Materials maker Techmer PM is expanding its Batavia, Ill., plant while closing its facility in Avon, Ohio.
Both moves will be complete by the end of 2016, officials with Clinton, Tenn.-based Techmer said. The Batavia expansion will include the addition of several new extrusion lines, with both new equipment and some hardware relocated from Avon, officials added.
All 26 Avon employees will be offered jobs with Techmer in Batavia or Clinton, president Ryan Howley said in an April 27 phone interview. “This was a very difficult decision and one that we did not take lightly,” he added.
The consolidation will help Techmer gain efficiencies via material handling upgrades and automation. The total expansion will result in a net capacity increase of 30 percent. Initial investment in the project will be more than $2 million.
“Enhancements in our Batavia operations will help us to develop an even stronger Midwest presence,” Howley said in a news release. Twin-screw extrusion lines and lab equipment will be moved from Avon to Batavia. Two new twin-screw lines will be installed in Batavia as well. When the moves are completed, the Batavia site will have around 15 lines.
Techmer opened the 80,000-square-foot Batavia plant in late 2013. It previously had operated in nearby Naperville. The firm acquired both the Naperville and Avon sites in 2008 when it purchased Accel Color Corp.
Both the Batavia and Avon sites made color and additive concentrates based on polyolefins, styrenics and engineering resins for a variety of end uses. Sales growth has led Techmer to add five jobs in Batavia in the last month. The site now employs more than 50.
Techmer's new plant in New Castle, Del., also is close to completion. The $2.6 million facility will make materials for the firm's Engineered Solutions business.
Techmer ranks as one of North America's 30 largest compounders and concentrate makers. The firm has annual sales of more than $200 million and was named as one of Plastics News' Best Places To Work in 2014 and 2016.