NEW YORK — Injection molder Classic Industries Inc. is in the midst of a major expansion, opening up a new plant in El Paso, Texas, next month after it recently built another facility in Pennsylvania. The Latrobe, Pa.-based molder plans to open the Texas plant in leased space to serve an unidentified medical device maker that does assembly across the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
The Texas plant will have 12 injection presses, ranging from 8-220 tons, in a Class 100,000 clean room, President Joseph Policastro Jr. said. The customer wants "suppliers who are close to their plant," he said.
Classic disclosed the expansion during an interview at the Medical Design & Manufacturing East show, held June 6-8 in New York.
Overall, the two new factories will give the company four plants and 65 molding machines, ranging from 33-400 tons.
"We are experiencing growth with existing customers and with customers we have brought on board in the last five years," Policastro said. The company is picking up some new business as medical device makers consolidate their supplier base, he said.
The new Latrobe plant is in the Eastpointe Technology Park, near its existing plants. The new facility has eight presses in a 35,000-square-foot building, including a 21,000-square-foot Class 10,000 clean room, Policastro said. The plant has 14 employees and opened in November.
All of the company's manufacturing is in clean rooms of at least Class 100,000 or better, he said.
Policastro declined to say how much the expansion cost.
The privately held firm did not disclose sales figures. About 85 percent of its sales are in medical devices, such as surgical instruments or IV sets, or in medical packaging, mainly in medium-volume work, Policastro said. Classic has been focused on medical molding since 1987, when it sold its PET bottle-making business, he said.
Classic has a tool shop for repair and maintenance, and a full-service engineering center in Latrobe.
