Machinery accident kills Alladin worker
SURGOINSVILLE, TENN. — Custom injection molder Alladin Plastics Inc. remained closed April 10, two days after an employee was killed in an accident at the firm's plant in Surgoinsville.
Lonnie Mowl, 61, was killed around 9 p.m. on April 7 while trying to help a co-worker fix a machine, Alladin Executive Vice President Bob Hickman told the Rogersville (Tenn.) Review.
Mowl had worked at the plant for more than 30 years. Hickman told the Review that the death was the first workplace fatality in Alladin's 63-year history. The plant was expected to remain closed for the rest of the week.
Mowl was a supervisor at the plant and, at the time of the accident, he was cleaning an injection molding machine when it “closed up on him,” Hickman said in an April 9 voice message. Further details were unavailable.
Officials with the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, which responded to the accident, could not be reached for comment.
Alladin does injection molding work for several industries including automotive, electronics, furniture and military. The firm also makes stadium cups, insulated tumblers, housewares and promotional items.
Polymer Plainfield shutters subsidiary
PLAINFIELD, ILL. — Polymer Plainfield Cos. Inc. is closing its Canadian subsidiary, Polymer Technologies Inc., as part of a restructuring move.
Polymer Plainfield, based in Plainfield, purchased the Cambridge, Ontario, facility in 2007 as part of its acquisition of injection molder Pixley Richards Inc.
The company is seeking to have auditing group KPMG Inc. brought in to oversee the closure.
Polymer Plainfield executives said in an April 2 news release that the company remains strong and committed to its customers, but needed to close Cambridge to restructure to the current economic climate.
The firm does injection molding and metal stamping, with insert, two-shot and microcellular molding of parts for industries that include automotive, medical and electronics. It still has molding sites in the United States, China, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Japanese auto molder to build Ind. plant
FRANKLIN, IND. — Japanese injection molder Premium Composite Technology North America will build a $14 million manufacturing plant in Franklin to supply parts for the auto industry.
The factory will employ 37 when it opens in the spring of 2010, the company said in an April 8 news release.
Premium Composite is backed by two firms, Toyota Tsusho Corp. of Nagoya, Japan, and compounder Sanyo Kaka Co. of Tokyo. Toyota Tshusho operates in many industries, including electronics, chemicals and automotive. It already has a U.S. presence with Toyota Tshusho America Inc. of Georgetown, Ky. The Premium Composite site is the first U.S. presence for Sanyo Kaka.
The Indiana plant will make engine covers, intake manifolds, rearview mirrors and brake-light casings for Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. production in North America.
Nylon resin prices lose more ground
AKRON, OHIO — Plastics News is correcting prices for nylon 6 and 6/6 resins on its resin pricing chart to show further erosion occurring since late 2008.
Prices for nylon 6 are being reduced an average of 15 cents per pound, or 10 percent. Nylon 6 prices in December were reduced by 10 percent. Prices for nylon 6/6 are being reduced an average of 27 cents per pound, or 15 percent. The changes are shown on this week's resin pricing chart.
The reductions are the result of lower raw material prices and substantial declines in North American demand for nylon resin. Demand for the material fell almost 11 percent to less than 1.2 billion pounds during 2008, according to the American Chemistry Council in Arlington, Va.
The domestic automotive and truck sector was hardest hit in 2008, with sales falling almost 23 percent, according to ACC. That sector accounted for 27 percent of domestic nylon sales last year.