Cary Compounds adding blender
DAYTON, N.J. - Cary Compounds LLC, a PVC compounder based in Dayton, is boosting its capacity by 20 percent by adding a new blender and increasing the size and automation of its other blending equipment.
The new equipment and expansion should be up and running by June, at which time Cary's annual capacity will be about 70 million pounds, co-owner Ken Cary said. Cary Compounds primarily produces PVC compounds for the wire and cable market.
The 20-employee firm expects modest sales growth to $21 million in 2002. Its 2001 sales were $19 million. The blending project is expected to cost $250,000.
Cary said new business in telecommunications and building and construction allowed his firm to avoid the losses many compounders endured in 2001.
Cary Compounds has ``plenty of room'' for further expansion in its 80,000-square-foot, leased facility, Cary said. The firm also is installing additional lab equipment.
The business had wanted to make the blending investment earlier, Cary said, but delayed the move because of a patent infringement lawsuit PolyOne Corp. had filed against Cary. A New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled in Cary's favor in June.
Plantic plans to offer plastic substitute
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Melbourne-based Plantic Technologies Ltd. plans to commercialize a plastic substitute made from cornstarch.
David MacInnes, Plantic managing director, said the material was designed for use in flexible films in food packaging.
The company wants to raise A$6 million (US$3 million) to establish manufacturing operations, fund product development and support the growth and operation of the business in Australia.
Trade press staff starts auxiliary pub
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. - Former staff members of Plastics Auxiliaries & Machinery Magazine, which was sold in November, have formed a new magazine called Plastics Equipment Trends.
Karen Lindsay, editor-in-chief and associate publisher, said the magazine will be published every other month. The first issue, for February and March, is scheduled to go out March 1.
Plastics Equipment Trends will cover auxiliary equipment, related machine components and controls, software, tooling and secondary equipment. The publication is owned by newly formed Break/Away Communications LLC, headquartered in Port St. Lucie.
Lindsay has 16 years of experience in the plastics trade press, including editorial posts at Modern Plastics, Plastics Machinery and Equipment and Plastics Auxiliaries. She is based in New London, Conn.
Kenneth Moran, based in Port St. Lucie, has been named publisher of Plastics Equipment Trends. He was vice president of sales and marketing for Tecnilogia del Plasticos, a plastics magazine covering Latin America, and associate publisher of Plastics Auxiliaries.
In November, Canon Communications LLC, the publisher of Injection Molding Magazine, bought Plastics Auxiliaries from Tidewater Publications Services.
Industrial Dielectrics buys plant from BIP
NOBLESVILLE, IND. - Industrial Dielectrics Inc., a maker of bulk molding compounds and electrical insulation in Noblesville has bought a BMC plant in Oldbury, England, from rival BIP Group.
The plant, which employs 20, is only 10 minutes from an IDI BMC plant in Halesowen, England. IDI plans to operate both facilities, and ``is taking an opportunistic approach'' to future acquisitions, according to Tom Merrell, IDI vice president of business development.
Purchase price was not disclosed. Privately held IDI does not release sales, but Merrell said its sales are split evenly between BMCs and electrical and electronics insulation.
Merrell said the Oldbury acquisition gives IDI about 150 million pounds of BMC capacity worldwide, including plants in Noblesville; Chicago; Aguirre, Puerto Rico; San Luis Potos¡, Mexico; and Shenzen, China.
He estimated global BMC growth at 15 percent in 2001. The annual European BMC market is estimated at $400 million.
BIP Group, part of Oldbury-based BIP Ltd., also runs nylon and polyester compounding plants. In North America, BIP owns Chem Polymer Corp., an engineering resin compounder in Fort Myers, Fla., and operates a phenolic resin plant in Mexico City.
Battenfeld to produce Italian granulators
NEWPORT, N.H. - The Newport-based granulator business of Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering Co. Inc. will begin selling Italian-made granulators from CMG Granulatori srl.
The joint venture, Gloucester-CMG Granulator Reclaim Products and Services, will sell both CMG and Battenfeld lines of granulators from the Newport facility. The expanded product line will include granulators with 3-300 horsepower, with several types of knife and rotor configurations. Products include stand-alone granulators, shredders, blowers, cyclones and conveyors. The joint venture also will put together turnkey packages.
Doug Barton, sales and marketing manager for Battenfeld granulators, said the Newport facility will reconfigure the CMG machines, if needed, at the request of customers in North America.
CMG is based in Budrio, Italy.
Poly Compounding relocates to Elgin, Ill.
ELGIN, ILL. - Toll compounder Poly Compounding LLC has moved to Elgin.
The firm had shared a site in nearby Bloomingdale, Ill., with Coperion Corp. since opening in September. Former Coperion employees Scott Crosby and John Wolfe founded Poly Compounding when they bought two kneader compounding lines from Coperion.
The Elgin site includes 14,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space. The kneader lines have total capacity of 3 million pounds, and a third line is to be installed in late 2002 or early 2003. To date, Poly Compounding has produced reinforced and highly filled polyolefins, reinforced nylons and PVC concentrates.
The firm employs four and expects to add four by the end of the year. It projects 2002 sales of about $2 million.
