Gmark assets forwarded to auctioneer
MCALLEN, TEXAS — Gmark Industries Inc. has terminated operations in McAllen and is slated to have its assets auctioned.
“They closed down about six weeks ago,” a neighbor said on April 1.
Industry veteran Greg Botner and two partners bought the 75,000-square-foot McAllen plant in April 2007. Previously, the facility was part of the now-defunct Titan Plastics Group Corp.
The auctioneer's 19-page Gmark offering lists 43 injection molding machines of 44-551 tons, including Van Dorn, Nissei, Milacron, Toshiba, Roboshot, Sumitomo and Husky models from 1984-2002. Other equipment includes dryers, temperature controllers, granulators, water chillers, electrical-discharge machines, machining centers and forklifts.
Gmark's creditor retained Branford Industrial Group LLC of Branford, Conn., to conduct the April 16 auction on location and through a webcast. Inspections are scheduled for April 15.
Myers to reorganize materials group
AKRON, OHIO — Myers Industries Inc. is planning a “manufacturing optimization” program for its materials handling group, which includes injection molding, thermoforming, structural foam, blow molding and rotational molding facilities.
The company did not specify if it will cut plants or jobs as part of the program announced March 30, but said key actions will focus on streamlining manufacturing and improving inventory management and raw material use. Further information about the company's plans will be provided in Myers' quarterly earnings announcements.
Akron-based Myers makes materials handling parts under the Buckhorn and Akro-Mils brand names.
The materials handling unit had $261.2 million in sales in 2008, making up 30 percent of Myers' overall sales of $867.8 million, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Sales were down from $918.7 million in 2007, and the firm posted a loss of $46.2 million, compared to net profit of $36.9 million a year earlier.
Winpak, Reynolds agree on licensing
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA — Winpak Ltd. has boosted its blister pack business with the rights to use specific Reynolds Packaging LLC technology.
The Winpak/Reynolds Packaging agreement allows Winpak to use formulations and Drug Master File specifications for pharmaceutical and health care packaging. Covered in the agreement are Drug-Pak and Safety-Pak brands as well as other specialty packaging. “It's a perfect fit for us,” Winpak President and CEO Bruce Berry said in a telephone interview.
Winpak will manufacture the licensed packaging at its Montreal facility, where it already does blister pack production.
Reynolds Packaging announced last year that it would exit production of specific pharmaceutical and health-care packaging. As part of the strategy, it sold its medical thermoformed packaging plant in Downington, Pa., to Brentwood Industries Inc. Brentwood said it would move the operation to its headquarters in nearby Reading, Pa.
MedTech acquires medical design firm
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. — Medical device manufacturer MedTech Group Inc. has acquired TDC Medical Inc., a 5-year-old company known for its design and development capabilities in the disposable instrument and therapeutic medical device markets.
“They are the largest design and development house” for single-use, hand-held instruments that are used in the therapeutic and surgical markets, said Gil Reich, vice president of sales and marketing for South Plainfield-based MedTech.
TDC has a design facility in Boulder, Colo., and low-volume manufacturing and design facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif., and in Marlborough, Mass., where TDC operations are based. As a result of the acquisition, MedTech has a total of seven clean room facilities.
TDC will retain its management team. Combined, the two companies will employ more than 500. MedTech has manufacturing plants in South Plainfield and Middlesex, N.J.; West Haven, Conn.; Vega Baja, Puerto Rico; and Heredia, Costa Rica.