Custom molder Falcon Plastics Inc. is adding three new Toshiba all-electric injection molding machines to help with high-volume production at its Lexington, Tenn., facility.
The company, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, returned from NPE 2015 after viewing the Toshiba Machine Co. line and purchased three ECSX machine systems ranging from 110 to 200 tons of clamping force.
Falcon President Jay Bender said the three new presses are faster cycling and more productive. The new Toshibas will replace seven older presses, but the company will get the same production capacity with fewer machines, he said.
Falcon now has 93 injection molding machines, of which 78 are Toshiba. It makes parts for the electronics, medical, automotive, agricultural, and construction markets.
Falcon nearly doubled the size of its Brookings, S.D., headquarters plant with a 60,000-square-foot addition that was completed earlier this year. Besides two plants in Brookings and the Tennessee plant, the company has facilities in Madison, S.D., and a joint venture in Suzhou, China.
The company was started in 1975 by Don and Carol Bender. Now it is run by their sons, Jay and Guy, with their grandchildren also bringing new ideas to the company. Jennifer and Kyle Bender started Arctic Ice, a company specializing in non-toxic cooler packs.
Falcon specializes in working with a customer from a product's concept to its actual manufacture, assembly and even distribution. Besides its injection presses, it also has five rapid prototyping machines, four blow molders as well as various add-on services like sonic welding and decorating.
The company has 250 employees, but notes that automation has helped it to handle twice as much work as it did 15 years ago.