StackTeck buys Matrix, adds Asia sites
BRAMPTON, ONTARIO — StackTeck Systems Ltd. has acquired Hong Kong-based Matrix Technology Specialists Ltd. in a deal that will bring the mold maker production sites in Asia.
The Brampton-based company will take the name StackTeck Matrix Systems and have operations in Toronto, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. StackTeck did not disclose a cost for the transaction, which it announced in a June 30 news release.
StackTeck specializes in complex molds for thin-wall molding and mold labeling in the beverage closures and consumer goods markets. The firm signed a development partnership with Matrix in 2009 that gave it access to Matrix's production facilities. At that time, President Randy Yakimishyn said Asia represented 10 percent of StackTeck's sales. Since then the region's importance has grown, he said in the release.
“It was key for us to have an experienced, trusted Asian partner to provide access to the technology and the supply chain to be the new leader in fast, flexible innovative systems,” he said.
Husky, Synventive settle patent lawsuit
BURLINGTON, VT. — Synventive Molding Solutions Inc. and Husky Injection Molding Systems Inc. have settled their long-standing patent-infringement battle over valve-gate actuators.
The companies released a terse joint news release June 30 announcing the settlement. “While the specific provisions of the settlement are to remain strictly confidential, the parties concluded the dispute on amicable terms,” the release said.
Peabody, Mass.-based Synventive had filed suit against Husky in June 2008, in U.S. District Court in Burlington. Bolton, Ontario-based Husky, which runs a hot-runner factory in Milton, Vt., countersued several months later. Since then, the case had been marked by more than a year of motions and legal debate.
Synventive claimed Husky infringed on three of its patents for valve-pin actuators, from 1999, 2002 and 2003. Husky denied any patent infringement and claimed instead that the three patents are invalid because of prior art references, meaning the information was known before the patent was filed.
Renosol expands Michigan foam plant
SALINE, MICH. — Renosol Corp. has added 15,800 square feet to its Bay City, Mich., facility as part of a renovation at the site to improve production and add compounding operations.
The Saline-based polyurethane foam firm took over additional space in Bay City when its neighbor moved out, plant manager Dennis Resseguie said in a June 30 news release. The company refurbished office areas, reconfigured the processing floor and brought in compounding previously done in Clare, Mich.
The improvements allow Renosol to manufacture a wider variety of polyurethane foams, from flexible foams to rigid structural parts, energy absorbers and skin material.
Dow Kokam to make lithium-ion batteries
MIDLAND, MICH. — The next time someone questions whether lithium-ion batteries and hybrid and electric vehicles have a real future, Ravi Ramanathan can point to an 800,000-square-foot-plant on the Dow Chemical Co. main campus in Midland.
“Nothing like breaking ground to put things in perspective,” said Ramanathan, vice president for business development, strategy and government affairs.”This [business]is one of those things where it has its skeptics, but it is real.”
Dow Kokam will not be alone. Two days after Vice President Joe Biden joined in the June 21 groundbreaking for the $332 million first phase of the plant, LG Chem-Compact Power Inc. said it has picked Holland, Mich., for a $302 million cell manufacturing plant. It will join a previously announced $200 million plant in Holland by Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Battery LLC.
All three sites received federal backing. Dow Kokam received a $161 million grant from the Department of Energy; LG Chem-Compact Power, $151 million; and JCS, $95.5 million.
Dow Kokam, a venture of Dow, TK Advanced Battery LLC of Hunt Valley, Md., and Paris-based Groupe Dassault will begin production in the first half of 2012. Phase two will add battery-pack production. The site will focus on prismatic cells, with initial capacity equaling batteries for 30,000 electric cars.
The state of Michigan said June 23 that it approved a 15-year tax-free renaissance zone for a 120-acre Holland site for LG Chem-Compact. The unit of Seoul, South Korea-based LG Chem Ltd., has contracts to supply General Motors Co. It will produce up to 15 million battery cells a year, state officials said.
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