A blown film extrusion company in Wisconsin is laying the groundwork, literally, for an expansion that could eventually double the plant's production capacity.
Charter NEX Films Inc. sees a bright future in its corner of the plastics world, making film that is then sold to converters serving the food, pharmaceutical, medical and packaging industries.
“The business is strong to the point that we felt we needed to add capacity for additional lines,” plant manager Paul Szablowski said.
Plans are to build an additional 20,000 square feet of space that would allow the company to add production lines as business presents itself.
Charter NEX figures to spend about $1.5 million on construction of the new space that will eventually house the additional equipment. Work on that project begins June 2, the plant manager said.
With the cost of a new line costing about $3 million each, the company will wait until it has the business to operate each line fully before installing that equipment. The company has no plans to add any production lines until business is booked.
Adding the additional 20,000 square feet of space has “the potential to double the capacity of the facility,” he said.
Charter NEX Films currently employs about 60 workers in Milton, and the plant manager said the increased production has the potential of adding 20 to 30 employees over the next several years.
The company, in Milton, has the ability to produce blown films ranging in width from 64 to 104 inches in rolls weighing up to 5,000 pounds.
“We basically make big rolls of plastic film,” he said, that are then sold to converters.
News of the decision to expand comes about a year after the company announced plans to add two coextrusion blown film lines there.
Creating the additional space at this point will allow for more lines in the future.
Charter NEX formed in December 2012 through the merger of NEX Performance Films Inc. and Charter Films Inc.
The company, which makes monolayer, multilayer coextruded and barrier films, also has operations in Rhinelander and Superior, Wis., and Turners Falls, Mass.