, Ind., plastics division facility. President Tom Messmer hopes to begin the $3.5 million expansion within the next couple months.
The Dale Town Council granted Spencer a 10-year tax abatement on the addition, and a five-year abatement on equipment. Messmer estimated the abatement will save the company $15,000 a year in property taxes, or $150,000 over the 10 years.
The expansion will create 60 new jobs at the facility. The company currently employs 300 in the plastics division facility and the firm's assembly division, also in Dale.
Spencer has eight continuous in-line forming machines; six rotary machines, four of which have twin-sheet forming capability; and one single-station shuttle machine.
Spencer's 60,000-square-foot assembly facility provides riveting, sonic welding, adhesives, mechanical fasteners, painting and foam-filling, among other assembly techniques.
Privately held Spencer serves the transportation, appliance, electronics and recreation markets.
Cambridge taps Ford verteran as new CEO
MADISON HEIGHTS, MICH. — Cambridge Industries Inc. has named a 34-year veteran of Ford Motor Co. as its new chief executive officer.
Larry Kazanowski, former general manager for plastics operations at Visteon Automotive Systems in Dearborn, Mich., assumed the CEO position April 15, said Blake Crawford, marketing communications director. The post had been vacant for two years.
Kazanowski had headed plastics operations at both Ford and Visteon, the carmaker's parts-making unit.
His hiring is part of an organizational restructuring at Cambridge, an injection and compression molder of thermoset and thermoplastic parts in Madison Heights.
Kevin Alder, formerly Cambridge president, was named president of the automotive systems group and chief operating officer for the entire company. Richard Crawford will remain as chairman of the privately held company.
Cambridge recorded 1998 sales of close to $600 million, Blake Crawford said.
Landmark consolidating molding in Akron
AKRON, OHIO — Landmark Plastic Corp. will consolidate injection molding at its Akron headquarters and convert its Orlando, Fla., plant into a distribution center.
Steven Pavelka, vice president of business development, said the Orlando facility will cease production April 30. The company will move some of the injection molding machinery to Akron and sell the rest.
The firm also will buy new injection presses and thermoforming machines to upgrade technology at the Akron site. Pavelka estimates it will take about a year to install the new machinery. He did not disclose the cost.
Landmark acquired the Orlando plant when it bought Reb Plastics Inc. in 1995. At the time, it moved presses from Reb's Avon Lake, Ohio, facility to Akron.
The Orlando plant has been injection molding and thermoforming flower pots, trays and other horticultural products, Landmark's mainstay. In Akron, the company thermoforms and injection molds mainly proprietary horticultural products. Pavelka did not disclose the private firm's sales, but Plastics News estimated its thermoforming sales last year at about $25 million.