Toll compounder American Compounding Specialties LLC will double its annual production capacity later this year when the firm installs a new, twin-screw extrusion line.
The 25 million-pound-per-year line will be in place by Oct. 1, ACS co-owner Randy Rudisill said in a recent telephone interview. Fowlerville, Mich.-based ACS began operations on a similar line when it first opened its doors in early 2006.
ACS will add 10 employees to its current 20. Rudisill said the firm's new line, like the first one, will focus on toll compounding of nylon, polycarbonate, specialty styrenics and other engineering resins. Recent products made by ACS include magnetic concentrates and anti-corrosion film concentrates.
``We're doing things that the big chemical companies don't want to do in-house,'' Rudisill said. ``It's not that they can't do it, but they just want to make vanilla and chocolate. If you want pistachio, it's going to cost them money. They've realized it's smarter to do that kind of work on the outside.''
In addition to the new line, ACS has plans to double the size of its 17,500-square-foot plant in 2008. Work on the project is set to begin in the spring and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The expansion will allow ACS to add a third line similar to the other two.
``We're a little bit ahead of what we said we'd do,'' Rudisill said. ``We wanted to have the site built out within five years.''
Rudisill said the second line represents an investment of $3.5 million, but he declined to provide other financial information about ACS, which he founded along with Dave Donie.