CHICAGO (June 25, 11:45 a.m. EDT) — Beach Mold & Tool Inc. is opening two plants in Mexico that will give the custom injection molder a major presence south of the border.
The company opened a 90,000-square-foot operation in Queretaro, Mexico, on June 1 and will start another, 65,000-square-foot plant in Reynosa, Mexico, on July 1, said David White, Beach vice president of sales and marketing.
The company could expand the Queretaro plant's size to as much as 200,000 square feet and the Reynosa plant to 100,000 square feet as opportunities present themselves, White said.
Both plants will perform injection molding and assembly work for a variety of Beach customers already working in Mexico, White said. The 28-year-old company molds parts in the telecommunications, computer, electronics, automotive, appliance and consumer markets.
"Mexico has become an important customer site," White said in a June 22 interview at NPE 2000 in Chicago. "Putting plants in Mexico will give us more opportunity for work and increase our business."
By the end of the year, the Queretaro plant, located north of Mexico City, will have as many as 20 injection presses with clamping forces from 85-1,000 tons. The Reynosa plant, not far from McAllen, Texas, will run as many as 12 presses in that time, White said.
Currently, Queretaro operates 17 presses, and Reynosa will open with six machines. Investment in the new facilities, both of which started construction soon after the first of the year, was not disclosed.
The Queretaro plant will house 150 people within the first 12 months of operation, and Reynosa will employ as many as 100 people, White said. The plants will run around the clock, seven days a week.
The company decided to open two plants in different regions of Mexico to ease logistics problems and still cover the Mexican manufacturing corridor, White said.
Beach, also a toolmaker, will continue to make injection molds and conduct product design and engineering work for Mexico at its New Albany, Ind., headquarters and technical center, White said. Eventually, the company plans to shift tooling for the Mexican market to the plants, he said.
Beach has other manufacturing sites in New Albany and Emporia, Va. The company also has offices and warehousing space in Malaysia, Singapore, China and Ireland, among other locations.
With the new facilities, the company will have approximately 1 million square feet of manufacturing space and about 1,200 employees, White said.
