Quantum Plastics LLC is upgrading its custom injection molding capacity in Victor, Iowa, to better supply appliance makers and other customers.
Quantum has bought two Absolute Haitian injection presses recently and is installing them in Victor. The new machines with clamps of 1,100 and 2,000 tons replace two older presses with similar clamp tonnages, according to Quantum spokeswoman Lisa Forret. The presses and two new Yushin robots are a $2 million investment for the Victor operation.
“Quantum invests in its various divisions as the need arises,” Forret said in a phone interview.
The new presses and robots will mold large appliance components such as ice chutes for refrigerators as well as parts for clothes washers and dryers. Quantum president Ron Embree noted the servo-hydraulic machines will provide up to 20-70 percent energy savings. Faster operating systems means Quantum can make changes immediately for temperature, pressure and speed without running two or three cycles to affect the change.
Forret said Victor and the company's molding factory in Fort Smith, Ark., another major appliance manufacturing region, have a total of 108 injection molding and blow molding machines, fairly evenly divided between them. Overall, Quantum's facilities in the United States and Mexico run 230 molding machines, with injection presses ranging in size from 30 to 3,000 tons.