Grote Industries nabs two supplier awards
MADISON, IND. - Grote Industries Inc., which manufactures safety lights for the heavy-truck industry, recently picked up two supplier awards.
FleetPride Inc., an aftermarket distributor of parts for heavy-duty trucks based in Deerfield, Ill., recognized Grote for increasing its business with the distributor and for customer service, salesmanship and inventory management.
Grote, a finalist for the 2001 Plastics News Processor of the Year award, also netted the 2001 Top Performance Achievement Award from NAPA Canada, which runs 13 distribution centers throughout Canada. Out of more than 350 suppliers, Grote was one of only six that met the standards for prompt delivery to each center and nearly 700 stores. NAPA Canada is a division of United Auto Parts Inc. of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Madison-based Grote injection molds lenses and other components for lights, mirrors and other safety products for trucks.
Joyce Corp. emerges from receivership
PERTH, AUSTRALIA - Perth-based Joyce Corp. Ltd. has come out of receivership and finished a restructuring plan to focus on its polyurethane foam business.
The receivers, appointed by the board in May, retired Dec 7. Joyce had owed A$60 million (US$30.7 million) to creditors. Antony Edwards, company secretary, said Joyce has secured new working capital and creditors will receive a 100 percent return. The restructuring included the sale of noncore units.
``The directors believe the company now has a financially viable future, backed by its profitable PU foam business, its significantly reduced level of debt, and A$40 million (US$20.4 million) of assets,'' Edwards said.
Joyce now plans to focus on meeting requirements for its shares to trade again on the Australian Stock Exchange. Joyce Foam Products claims 38 percent of the Australian flexible PU foam market.
Pretium Packaging buys Miliacron press
ST. LOUIS - Pretium Packaging LLC has purchased an all-electric injection press from Milacron Inc. to mold PET preforms for wide-mouth food containers at its plant in Pointe-Claire, Quebec.
Milacron announced the sale in January. The press, which has 400 tons of clamping force and a 110-ounce shot capacity, will be installed in the first quarter, Milacron said.
Pretium, a St. Louis blow molder, has six hydraulic Milacron preform presses at Point-Claire, but the new machine is its first all-electric model. Pretium acquired the factory in 2000, when it bought Duopac Packaging Inc.
Richard Dube, Pretium's director of PET strategies, said the all-electric press is more economical, precise and has a better machine design than competing machines.
``We could be hanging 43-[millimeter] to 110mm molds. We're going to determine just what this machine and technology can do for us from a competitive standpoint,'' Dube said.
The E-PET can produce about 15,000 preforms an hour when running a 48-cavity preform mold for a 16-ounce bottle, according to Andy Stirn, E-PET product manager for Milacron. The press uses a two-stage injection unit fed by a shooting pot.
Milacron claims E-PET uses half the energy of a hydraulic press.
Rubicon switching to proprietary products
WEST VALLEY CITY, UTAH - Rubicon Medical Corp. has shifted toward more proprietary products and away from contract manufacturing services. The West Valley City firm sees potential for high-margin sales by researching and developing its own interventional vascular medical devices and manufacturing in-house.
Rubicon, formed in 1996 to extrude specialty medical tubing, has expanded via acquisition into making catheter tips and catheter-tipping equipment.
Recently, Rubicon hired neuro-radiologist Randall Higashida as medical director; Harold Wolcott, formerly with Ballard Medical Products, as chief operating officer; and Ronald Watkins, formerly with National Laser Co., as vice president of quality and regulatory affairs. Daryl Edmiston was promoted to vice president of research and development. Higashida and Wolcott also joined Rubicon's board.
Traded over the counter, Rubicon reported profit of $44,000 on sales of nearly $2 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, vs. a loss of $738,000 on sales of $672,000 for 2000's comparable period.