Facing a restructuring by its Japanese parent company, Nissui Corp. has stopped assembling auxiliary equipment in East Lansing, Mich. - but a former top executive at the U.S. headquarters plans to set up a new company.
Nissui is the U.S. unit of Nissui Kako Co. Ltd. of Saitama, a suburb of Tokyo. In a move similar to U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Nissui Kako's parent is reorganizing from three sister companies to a single firm, according to Steve Kaza, sales manager of the Michigan operation.
Kaza said that Kazuo Otomo, former president of Nissui Corp., is working to form a new company in East Lansing to build the company's S-Cutter. Nissui's most popular product in North America, the screenless, low-speed granulator, is designed for use beside an injection press, where it cuts up sprues and runners. The granulator runs at just 30 revolutions per minute.
The new company will be called USNI Tech LLC. Final details should be put together by the end of March, Kaza said. The firm will handle sales, spare parts and service, and outsource assembly of the S-Cutter.
Otomo could not be reached for comment. He retired as president of Nissui Corp. in East Lansing last summer, and continued to serve as a consultant.
``They want to continue selling this machine and doing the service, but at the time, it's not going to be done by Nissui,'' Kaza said.
Nissui also offered other auxiliary products for plastics, such as dryers and temperature controllers. The future of those products is uncertain, Kaza said.
Nissui laid off a few employees last summer, then ceased manufacturing last fall. In East Lansing, the company had been doing final assembly and electrical work, using base machines shipped from Japan.
The company cut employment in half, from 20 to about 10 people now, Kaza said. Its building has been put up for sale.
