Ampro Custom Molding is boosting its operations with two new Sumitomo injection molding presses installed the first week of September.
The presses, with clamping forces of 385 and 242 tons, are equipped with robots and boost the company's total number of presses to 16. According to Burns Roensch, president and chief executive officer, the purchase was made to open up undisclosed new business opportunities with companies seeking precise and ISO-compliant molding.
Ampro, a Leeds-based unit of American Household Products Inc., custom molds items including military, health-care, automotive and furniture parts.
``We have a very broad cross section [of customers] because we've been here a long time. As the South has grown, as people move or build existing business, we've grown with them. It's a growing business,'' Roensch said.
The firm was founded in 1978 to compete in the housewares industry, but has evolved to take on custom and original equipment manufacturer jobs. It operates out of a 75,000-square-foot plant.
Ampro also provides silk screening, pad printing, roll foiling, sonic and spin welding, labeling, assembly and packaging.