Mold maker Profine Molds Inc. has closed its doors while it seeks a quick restructuring that would allow it to emerge in some shape within weeks.
The Oakville, Ontario-based maker of injection and blow molds for the packaging, consumer products, cosmetics, medical and auto industries entered financial receivership Aug. 15 and shut down operations.
The company has ``significant interest'' from outside financial backers, and is trying to organize new backing that would allow it to continue operating, said a company spokesman. Profine has a week to bring its bank on board with the plan.
If those options are not accepted, the company's holdings will be sold.
The filing brought all activities for the 68-employee business to a halt. The spokesman said he could not discuss details while talks are ongoing about the firm's future.
The shutdown is an unexpected move for a company that has expanded steadily both globally and in product offerings. Profine was an exhibitor at NPE 2006 in Chicago in June, where officials discussed the firm's new hot-runner products.
Manuel Gomes launched Profine in 1994 with two employees. By 2003, the company had expanded into a 20,000-square-foot plant and neighboring 5,000-square-foot research and development center in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga.
A year later, Profine relocated to a 60,000-square-foot site in Oakville that united the technology and manufacturing arms.
At the same time, the company was reaching out globally, opening a sales office in Hong Kong in 2005 and planning to expand into South America by 2007.
To boost its product offerings, Profine added a hot-runner system under the name proRunner in August 2005. During NPE, the company was showing off refinements to proRunner, with designs aimed at cutting downtime during repairs.
The hot-runner addition allowed the firm to offer its customers a complete mold package, and Profine added a performance guarantee on its new product.
``The guarantee eliminates risk for customers in consideration of this new hot-runner technology to the market,'' Gomes said in a news release distributed during NPE.