ORLANDO, FLA. — Flextronics International Ltd. (Booth S34125) is officially launching Precision Plastics, a global injection tooling and manufacturing unit, as a part of its High Reliability Solutions business segment.
The program, making its debut at NPE 2015, comprises four mold makers and three molding operations that Flextronics has acquired over the past 18 months, Rick Shaffer, vice president of business development for Flextronics' HRS-Plastics unit, told Plastics News.
“It would be a diversification into segments that we haven't necessarily been into before, but they're also for the most part complementary to the market segments we're already in,” Shaffer said.
Plastics News has previously reported some of the acquisitions, but until now Flextronics has not commented on the deals.
The Precision Plastics facilities are:
• Vision Technical Molding — Advance Mold in Manchester, Conn.
• Riwisa AG in Hägglingen, Switzerland.
• Sonderborg Mold & Tool in Sonderborg, Denmark.
• Tech Mold in Tempe, Ariz.
• Flextronics Precision Molding — Flextronics Mold & Tool in Buffalo Grove, Ill.
The Buffalo Grove and Manchester facilities include both mold making and molding
capabilities. Flextronics, which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange, bought the Buffalo Grove operations from Berry Plastics Inc. They were previously part of Rexam plc, and prior to that were part of Precise Technology Inc. and Courtesy Corp.
In total, the facilities acquired by Flextronics include more than 1,500 injection molding machines, ranging from 40 to 1,800 tons of clamping force. Flextronics is taking a “minimally invasive” approach to the acquisitions, Shaffer said; the majority of acquisitions have retained their brand names while operating as “a Flextronics company.”
“Because we're buying companies that already have a really good reputation, really good brand recognition, that we want to retain,” Shaffer said.
Flextronics' HRS business segment handles aerospace and defense, automotive, medical and energy end markets. Precision Plastics will focus on the medical and consumer packaging end markets, with a goal of $500 million revenue within three years, Shaffer said. Flextronics generates about $27 billion in sales globally.
The company declined to disclose the full value of the deals.
The new program is part of Flextronics' aim to be a full-service provider for its customers, Shaffer said.
“It could be that we make something like a blood glucose meter already, but what about the disposable pieces that go along with it? A lot of our customers are saying, ‘We need you to do not just the device that does the dispensing of the liquids, but also the pipettes that go along with it.' Before, there was not a good solution for that, and that is what this does,” he said.
Shaffer is the former top executive at injection press maker Netstal Machinery Inc.
