Medical molder and contract manufacturer MedPlast Inc. is rebranding all its non-medical business under the UPG name, which it acquired in April when it bought UPG International Inc.
The realignment, announced Nov. 6, means UPG will operate as the industrial business company of MedPlast with five plants — two in Suzhou, China, one in Wales, one in Minneapolis and a new 36,000-square-foot plant in Houston that replaces a UPG plant five miles away.
Unlike the previous plant in Houston, which made medical and industrial products, the new plant will manufacture only non-medical products.
The new Houston plant, which opened early this month, will have 15 injection molding machines, automated assembly operations, pad printing, sonic welding and custom fixture manufacturing, according to the company.
The five dedicated UPG plants will make precision plastic products and offer value-added services for four main markets: consumer, automotive, energy and data-center products for the electronics and telecommunications industries.
MedPlast will have 10 plants that will concentrate on the medical and health-care markets. Those plants comprise the five it had prior to the acquisition, in Tempe, Ariz.; Elkhorn, Wis.; Monticello, Iowa; West Berlin, N.J.; and Westfield, Pa.; plus former UPG plants — two in Suzhou and one each in Tijuana, Mexico; Fremont, Calif.; and Chicopee, Mass.
Both companies will be headquartered in Tempe, Ariz.
Based on data on the company website, MedPlast will have 332 presses of up to 1,000 tons of clamping force and 579,000 square feet of manufacturing space — with 379,000 of that in the U.S., 62,000 in Mexico and 138,000 square feet in China.
Its medical footprint also includes 10 Class 100,000 clean rooms — five in the U.S., one in Mexico and four in China. It also has a Class 10,000 clean room in the United States.
UPG will have three white rooms, 89 presses of up to 1,000 tons and roughly 170,000 square feet of manufacturing space — divided almost equally among the U.S. and its three overseas locations.
At the time of the merger, MedPlast-UPG estimated combined sales were $250 million, with 60 percent of that from medical — suggesting that, going forward, UPG's sales are at about $100 million.
MedPlast had acquired UPG to gain a foothold in the China market, where the latter had four plants.
CEO Harold Faig said separating the businesses allows each brand to focus on its own individual customers and growth.
The new orientation has dramatically increased plant utilization at UPG, Faig said in a news release, and increased its ability to win major assignments.
MedPlast's expertise includes injection, liquid injection, two-shot and multicomponent molding, overmolding, insert molding, extrusion, blow molding, silicone extrusion, compression and transfer molding, and precision mold making.
It also can process elastomeric and silicone materials, and provide services such as partial and full assembly, contract sterilization, lab services, and global supply-chain and logistics management.
Milwaukee-based Baird Capital Partners owns MedPlast.
