Major-Prime Plastics Inc. of Villa Park, Ill., has added resin-distribution space, invested about $50,000 in equipment and received a Georgia customer's recognition.
The thermoplastic contract packer increased its Addison, Ill., warehouse by 20,000 square feet to a total of 76,000 square feet. Four miles separate the firm's two sites.
Customer needs for quick turnaround, low overhead and just-in-time deliveries prompted efforts to enhance flexibility and automation in making bulk transfers.
In Addison in April, the firm installed conventional 6-inch pneumatic lines, which, with Chantland-MHS Co. bins, enable Major- Prime to unload resin from 20-foot-long sea-bulk containers.
Lifting equipment tips a trailer so pellets flow out for pneumatic delivery to packaging hoppers. The system is designed with a zero-contamination potential.
``We have been receiving these materials since the beginning of 2005, but there has been an increase due to the effect of [Hurricanes] Katrina and Rita and the breakdown of the rail system from the Gulf Coast,'' said John Miguel, vice president of operations. The upgrades help Major-Prime handle a growing quantity of thermoplastics being imported from foreign countries.
Technical Polymers LLC of Buford, Ga., an engineering plastics and thermoplastic elastomers compounder, selected Major-Prime as supplier of the year for 2004. Ronald Kay, Technical Polymers chairman and chief executive officer, presented the award to John Hadley, Major-Prime president. Major-Prime began supplying Technical Polymers in 2000.
Major-Prime was established in 1964, employs 37 and works primarily with petrochemical manufacturers and sales distribution companies. Most packaging involves cartons, bags or octagonal boxes called octabins. The firm's 8-acre rail-access Villa Park site has 100,000 square feet, including bulk storage silos.
