Dickten Masch closing down Miss. site
Nashotah, Wis. - Dickten Masch Plastics LLC is closing its Hattiesburg, Miss., plant to improve efficiency.
The Nashotah-based company is moving work to its two plants in Nashotah and expects production in Hattiesburg to wind down by May 1, according to President and Chief Executive Officer Randall Perry.
``We're getting excess capacity out of the system,'' Perry said in a telephone interview.
The closure follows the consolidation last summer of Dickten & Masch Manufacturing Co. with two sister companies, all owned by Everett Smith Group Ltd. of Milwaukee. The Hattiesburg plant is part of the original Dickten & Masch business.
About 100 Hattiesburg employees will lose their jobs.
Perry said he does not foresee any other plant closings. Dickten Masch also operates a plant in Ankeny, Iowa.
Perry said thermoset molding in Hattiesburg will move to the Nashotah plant dedicated to thermosets. Most of the thermoplastic molding will go to the other Nashotah plant, but some Hattiesburg plant customers might elect to change suppliers to source locally.
Dickten Masch plans to relocate 10 injection molding machines from Hattiesburg to Nashotah and sell the rest, according to Perry.
The 45,000-square-foot Hattiesburg building, which the company owns, will be sold. Local newspaper reports said the building has been listed at $2.3 million.
Worker dies in Polycom forklift incident
CLAYTON, MO. - Temporary worker John Alan Malandro, 42, of Charleroi, Pa., died Nov. 25 less than an hour after an incident at Spartech Polycom Inc.'s plant No. 2 in Donora, Pa.
A co-worker operating a forklift and Malandro were unloading equipment from a trailer, S. Timothy Warco, coroner of Washington County, said in a statement. The equipment shifted on the forks and pinned Malandro against the wall of the trailer. Warco identified the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head.
Polycom is a unit of Clayton-based Spartech Corp.'s colorants and compounds division. Hiring agency Staff Masters Inc. of Washington, Pa., employed Malandro.
Relocation allows DMS to expand lineup
OLDCASTLE, ONTARIO - DMS (North America) will use added space at its new headquarters to help expand its mold components and related product lines.
The company relocated in mid-November to a bigger, leased facility in Oldcastle, in the heart of Windsor's mold-making community. DMS (North America) President Frank Iatonna said the 10,000-square-foot building includes a warehouse that is three times as big as the one in the firm's previous, 35-year location in Windsor.
Iatonna said in a telephone interview that the company will expand its E series of mold bases and accessories such as hoses. It also will debut two ranges of locks and add more heating and cooling components to its lineup.
DMS (North America), which has offices in Fountain Valley, Calif.; Schaumburg, Ill.; and Taunton, Mass., is part of the DMS group of companies, headquartered in High Wycombe, England.
TRW adds automotive parts site in China
LIVONIA, MICH. - TRW Automotive Inc. has launched an injection molding facility in Langfeng, China, to make air registers, bezels and other interior components in the region.
The Livonia-based unit of TRW Inc. already has a fastening systems factory at the same site, along with other brake and engine parts plants in China.
``This is a key step in developing our presence in China to support domestic and international vehicle manufacturers in this market,'' said Edwin Schulze, general manager of TRW Automotive's Engineered Fasteners and Components business, in a Nov. 20 news release.
The new facility is starting with 20 injection molding presses, with the potential to add another 30 by mid-2008. The 74,270-square-foot site expects to employ 100 people by the end of 2007.