National Molding Corp. has purchased some of the assets of modular-mold competitor Security Plastics Inc.
National Molding of Farmingdale, N.Y., paid an undisclosed sum for assets based in Security's former headquarters in Miami Lakes, Fla. Assets included injection molding machinery, rights to Security's Hetero Cavity modular molds, mold-building machinery and a few work cells in Security's former Chihuahua, Mexico, facility.
Joseph Anscher, National Molding's president, said Security's work with modular, quick-change molds was of particular interest to his company. National Molding has similar technology in its Uni Molding system, which allows mold changes within minutes and makes it easier to mold families of parts on standard mold bases.
Security, a custom injection molder, had filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in August. At the time, the company's North American operations included 173 presses at plants in Miami Lakes; Chihuahua; McAllen, Texas; and Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. It employed about 890 and had molding sales of about $70 million in 2000. It also had an operation in Malaysia. Anscher said most assets not bought by National Molding were sold through the court.
National Molding, owned by Joseph Anscher and the Anscher family, had sales of about $30 million last year.
The company does custom molding and has proprietary product lines in fasteners. It is a major molder of buckles for outdoor equipment and makes a wide range of other fasteners. Irrigation, plumbing and hardware markets are among National's biggest for custom molding. It has plants in Farmingdale; Ambridge, Pa.; and Turin, Italy; and licensees in South Korea and China.
Anscher said Miami Lakes' management will continue with National Molding. Former Security staff and technology will help National Molding gain experience in running a bigger range of resins. Anscher said key resins for the combined companies include acetal, nylon 6/6, glass-filled nylon and flame-retardant polyester and nylon.
Anscher indicated Security ran into financial trouble when it participated in competitive markets that do not exploit its modular-molding advantages.
``Rather than expand for the sake of increased [sales], we picked our markets that can take advantage of our Uni-Molding system, and directed our efforts accordingly,'' he said.
