The new line joins six others that were added last year at McHenry, Ill.-based Chroma. The firm now operates 25 lines in total. President and CEO Tom Bolger said the new lines give Chroma the opportunity to expand the small order segment of its business and allow it to continue to offer just-in-time shipments of small-lot color concentrates.
Sales and marketing director Stu Swain added that Chroma's engineering resin business has been growing faster than other rsin types for the last four years. In particular, sales of materials based on polycarbonate, polyethersulfone, nylon and polyester each have grown at rates of 20 percent per year.
Chroma also completed a lab expansion last year that added six new injection molding machines to its color development lab. The expansion also included additional extruders.
Chroma was launched in 1967 and now employs more than 115. The firm operates from two facilities that cover a total of 150,000 square feet.