Custom injection molder Xpectra Corp. has added medical-market capability by installing two Toshiba, 175-ton servo-electric machines in a new, Class 100,000 clean room. Xpectra invested $600,000 in the equipment and improvements.
The firm began operating the presses - its first electrics - in December in 1,800 square feet of a 170,000-square-foot plant, one of two Xpectra facilities 10 miles apart in Tijuana, Mexico. The company also has production operations in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and in Niwot, Colo., where it is based.
Already molding Invitrogen Corp. medical gel containers, Xpectra also wants to pursue the automotive market, said Jawed Ghias, chief operating officer. Television and electronics housings constitute the firm's core production, but that is changing with more stringent quality criteria.
Mike Khavar joined the company one year ago as vice president of quality assurance and is training employees in Six Sigma.
In 2003, Xpectra installed a $300,000 hard-coat-spray system to prevent scratching of Dialight plc light-emitting-diode signal and lighting systems.
Other non-TV molding involves Ortronics Inc. telephone hooks and office-access components; Trojan Battery Co. housings for golf-cart power units; CamelBak Products LLC water bottles; and Steelcase Inc. chair parts. Xpectra makes branded TV cases for Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Diamond, Sharp, Philips, Delta and Tatung, and smaller units for Hewlett-Packard and Kodak.
Xpectra employs 1,400, operates 110 injection molding machines with clamping forces of 28-2,650 tons and anticipates 2005 sales of $65 million, Ghias said by telephone. The firm's 2006 sales target is $70 million.
Frank Lessen heads Xpectra as chief executive officer.