Mexico City — Canadian mold maker Rocand Inc. will officially open an $8 million manufacturing facility in Silao, Mexico, March 15.
“Up to now we've invested $4 million,” Michel Morin, the company's managing director of Mexico operations, told Plastics News at Plastimagen México 2016.
“The total investment over five years will be $8 million.”
Morin described the potential for the company to grow in Mexico as “fantastic.”
He said the mold-making equipment, including four five-axis CNC machines, that Rocand will use in Silao is brand new. The four Negri Bossi and one Battenfeld presses that Rocand uses for mold testing, prototyping and production are almost new.
They were bought from a company in Quebec about seven months ago and shipped to Silao. Auxiliary equipment, including a Wittmann robot, is brand new.
Among the presses, a 320-ton Negri Bossi press has been used for 10,000 hours, while a 900-ton Battenfeld has only 2,500 hours of use.
“In Mexico, we have six Tier 1 [automotive industry] customers,” said Morin, explaining why Rocand opened the 4,128 square-meter facility in Silao, which is at the center of the Mexican automotive industry.
The plant is in the Puerto Interior industrial park, one of Mexico's most modern.
“With his new manufacturing plant Rocand is now able to increase its production capacity and collaborate even more closely with clients and partners,” said Sarah Bégin, Rocand's vice president of operations, in a news release.
Rocand, which was founded in the city of Quebec in 1996, said it has “great plans” for the Mexican plant, called Rocand Molde y Plástico S de RL de CV. It plans to have 100 employees in Silao within five years.