Window maker MW mergers with Patriot
HAMMONTON, N.J. — MW Manufacturers Inc. has expanded its ability to make vinyl windows and doors by merging with Patriot Manufacturing of Hammonton.
MW has a vinyl extrusion plant in Roanoke, Va.; and window and door assembly plants in Fayetteville, N.C., Tupelo, Miss., and Rocky Mount, Va., its headquarters. Patriot purchases vinyl extrusions and supplies replacement and new-construction markets. MW was not in the replacement market before the April 30 purchase, according to MW marketing director Russell Coons.
The deal expands MW's market share and presence on the East Coast, Coons said. He did not reveal terms of the deal, which creates a company with annual sales exceeding $200 million, including wood windows and doors.
Coons did not reveal the capacity of MW's extrusion plant but said it fits the firm's needs. Patriot will continue to buy vinyl profiles from other suppliers, but MW gradually may integrate it, in part, with its own extrusion supply. In the long term, MW could add more extrusion lines.
MW employs about 1,600 and Patriot more than 750.
Ohio worker dies after fall into PS silo
CLEVELAND — A worker at Classic Toy Co. in Cleveland died, presumably from suffocation, after falling into a materials silo.
Craig Johnson, 26, of Cleveland was fitting an 8-inch hose at the top of the silo to load polystyrene fluff when he apparently fell into an open hatch at about 10 a.m. May 4, according to Classic Toy spokesman David Eden. Johnson had been in radio contact with a supervisor, but when he did not respond after a few minutes, the supervisor climbed the silo and could not find him.
Police and firefighters arrived quickly, but it took an hour for them to find the unconscious Johnson by using a thermal sensor. He was at the bottom of the three-story silo. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Classic Toy uses PS fluff, a finely ground material, to stuff toy animals. The silo is connected to pneumatic systems that transport the material to work areas where it is blown into toys' skin. Johnson had worked at Classic Toy for about 18 months.
Officials are investigating the incident.
Laminate flooring firm adding N.C. plant
SALEM, N.J. — By next year, Mannington Mills Inc. will bring its manufacturing of plastic laminate flooring home to the United States with a new, 108,000-square-foot plant in High Point, N.C.
Mannington will start construction on the plant this month, and it expects to begin operations in January.
The Salem-based company launched its plastic laminate line 18 months ago and has relied on Germany's Witex AG for manufacturing, said Doug Brown, Mannington's vice president of operations for the wood division.
Plastic laminate flooring consists of traditional flooring components topped with a layer of phenolic and melamine compounds.
Mannington decided it is time for the company to show its customers it is making a permanent investment in laminate flooring by building a North American plant, he said.
Brown said the company chose High Point because of its title of furniture capital of the world, a local labor force already skilled in wood shaping, proximity to equipment manufacturers and vendors, and availability of raw materials.
Mannington plans to save about a third of the 23 acres purchased for future expansion.
High school polymer program canceled
STOW, OHIO — A high-profile high school polymer program has been cut due to low enrollment.
The Polymer Science and Testing Program at Stow-Munroe Falls High School has received state, national and international attention. The first program of its kind in Ohio, it has been a model for other high school polymer programs, and trains students from six surrounding districts for careers in the polymer industry.
But enrollment has slipped from 23 juniors in 1991 to 12 this year, and only three juniors are signed up for next year. The Stow school began the program in 1986.
Mary Jane Stanchina, executive director for the Six-District Educational Compact, said this is not the first time the program has had enrollment problems, but it is by far the worst.
The program's focus is quality-assurance testing, not manufacturing. Stanchina said enrollment has slipped in part because students have a hard time fitting it into their schedules.