CPI expands space at packaging plant MARLBORO, N.J. — CPI Packaging Inc. has expanded its FMI plant in Lincolnton, N.C., which makes lightweight polyethylene foam roll stock and plank packaging.
Marlboro-based CPI Packaging invested more than $2 million at the FMI facility in Lincolnton, where it added 22,000 square feet to boost floor space to more than 108,000 square feet.
CPI also installed a custom-made, PE bubble-stock line capable of making product 6 feet wide, according to spokesman Patrick Greaves.
The bubble stock is used for packaging, and in laminates for various furniture applications. FMI started up the new line earlier this month.
The Lincolnton operation makes bubble stock, half-inch-thick roll stock, and laminates. It also ships roll stock and laminates to CPI plants in Marlboro and Chicago Heights, Ill., for conversion.
The Marlboro and Chicago Heights facilities also make expanded plastic peanuts for loose-fill packaging.
One such product is an E-shaped expanded polystyrene peanut used by Amazon.com for shipping products it sells through its electronic-commerce business.
The CPI E-shaped peanuts were pictured on a recent Time magazine cover featuring Amazon.com's founder, Jeff Bezos.
Annual sales for privately held CPI are about $20 million.
EuroPlast purchases 2 Sandretto presses
ENDEAVOR, WIS. — Custom injection molder EuroPlast Ltd. is expanding its tonnage range to try to capture new business.
The Endeavor-based company has invested more than $300,000 in two new Sandretto presses that it will install in early March, according to President Harald Zacharias. The company ordered a 56-ton Micro model and a 610-ton Mega T press.
Zacharias said EuroPlast now has 13 presses, with clamping forces of 45-400 tons, mainly involved in tight-tolerance work. The small presses typically mold for plumbing applications such as valve components, while the larger presses mold parts for small engines, electronics and other markets.
Zacharias said the new 610-ton machine should help EuroPlast gain more large-part accounts.
EuroPlast primarily molds engineering resins, such as highly filled nylons, Amoco's Amodel polyphthalamide and GE Plastics' Ultem polyetherimide polymers.
EuroPlast's annual sales are about $6 million, Zacharias said in a telephone interview.
It has a sister mold-making company, Apex Mold and Die Corp., also in Endeavor, that manufactures all EuroPlast's molds and sells molds to outside companies.
Zacharias said his firm's mold shop is filling up and any future expansion will require adding more floor space.
British Vita acquires nonwovens maker
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND— Plastics and fibers firm British Vita plc has acquired Texidel Group, a nonwovens producer for the automotive and technical industries, for 5.3 million ($8.5 million).
The purchase, made through Vita's subsidiary Libeltex NV of Meulebeke, Belgium, complements Vita's growth in technical nonwovens by adding two plants at Crepy-en-Valois and Caudry, France. Texidel employs 67 and had 1999 sales of 6.2 million ($10 million).
Manchester-based Vita also is adding production lines at its two United Kingdom operations and another line in Texas in the second half of 2000.