Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
October 02, 2006 02:00 AM

W&&M buys equipment from Trident liquidation

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    W&M Manufacturing Inc., an Indiana company that does custom metalizing and painting of plastics, has picked up five pieces of equipment from automotive supplier Trident Lighting LLC, which went out of business in June.

    W&M makes parts for burial caskets and automotive lighting, often working with its sister companies, injection molder Pier-Mac Plastics Inc. and Accelerated Curing Inc., an ultraviolet-light-curable hard-coating operation.

    W&M bought most of the equipment before an Aug. 8 auction was held at Trident Lighting in Kentwood, Mich., including two vacuum metalizers. Accelerated Curing bought a UV curing line.

    The equipment will give some new technology to W&M and the ability to hard-coat larger parts, said Todd Pezley, sales manager for the three companies, all based in Portland, Ind.

    W&M also will be able to get into new markets, he said, although no final decisions have been made.

    The Grand Rapids Press in Michigan reported that Trident Lighting closed down in May, putting about 100 people out of work. The newspaper said the owner, Stillwater Investment Inc., tried and failed to sell Trident, then contacted McTevia & Associates, a Detroit financial management specialist.

    Reached by Plastics News, a McTevia spokesman said the owners hired his firm to liquidate Trident Lighting. He had no information about the owners and former management officials, and they could not be reached for comment.

    Trident Lighting became an independent company in 1999, when it was spun off from its parent, Trident Automotive Inc. The company, then with 200 employees, manufactured lighting for cars, trucks, motorcycles and off-road vehicles using injection molding and secondary services such as metalizing and hard-coating.

    The auction sold 22 injection presses, four thermoset machines, and robots and other auxiliary equipment.

    Trident's capabilities included headlights, which require the most demanding metalizing. But Pezley said W&M has steered clear of that application. W&M does side markets, turn-signal reflectors, fog lamps and other nonheadlight work.

    The Pier-Mac operation, located in the same building as W&M, runs 12 injection presses molding the lighting and decorative parts for caskets - the company's original business.

    The metalizing is done in a cylinder-shaped vacuum chamber. W&M already had three 7-foot-long vacuum metalizers.

    Using W&M's current process, according to Pezley, a robot applies a lacquer base coat to the plastic parts. Then employees put the parts on racks and roll them into the chamber.

    After metalizing, the crews roll the parts back out and remove them for another coat of lacquer. The parts then are thermally cured.

    The two new vacuum metalizers from Trident Lighting use a different process. The machine itself does plasma treating to prepare the surface of the parts, cleans the parts, does the metalizing and applies a silicone-based topcoat - all inside the machine chamber. The closed process avoids any chance of parts becoming contaminated as they get moved in and out during the process.

    ``It gives us the capability of going for new applications,'' Pezley said. ``We've run into a lot of things over time that we're just not clean enough to process.''

    The new technology will enable W&M to produce different types of vehicle lighting that require a cleaner surface, he said.

    At the auction, W&M bought two flow coaters, used with the metalizing equipment.

    The other piece of pre-auction equipment, a UV hard-coating line, is three times the size of Accelerated Curing's other existing line. ``It expands our capabilities to do larger-sized parts,'' Pezley said.

    He said Accelerated Curing coats automotive lenses, sun visors for school buses and other applications.

    W&M was founded in 1961 to vacuum metalize zinc decorative parts for caskets. As the casket industry began using plastic parts, the company started Pier-Mac as a custom injection molder in 1975.

    The owners started Accelerated Curing in 1994.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Greenback sets goal for 300 plants to recycle laminated packaging within 20 years
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Kickstart: Paper bags, 'paper' bottles
    2
    Resin Prices
    3
    Treaty talks end with plans for a draft agreement, but hurdles remain
    4
    PP recycler PureCycle sees Ohio plant as springboard for growth
    5
    WL Plastics building $40M MDPE pipe plant in Texas
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified