Nypro Inc. is continuing its expansion in Asia by opening a second molding plant in India, and adding a complete toolmaking facility at the site.
The Clinton, Mass., company hopes to complete construction of the 30,000-square-foot factory in the fall, adding the plant to its existing campus just outside Bangalore. The new factory will have 25-30 injection molding presses to complement the five at Nypro's existing 5,000-square-foot plant, said Randy Barko, Nypro's corporate vice president for marketing and business development.
The highly automated molding operation will have about 30 employees. The tooling facility, which Nypro claims will be the most technically advanced in India, will be in the existing plant.
The announcement comes just weeks after Nypro launched a partnership in China with Tsuda Industrial Co. Ltd., its sixth in that country.
Most of Nypro's Indian work thus far has been for export, but the new plant signals higher expectations for the country's domestic market, Barko said. Nypro has more plants in China, for example, partially because internal markets are more developed there, he said.
``From my view, the ball is finally starting to roll in India,'' he said. ``It has taken more time.''
The new plant will focus on electronics and industrial customers, but business in consumer and health-care products also is likely, he said. The plant will contain a Class 100,000 clean room and will have assembly operations.
Barko was interviewed at the Medical Design and Manufacturing East show, held June 4-6 in New York.
The new molding plant will be a joint venture between Nypro and its local partner, Forbes Gokak. Forbes is a unit of one of India's largest industrial conglomerates, Tata Group. Like the existing Bangalore operation, the venture will be a 50-50 partnership, with Nypro functioning as operating partner, Barko said.
The toolmaking operation, on the other hand, will be a joint venture between Nypro's existing joint venture in India, which includes Forbes, and Nypro's wholly owned Singapore operation. Some of Nypro's Singapore tool builders are from India and will migrate back, Barko said.
Nypro officials have said that China and India generate the bulk of the company's growth. Nypro projects that next year 27 percent of its $700 million in sales will come from those two countries.
