Carthuplas opening South Carolina plant
KENNEBUNK, MAINE - Optical media packaging supplier Carthuplas Inc. of Kennebunk plans to invest $25 million to establish new
manufacturing capability in Gaffney, S.C.
Carthuplas acquired a 118,000-square-foot building and aims to be at full production in February. ``We will move some machines from Maine, but still keep an operation in Maine,'' said Peter Ciriello, Carthuplas chief executive officer.
Ciriello said South Carolina's electric costs are one-third of those in Maine, manufacturing closer to customers will lower freight costs and South Carolina has skilled labor.
Initially, the plans call for a Husky, a Krauss-Maffei and two to-be-ordered 600-ton machines for injection molding DVD cases, and 10 machines for making CD cases.
The Carthuplas investment in the Gaffney building, infrastructure and machines will occur over 18 months.
Parent firm Cartonneries de Thulin SA of Thulin, Belgium, acquired the Maine business in late 2000.
Tech Group upgrading Michigan facility
WALKER, MICH. - Tech Group will spend $12.4 million to upgrade its Walker injection molding facility with improvements slated to meet demands for new business.
The overhaul also will add 105 jobs at the site, according to economic development officials with the state of Michigan.
Tech Group, part of West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. of Lionville, Pa., has received a $1.8 million tax credit from the state and a tax abatement worth more than $900,000 from the city of Walker as incentives for its expansion.
The company has not released details of its plans for the site, but said it will upgrade its molding operations for a new product line. Tech Group makes filter assemblies for intravenous lines and surgical components at the Walker facility.
It has 26 presses at the site and does some assembly and secondary manufacturing in the 77,000-square-foot plant.
Profine Molds closes its doors for good
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO - An attempt to save Canadian toolmaker Profine Molds Inc. has failed, closing the company's doors permanently.
The company entered receivership Aug. 15 with the hopes of quickly finding a new financial backer, but the effort failed, said executives familiar with the company.
Mississauga-based Profine opened in 1994 and had grown to include hot-runner-system production in addition to mold-making capabilities for injection molding and blow molding.
As recently at NPE in Chicago in June, Profine officials were talking about expansion with new products and manufacturing in new regions, but debts and a slowing in the economy forced the company to close.
Samuel Manu-Tech buys strapping assets
TORONTO - Samuel Manu-Tech Inc. plans to boost its plastic industrial strapping business by acquiring certain assets from Gerrard-Ovalstrapping Inc. and related businesses.
Samuel Manu-Tech agreed to buy plastic strapping, graphic arts and industrial distribution assets of Gerrard-Ovalstrapping, Ovalstrapping Inc. and Plastex Extruders. Samuel Manu-Tech Chief Financial Officer John Amodeo did not disclose terms of the agreement or the size of the targeted businesses in a telephone interview from his firm's headquarters in Toronto. He said the deal should be completed in about two months from the Sept. 11 announcement.
Plastex Extruders makes polypropylene and polyester industrial strapping in Fort Payne, Ala. The operation is a joint venture between Gerrard-Ovalstrapping of Hoquiam, Wash., and Plastic Extruders Ltd. of Wickford, England. Gerrard-Ovalstrapping also runs a PP and PET strapping plant in Burlington, Ontario. Ovalstrapping supplies strapping equipment and other packaging machinery for industrial use.
Samuel Manu-Tech plans to operate the businesses under the Gerrard-Ovalstrapping name. In addition to strapping and packaging machinery, they distribute shrink wrap and stretch film, tools, wire and other packaging hardware and equipment.
Amodeo said he could not speculate whether any strapping operations will be consolidated after the deal is finalized.
``We will fully evaluate all of the operations,'' he said.
The pulp and paper finishing business of Gerrard-Ovalstrapping is not included in Samuel Manu-Tech's agreement.