IDI acquires Jet Moulding Compounds
NOBLESVILLE, IND. — Thermoset materials maker IDI Composites International has acquired Jet Moulding Compounds Inc., an Ajax, Ontario-based maker of high-performance thermoset compounds.
No purchase price was disclosed in the deal, which is the second in three years for Noblesville-based IDI. In 2009, IDI acquired thermoset plants in France and China from Senata GmbH.
IDI will operate Jet's plant in Ajax through 2011, then will consolidate work done there into IDI's own 200,000-square-foot plant in Noblesville, officials said in a Feb. 14 news release.
“We are aggressively expanding our presence in the high-performance products market,” Tom Flood, IDI vice president and general manager, said in the release. “This acquisition will speed that process, and will enhance our growing customer base.”
IDI provides bulk molding, sheet molding and continuous impregnated thermoset compounds for several industries including automotive, aerospace and electrical. The firm claims to be the world's largest supplier of thermoset compounds.
In addition to its Noblesville facility, IDI operates plants in Puerto Rico, England, France, China and India.
US firm faces $8M trade-secrets fine
EASTHAMPTON, N.H. — A U.S. company has been ordered to pay around $8 million in costs, fees and damages after losing a trade-secrets case in court, according to local reports.
Stevens Urethane, an Easthampton-based division of JPS Elastomerics Corp., must pay the fees after one of its executives, James Galica, was found guilty of stealing a manufacturing technique from his former employer, Enfield, Conn.-based Specialized Technology Resources Inc.
In 2007, Stevens introduced a low-shrink encapsulant, a protective plastic film, for solar panels, which was derived from an STR product, according to the trial judge.
Hampshire Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney, who presided over the trial, entered her final judgment assessing the costs at the end of January, local newspaper reports said.
Stevens Urethane and Galica are liable to pay around $8 million, including about $2.2 million in punitive damages and about $5 million in attorney's fees and costs.
Sweeney issued a final injunction on the defendants, forbidding them from using the stolen technology and banned them from selling any “low shrink” encapsulant products for five years.
Anthony Burns, company controller at Stevens Urethane, told Urethanes Technology International that the company would appeal the decision and said: “We expect our appeal to be vindicated.”
CEW adding blow molding to its stable
WARSAW, IND. — Custom Engineered Wheels Inc. is adding blow molding to its production capabilities in injection molding, polyurethane foam, extrusion and lost-core processing.
The blow molding line will be installed at CEW's headquarters plant in Warsaw. The company did not disclose how much it is investing at the site.
CEW has three plants in North America, with production in Tupelo, Miss., and Reynosa, Mexico, in addition to Warsaw. The new production will allow the company to blow mold wheels and caps.
CEW makes wheels for a variety of uses, including casters and industrial wheels, in-line skate wheels, lawn mower wheels, horse-racing sulkies and bicycling.
S.C. Johnson closing Calif. Ziploc plant
RACINE, WIS. — S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. will close its Ziploc plant in Fresno, Calif., according to a company spokeswoman.
Spokeswoman Jam Stewart confirmed that the plant employs about 70, and that it will phase out production over the next 10 months.
S.C. Johnson, based in Racine, acquired the Ziploc line and the Fresno plant when it bought DowBrands in 1998. It also produces Ziploc bags at its Bay City, Mich., facility, which Stewart said is unaffected by the cuts in Fresno.