Milacron's IPO tops busy 2015

Plastics machinery continued its U.S. upswing in 2015, spurred on by NPE.

Milacron Holdings Corp. and Davis-Standard LLC were the two most active players in business deals. Milacron went public on the New York Stock Exchange, got a 10-year tax credit from its home state of Ohio and pledged to invest $11 million in facilities there, bought screw and barrel firm Canterbury Engineering and Genca, the maker of crosshead dies.

Oh, and Milacron moved its headquarters to the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash.

Over in New England, Davis-Standard named company veteran Jim Murphy as president and CEO. The company made a major acquisition, of Gloucester Engineering Co. Also, Davis moved its accumulator-head blow molding machine manufacturing from New Jersey to its Black Clawson factory in upstate New York.

The plastics industry lost some well-known people — and one who was notorious — as they passed away this year: Dewey Rainville; Paul N. Colby; and Michael Ladney.

Rainville was a force in blow molding machinery and auxiliary equipment. Colby, of Spirex fame, helped build the screw-and-barrel industry. Ladney, the Lord Voldemort of gas-assisted molding, he was the notorious one.

Globalization also continued in machinery, as big players boosted investments in India, China … and the United States.

Technology. People. Financial news, including from some public companies such as Milacron and Barnes Group Inc.

For a look at major events of 2015, read on:

NOVEMBER 2014

In a deal between two Italian blow molding equipment maker Sipa SpA acquired the injection stretch blow molding machine line of Automa SpA.

 DECEMBER 2014

Machinery pioneer and innovator Dewey Rainville, a pioneer in auxiliary equipment and blow molding, died Dec. 9.

Moretto SpA, the Italian maker of dryers and other auxiliary equipment, opened its first U.S. operation, in Columbus, Ohio.

MARCH

NPE 2015 in Orlando, Fla., generated final registration of 65,810, up 19 percent from the last show, in 2012.

 NFM Welding Engineers Inc. opened a direct sales office in Dalian, China.

 Paul N. Colby, a member of the Plastics Hall of Fame and leader in the screw and barrel industry who founded Spirex Corp., died on March 7.

 In more evidence of the rise of automation, Yushin America Inc. announced it was investing $2 million to build a 22,500 square foot addition to increase its manufacturing and warehousing space in Cranston, R.I.

 APRIL

Milacron Holdings Corp. announced plans for an initial public offering by filing financial documents.

 In post-NPE intrigue, police in Florida linked two suspects to a stolen truck holding equipment for Wittmann Battenfeld Inc. The rig had been stolen from a locked staging area, then tipped over and damaged the machinery. The machinery maker had to scramble to get its booth complete for NPE.

Chicago investment company Madison Industries purchased Ferry Industries, the largest manufacturer of rotational molding machinery.

 Michael Ladney, a contentious figure who aggressively threatened and filed patent lawsuits in the gas-assisted molding sector at Gain Technologies Inc., died April 18.

MAY

Davis-Standard LLC veteran Jim Murphy was named president and CEO.

JUNE

Arburg GmbH + Co. KG opened its new 27,000-square-foot U.S. headquarters in Rocky Hill, Conn.

 Milacron won a 10-year tax credit from the state of Ohio. The company pledged to invest $11 million in facilities in its home state. Milacron also moved its headquarters from Cincinnati's Oakley neighborhood to the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash.

 Uway Extrusion LLC, a company that builds extruders in China using components from the United States and Europe, began U.S. production at a plant in Warren, Ohio.

 KraussMaffei Group GmbH named a new CEO: Frank Stieler.

JULY

B&P Process Equipment and Systems LLC, the maker of batch mixers, extruders and centrifuges, acquired the assets of Littleford Day Inc., to boost its position in batch and continuous mixing.

 AUGUST

Former HPM owner Christopher Filos pleaded guilty to the company's failure to pay taxes, a few days before his trial was scheduled to start in Morrow County Common Pleas Court. He agreed to pay the taxes due.

SEPTEMBER

Davis-Standard bought Gloucester Engineering Co., the maker of film equipment, and officials said Davis-Standard plans eventually to move production from Gloucester, Mass, to DS headquarters in Pawcatuck, Conn.

 Davis-Standard moves production of its accumulator-head blow molding machines from Bridgewater, N.J., to a leased space next to its Black Clawson plant in Fulton, N.Y.

 Germany's Reifenhäuser Group held an open house at a newly built facility in Maize, Kan., the home of Reifenhauser Inc. and Reiloy USA, the maker of screws and barrels.

 Several former employees of Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. started Tronoplast Technologies Inc. in Brampton, Ontario, to make film lines.

OCTOBER

Fakuma 2015 drew 45,721 visitors to Friedrichshafen, Germany.

 Graham Engineering Corp. announced it was closing the American Kuhne plant in Ashaway, R.I., and moving its production of extrusion systems to Graham's headquarters factory in York, Pa. Graham will maintain a sales office near the Ashaway location.

 In rapid succession, Maag Pump Systems AG bought two U.S. companies: Gala Industries Inc., the maker of underwater pelletizers and related equipment and Reduction Engineering Scheer Inc., which produces pelletizers, rotors and pulverizers.

Barnes Group Inc., which owns Synventive Molding Solutions Group and two other hot runner makers, bought Priamus System Technologies AG, the Switzerland-based make of injection molding monitoring and control systems.

NOVEMBER

Milacron bought the owner of screw and barrel maker Canterbury Engineering and crosshead die maker Genca.

The family trust Connell Limited Partnership bought SencorpWhite Inc., which makes thermoforming machinery, blister packaging and sealing equipment and automated equipment for storage and handling.