Injection molder Nortic Inc., is upgrading its capacity with the addition of three new Sumitomo all-electric molding machines.
Two were installed this month, with the third expected in May, according to Nortic President Coleman Harding.
He said the new machines offer 83, 110 and 198 tons of clamping force. Two of them replace older machines. It will bring Nortic's total number of presses to 12, ranging from 75 to 550 tons of clamping force.
“We're getting rid of machines that are perfectly operational, but not as precise and not as efficient,” he said. The new machines offer new easier-to-use controls and use less energy.
Harding said the Oriskany, N.Y.-based company has been upgrading its machinery in the last few years. It also uses two hybrid Milacron presses.
Nortic make spools for fishing tackle, insulated and bare wire, resistance wire, cordage and 3-D printing filament. It also makes boxes, advertising specialties and sporting goods.
He said custom molding is about 40 percent of the company's business.
Harding said Nortic is finding new uses for core of spools and boxes and that its wire and medical segments have been growing.
Nortic has a 25,000-square-foot facility and 15 employees.
Harding said Nortic started in 1988 as an outgrowth of the Harding Manufacturing Corp. of Rome, N.Y. HMC and members of the Harding family had developed molds for plastic spools and boxes for fishing, then purchased assets from a Florida custom molder that included machinery and a tool shop.