CY Tool under new name, ownership
Honeoye, N.Y. - Former IDEX Corp. executive Andrew Molodetz has purchased molder and mold maker CY Tool Co. from founder Charles Yacuzzo, and now is running the firm as CY Plastics Works.
The deal, completed July 13 for an undisclosed amount, continues the business in Honeoye, with the same employees.
CY began as a mold maker and later launched its own injection molding operations, growing to include 12 presses. The firm also has blow molding capabilities and specializes in producing short to midlevel runs.
``Our goal is to satisfy customers with a need for an engineered component, usually in lower volumes,'' Molodetz said in an Oct. 30 news release. CY produces as few as 200 pieces per year for some customers.
The company also has its own proprietary products for emergency services, including waterproof emergency flare containers and fire hydrant markers.
Söhner relocates GRW unit to Michigan
Winchester, Va. - German mold maker Walter Söhner GmbH & Co. KG will spend $1.7 million to move its U.S. subsidiary to Kentwood, Mich., with plans for further expansion if business continues to grow.
Söhnergroup's GRW Technologies Inc. has been in Winchester since 1999. In Kentwood, the company expects to hire 50 people, move 10 existing employees from Germany and Virginia and eventually expand to add another 100 workers, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said in an Oct. 31 news release.
Söhnergroup, based in Schwaigern, Germany, specializes in molds for electronics, including customers in the automotive supply industry. The new GRW operation will launch with $3 million worth of equipment transferred from Virginia to a 42,000-square-foot facility in Kentwood. The company has an option for an additional 57,000 square feet of space. If GRW continues to grow at its expected level, it plans to invest another $8 million within the next three years in Michigan, the release said.
The company opened in 1966 with a single mold-making facility and now employs 950 worldwide, with operations in Germany, England, Switzerland and China, in addition to the U.S.
Armstrong considers plants in Mexico
Lancaster, Pa. - Lancaster-based Armstrong World Industries Inc. is tossing around the idea of building new vinyl flooring manufacturing plants in Mexico - a move that company officials say could help slash shipping costs for parts already made in China.
Armstrong Chief Executive Michael Lockhart hinted at the possibility in a third-quarter conference call.
``The company is always looking at making its manufacturing more efficient,'' Armstrong spokeswoman Meg Graham said in a Nov. 2 telephone interview.
Armstrong did not disclose potential locations or products for the new plant.
North America's largest maker of vinyl flooring emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 2 after nearly six years of restructuring.
Priority tooling assets to be auctioned
LONDON, ONTARIO - Assets of injection mold builder Priority Tool Inc. will be auctioned off Nov. 23 at the business's London facility by Asset Engineering of Markham, Ontario.
Priority President and founder Paul Kerkhof said the firm's banker called in its loan, forcing liquidation of Priority's assets. He said market conditions for mold builders in North America are difficult in a wide range of markets.
Kerkhof said in a telephone interview that he is starting another business, this one aimed at mold servicing. He is trying to line up investors and hopes to buy some of Priority's equipment. The new business would be based in Priority's current shop, which is not being auctioned.
``I'm trying to regroup,'' he explained in an interview. Kerkhof founded Priority in 1989.
Assets to be auctioned include six computer numerically controlled machining centers, three CNC electric discharge machines, grinders, milling machines, lathes and other metalworking equipment.