Mayhew Steel Products Inc. is nearly doubling the size of its plastics operations, acquiring the business assets of Kelly Manufacturing Co. of Clinton, Mass., for an undisclosed price.
The company plans to combine Kelly's assets with its Mayhew Basque Plastics LLC operations in Leominster, Mass., to create an entity that will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It now operates five days a week.
“With the purchase came a lot of revenue from third-party businesses so that we will more than double our sales revenue,” said John Lawless, president of Mayhew Steel Products, in a telephone interview.
He plans to move all operations to the 30,000-square-foot Leominster facility by the end of the year. It means moving 15 injection molding machines — two with 700 tons of clamping force — as well as most of the manufacturing personnel. It will operate under the Mayhew Basque Plastics name.
Lawless said all 25 of the Kelly employees were offered jobs in Leominster, which is about eight miles from Clinton. Mayhew Basque Plastics currently has 28 employees in Leominster.
He said Mayhew Basque Plastics will operate under new general manager Chris Salinas, who was plant manager in Clinton.
The combined operation will have 31 injection molding machines, ranging from 40 to 700 tons, as well as two shuttle machines, a pad printer and a hot stamping press. A lot of the Kelly machines were equipped with automation.
Lawless said the acquisition also adds a few proprietary products, including a line of paint scrapers and trowels.
He said the acquisition is Mayhew's fifth in the last eight years and will support its growth as well as allowing it to explore new markets.
Mayhew Steel Products, which is based in Turners Falls, Mass., is a 160-year-old manufacturer of hand tools, including punches, chisels, pry bars and specialty tools. It decided to add in-house molding in 2014 when it purchased Basque Plastics Corp.