Custom plastics processor Apon Industries Corp. has invested about $300,000 for equipment and infrastructure and bolstered its medical market capabilities.
“We added two [computer numerically controlled routers] for machining plastic,” said Apon owner and President Anisuz Zaman.
San Diego-based Apon added the CNC equipment — LeBlond and Haas vertical milling centers — along with a Monarch lathe and a Hansvedt electrical discharge machine at its manufacturing plant in Tijuana, Mexico. The company is aiming for in-house capabilities for mold and component fabrication.
“We need a place for this equipment,” said Vern Britain, Apon's manufacturing manager.
Construction is under way within the Tijuana plant to make room for the new equipment, he said. So far, the company's total investment exceeds $200,000.
“The toolroom will be operational by the end of April,” Britain said. “We will be adding equipment in the future,” he added.
Apon supplies parts and products to more than 30 customers for underground, medical, law enforcement, toy and space aeronautical applications.
For all of its customers, “the leading issue is cost,” Britain said. “We must step up to the plate [as] the only way to be cost competitive.”
Environmental issues are also important: “We have customers at 'full green,' including molding, assembly and shipping to distribution centers,” Britain said. “ 'Full green' is completely recycled material throughout.”
Apon is investing about $100,000 for a Wittmann cooling system, including pumps, a larger-size water line and mold temperature controllers and, for its medical department, a Wittmann central material-loading system. The systems should be operational by the end of May.
“We outgrew the old system,” Britain said. “This is the first step to improve from a white room to a certified clean room,” he said of the company's current medical capabilities.
For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the combined sales total was $11 million, Zaman said.
“Looks like it will stay the same, even though [we have a] bad economy,” he said of this fiscal year's sales. “We are trying to do more niche product [and] trying to avoid competition with other molders in the area.”
Apon employs 200 at its 80,000-square-foot Apon Industrias SA de CV maquiladora in Tijuana.
At its 1,500-square-foot San Diego headquarters office, the company employs six people in sales, accounting and some final assembly
Ten-year-old Apon operates 46 injection molding presses from 30-800 tons and four blow molding machines.