X-Y Tool & Die Inc. will become a builder of thermoforming and injection molds as a result of an acquisition.
The Laotto, Ind., firm is buying some of the assets of GTA LLC and hiring some of its personnel, said X-Y operations manager Greg Baker. GTA of Fort Wayne, Ind., is slated to close Oct. 10 as a result of the purchase.
X-Y and GTA are sister companies owned by Fort Wayne-area entrepreneur Michael Khorshid. He bought GTA, formerly Global Tooling & Automation Corp., on Jan. 1, and X-Y about a year earlier.
``We intend to take up GTA's entire customer base and expand it,'' Baker said in a telephone interview. ``We will hire some experts [from GTA].''
Both companies manufacture specialty metal items such as fixtures, gauges, tools and machined prototypes. GTA also makes thermoforming and injection molds, foil dies, general tooling and special machines.
The acquisition should lead to savings of about 35 percent compared with the cost of running two separate plants. X-Y was favored in the deal because it has a newer plant and equipment, room to accommodate more machinery and workers, and extensive quality systems in place, including ISO 9000.
X-Y employs about 60 at its 48,000-square-foot plant. GTA's 36,000-square-foot plant likely will be leased for other business, Baker said. GTA's 37 employees work in building. As many as half of those workers will be hired by X-Y. Of those, 24 are members of Machinists Local 1621.