Molder Kamco using Dieprest process WEST UNITY, OHIO — Injection molder Kamco Industries Inc. is using several processes to lower cost and improve its products.
Dieprest, offered by Ube Machinery Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., is an injection molding process that allows molders to inject plastic into a fabric, vinyl foam, sheet film or preformed skin insert. The combination of skin insert molding with low-pressure molding produces large thin-walled parts with less deformation, because the material flow direction is constrained and residual stress is reduced.
The West Unity-based company also uses pressure forming to make large parts.
Kamco makes automotive interior plastic parts, including consoles, door-lock handles, grab handles, trunk liners and some exterior parts. Lot sizes range from 1,600-60,000 parts per week.
"You've got to stay with new technology because everything moves rapidly," Dale Appel, plant engineer, said in a news release. "We're always looking for new processes that do more.
Kamco has 300 plastic injection molds in production on 40 machines. Two of the newer presses include a 2,000-ton hydraulic machine and the Ube 1,100-ton electric press.
Consumer expanding at Pa., Phoenix sites
NEW CASTLE, PA. — Consumer Cap Corp. is expanding its injection molding operations in New Castle and Phoenix.
The $2 million expansion includes increasing capacity at its 5-year-old New Castle plant, and converting warehouse space in Phoenix to another 40,000-square- foot manufacturing site, said Chief Executive Officer Luca Molinaro.
Construction at the Phoenix plant, which makes bottle closures, has been under way for more than a month. The facility should be operational by May, Molinaro said in a telephone interview from the firm's New Castle headquarters.
Molinaro would not comment on the number of machines slated for either plant. The company will shift some machines from Pennsylvania to Arizona.
"We will have additional manufacturing space available in the New Castle facility, which gives us room to grow over here also," he said.
The company currently is on pace to reach annual sales of $10 million to $15 million this year.
In other action at Consumer Cap, the company just announced the appointment of Bob Bennardo as its first chief operating officer. Molinaro said one of Bennardo's primary missions will be to help grow the company to a $100 million business by 2005.
Joyce Foam touts PU foam additive
PERTH, AUSTRALIA — Joyce Foam Products, the polyurethane foam unit of Perth-based manufacturer Joyce Corp. Ltd, expects demand for a new foam additive to help generate strong profit in the first half of 2000.
Joyce has exclusive rights to HealthGuard, an additive to its foams that substantially eliminates dust mites in bedding, said Bruce MacPherson, Joyce Corp.'s company secretary. MacPherson said the additive also inhibited the growth of mold, mildew and bacteria.
HealthGuard was developed by Australian Textile Chemicals Pty. Ltd. in Melbourne.
MacPherson said Joyce Foam Products also was benefiting from an improvement plan that began six months ago, which included the acquisition of Polystyrene Industries, a unit of Perth-based plastics and construction company Vysar Pty. Ltd.
Polystyrene Industries has continued its development of Thermobord rigid roof linings, a product on its agenda before the A$4.1 million (US$2.5 million) acquisition last August.
Thermobord is made from a PS sheet with a decorative foil laminated on top. Polystyrene Industries General Manager Simon Legg said the product is popular for ceilings in showrooms, shops and sports centers.
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DeForest, Wis.-headquartered Evco Plastics' Evco-Med division has received ISO 9002 certification. ... Anjou, Quebec-based Novoplas Inc. and Masplas Inc., divisions of the Lavergne Groupe, have received QS 9000 and ISO 9001 certification and GP-10 accreditation from General Motors Corp. ... For the fourth year in a row, HI TecMetal Group of Cleveland received the 2000 NEO (Northeast Ohio) Success Award from Inside Business magazine. ... Two Precise Technology Inc. plants, located in Holden and South Grafton, Mass., have received ISO 9002 quality registration issued by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance. ... Linpac Materials Handling, based in Georgetown, Ky., has received QS 9000 certification. ... GI Plastek of Newburyport, Mass., has achieved ISO 9002 certification for its Newburyport reaction injection molding facility. ... Southbridge, Mass.-based AOtec LLC, a molder and finisher of optical and medical products, was awarded ISO 9002 certification by SGS U.S. Testing Co. Inc. of Fairfield, N.J. ... Toray Plastic (America) Inc., a Front Royal, Va.-based Tier 3 producer of cross-linked polyolefin foam sheet stock used in the manufacture of automotive door trim and instrument panels, has received QS 9000 certification.