Poly-Ject purchases an all-electric press
AMHERST, N.H. - Custom injection molder Poly-Ject Inc. of Amherst began operating its first all-electric injection press in mid-December.
Energy prices, along with machine precision and reliability, drove Poly-Ject's purchase of the 200-ton Niigata, said the firm's vice president and co-owner, Steven Thibeault.
He said Poly-Ject was reimbursed by Public Service Co. of New Hampshire, in Manchester, for about $22,000 - or 75 percent of the difference in purchase price between the electric press and a comparable hydraulic machine.
Now, Poly-Ject operates nine presses, with clamping forces of 55-310 tons, and uses a range of thermoplastics to supply the electronics, point-of-purchase display, packaging and sporting goods markets. The company employs 15 at a 13,000-square-foot site and recorded sales of $1.75 million for the year ended June 30. Poly-Ject is ISO 9002 certified.
``We are hoping for 10 percent growth and possibly thinking about one or two more electrics in the next year,'' Thibeault said.
Rexam plc acquiring FangXin business
SHANGHAI, CHINA - Rexam plc is expanding its cosmetics-packaging operations in China by acquiring the Shanghai-based business of molder FangXin Ltd. for $74 million in cash.
FangXin runs five plants in the Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, areas making compacts, lipstick and mascara cases, and pumps.
The Chinese company, founded in 1997 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Chun Te Wang, employs around 2,500. In the past four years it has seen compound growth of about 30 percent per year and, in 2005, broke even with sales totaling $33 million, according to London-based Rexam.
The deal, scheduled to be complete by March, will extend Rexam's cosmetics-packaging capabilities in China to include metalizing and ultraviolet lacquering, according to Rexam.
Since 2003, FangXin has invested heavily in new production facilities and has the capacity to increase its sales, Rexam said. Rexam's cosmetics division already operates three Chinese plants under the name Rexam Der Kwei Industrial Co. Ltd. in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin.
``The attraction of FangXin for Rexam is vertical integration,'' said Rexam spokesman Jonathan Thornton in London.
DS Smith plc sells plastic coating unit
LONDON - International packaging firm DS Smith plc has sold the small plastic coating and laminating business BSK of Rochester, England, allowing it to focus on its core plastics operations.
BSK's net assets are £8 million ($14 million). It employs 117 at its single plant. The company was bought by BSK Materials Ltd., a firm created by a former member of BSK management.
BSK does specialty coating and laminating of flexible substrates, including foil, paper, glass tissue, glass reinforcement and film. A large part of its sales are insulation products and proofing membranes for construction.
London-based DS Smith, a major producer of paper- and board-based packaging, said the sale will let it focus even more on its main plastics businesses, including liquid packaging and dispensing and returnable transit products.
Visteon releases few restructuring details
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, MICH. - Auto supplier Visteon Corp. is continuing its restructuring plan that will affect 23 of its plants worldwide, with some sites closing and others revamped to improve production.
Visteon provided only a few details on its plans announced Jan. 11. It will close two plants in the first quarter - a pump component facility in Puerto Rico and a climate systems operation in Monterrey, Mexico. It also plans to close a climate-control plant in Buffalo, N.Y., in the third quarter.
One hundred workers at its Swansea, Wales, chassis components plant will transfer back to former parent Ford Motor Co. in the first quarter of the year.
Visteon, based in the Detroit suburb of Van Buren Township, turned more than 20 of its plants over to the new Ford-controlled Automotive Components Holdings LLC in 2005 in the first phase of its restructuring.
The new three-year, $800 million improvement plan involves underperforming and nonstrategic plants and businesses.