Tarkett relocates its tile facility to Texas
HOUSTON - Tarkett Inc. and its partner have closed a plant that made vinyl composite floor tiles in Vails Gate, N.Y., and moved production to a Houston facility.
Tarkett's commercial division and Mannington Mills Inc. started production at the Houston site Sept. 2. The site, a Tarkett Commercial operation, was expanded to handle the extra production for a new venture, called Texas Tile Manufacturing LLC.
Tarkett and Mannington closed the Vails Gate operation in early September, putting about 160 employees out of work.
``Due to the overcapacity of vinyl composition tile in the resilient-flooring industry, it is necessary to reduce the number of production facilities to increase efficiencies,'' Tarkett Commercial President Gilles de Beaumont said in a news release. Tarkett Inc. has nine manufacturing locations in North America.
Texas Tile is a manufacturing joint venture. Each partner maintains separate production lines and sales and marketing organizations. Tarkett stressed that the firms segregate proprietary information.
``Now that our Houston facility has the largest production of [vinyl composition tile] in North America, we feel confident the joint venture will further strengthen the two industry leaders,'' de Beaumont said in a separate news release.
Tarkett and Mannington of Salem, N.J., each produce a range of flooring products.
Rempac plans major expansion at N.C. site
LUMBERTON, N.C. - Rempac Foam Corp. plans to invest $1.25 million to expand its Lumberton operation over three years.
The foam converter expects to create 65 jobs as a result of the project. It now employs 61 in Lumberton, according to a news release from the North Carolina governor's office. A $70,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund will assist with the expansion.
Plant manager Gary Lanier said his firm will buy a range of specialty equipment used to convert foam. Converting methods used by the private company include coating, laminating, contouring, die cutting and thermoforming. Lanier said Rempac will have enough space for the additional equipment by rearranging the plant to a more efficient layout.
Lanier said Rempac's product slate has been growing and the firm plans to introduce undisclosed products soon. The company works with polyethylene, polyurethane, vinyl, polystyrene and rubber foams.
Rempac will pay an average of $449 per week plus benefits to workers in the new positions, compared with the average weekly wage of $417 for Robeson County. Most of the new positions will be production jobs making household sponges, foam paint brushes, packaging materials and industrial products.
Based in Clifton, N.J., Rempac operates in 205,000 square feet of space combined in Lumberton and Clifton. The company was founded in 1962 and in 1990 bought the Tek-Pak line of consumer products such as paint applicators, crafts and novelties. In 1998 it expanded again by acquiring Mercury Foam and building a new coating facility.
Smurfit, EIJ venture to produce packaging
WARRENVILLE, ILL. - A new company will be producing coextruded flexible packaging and printed lamination products, as Smurfit Stone Container Corp. of Chicago and EIJ Packaging Inc. team up in a new business venture.
Named EIJ-SSFP LLC, the venture in October will open a new, 50,000-square-foot production site adjacent to Smurfit Stone's flexible packaging plant in Milwaukee. The facility will be equipped with a three-layer coextrusion machine, ancillary slitting equipment and a 10-color flexographic printing press, officials said. EIJ-SSFP will be headquartered in Warrenville, site of EIJ's parent, EIJ Plastics, which was founded by Pollis Robertson Jr. in 2002.
The venture's vertical integration is critical to stay ahead of the game, Robertson Jr. said by telephone Sept. 12.
``We did not manufacture,'' he said. ``That was a big challenge. We needed that ability to be more competitive.''
Officials said the partnership will provide many benefits for Smurfit, including the capacity expansion for coextruded films and a new minority-business enterprise. Robertson will serve as president and chief executive officer of the new company.
Polad bumper system is inclusive package
TOGLIATTI, RUSSIA - Polad ZAO of Togliatti has installed a comprehensive plastic bumper-manufacturing system, including two 2,700-ton injection presses from Battenfeld Injection Molding GmbH.
The package includes four molds, a mold-change system, two robots, a conveyor belt, a sprue-picking device and a scrap-reclaim system, according to Polad President and Chief Executive Officer Igor Ukolow. The system will make bumpers out of polypropylene and ethylene propylene diene monomer for automaker Lada.
Prior to the latest installation, Polad operated 15 injection molding machines with clamping forces up to 1,000 tons. In addition to automotive, Polad serves the construction and food industries.