BOSTON — Reaction injection molder Premold Corp. is expanding on both the local and international fronts.
The 28-employee company, based in Oconomowoc, Wis., is moving to a new facility near its current site. Construction is to start in August.
The plant will double the size of Premold's operation to 20,000 square feet, according to President Kenneth Schweitz, who bought the company four years ago after serving as engineering manager at Germantown, Wis.-based injection molder J.W. Speaker Corp.
The new site offers acreage for growth; the company could expand to 80,000 square feet if necessary, Schweitz said.
``We were hurting for plant space,'' Schweitz said April 19 during the Structural Plastics '99 annual conference in Boston, where a dental-equipment product clad with six Premold-made polyurethane panels earned the IDSA/Plastics News Design Award.
``We've had steady growth for the past few years, but not the room to continue adding equipment,'' he said.
The custom molder is investing about $750,000 in the facility. The plant will give Premold double the space for its tooling laboratory, and room to add more RIM machines and post-assembly equipment.
Premold now has four RIM clamps. The company, which primarily molds parts for the medical and office-products markets, last month took delivery of a small, computer numerically controlled milling machine — its second such unit.
In addition, the company has hired sales representatives serving the United Kingdom and Germany, Schweitz said.
Premold is shipping more of its products overseas, Schweitz said.
The company recorded about $2.5 million in sales last year, said Schweitz, noting that Premold expects to hire additional workers once the move is completed.
