Partnership gets Trex into new market
WINCHESTER, VA. — Composite fence, deck and railing extruder Trex Co. of Winchester is expanding into the deck drainage market through a partnership with Dri-Deck Enterprises LLC of Lonetree, Colo.
The partnership means that Trex and Dri-Deck will develop and market an above-joist deck drainage system that allows deck lighting, ceiling fans and finished ceilings to be installed.
The move complements Trex's core business but also will take Trex into the deck drainage system market, said Ron Kaplan, Trex's president and CEO.
Trex RainEscape will be available in retail stores by April, officials said in a news release.
On Feb. 26, Trex announced its 2009 results: Sales fell 17 percent to $272.3 million from $329.2 million in 2008, but the firm saw an uptick in the fourth quarter when sales hit $51.2 million vs. $29.3 million for the 2008 period. That sales gain of nearly 75 percent illustrates the success of enhancing Trex's decking platform, Kaplan said.
“These changes provide added flexibility and design options to consumers as well as more convenience and efficiency to distributors and dealers,” he said.
DME, PETS to supply product packages
WARREN, MICH. — Tooling component supplier DME Co. has created a strategic alliance with hot-runner firm Plastic Engineering & Technical Services Inc. to provide a complete package to improve processing.
The alliance will begin by focusing on molders in the medical and high-volume consumer markets with new hot-runner nozzles, sequence controllers and temperature controllers, the companies announced in a March 10 news release. The companies said that by coordinating products, processors can improve mold flow, fine-tune wall thickness, balance production in family molds and improve their profit margins.
Warren-based DME also will be able to supply customers from Auburn Hills, Mich.-based PETS' manufacturing site in China.
Kollman buys converter Prime Graphics
YARDLEY, PA. — Holding company Kollman Label & Packaging Group has acquired Prime Graphics Inc., a printer and converter of shrink films in Wood Dale, Ill., and changed its name to Prime Label & Packaging.
Terms of the Feb. 25 deal were not disclosed. Mesirow Financial Inc. of Chicago acted as an adviser to Kollman.
Prime prints and processes heat-shrink PVC, glycol-modified PET, oriented polystyrene and polylatic acid films, according to its Web site,. The company has a 57,000-square-foot plant, including a dedicated, climate-controlled shrink sleeve facility.
Yardley-based Kollman was formed in 2008 and completed its first acquisition that year of folding carton printer Dixie Printing & Packaging LLC of Glen Burnie, Md.
The group rolls up medium-sized companies in the labeling and packaging industries. The companies then jointly market products to food, beverage, pharmaceutical and personal-care customers in North America.
Amcor PET renamed Amcor Rigid Plastics
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — The former Amcor PET Packaging business, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has been renamed Amcor Rigid Plastics.
The new group is among seven operating units that were organized following Melbourne-based Amcor Ltd.'s recent $1.9 billion acquisition of parts of Alcan Packaging from London-based Rio Tinto plc.
According to a March 10 news release, Amcor Rigid Plastics consists of the former Amcor PET Packaging; Bericap North America, a plastic closures joint venture between Amcor and Bericap GmbH & Co. KG of Budenheim, Germany; and the plastics container unit of Alcan's global pharmaceutical business.
Bill Long, who was president of Amcor PET Packaging, will head up the new division. The deal moves Amcor into new applications, materials and processes, and gives it entry into the pharmaceuticals market, the company said.
According to Amcor, the acquisition added about $160 million in sales and 800 employees across six plants in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Brazil.
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