Zag Equipment Sales Inc. has moved into a 20,000-square-foot building in Gibsonville, N.C., giving more space and a better working environment for the company that sells and refurbishes used injection molding machinery and auxiliary equipment.
The old building, also in Gibsonville, measured 12,000 square feet, said Zag President Tim Gould.
Zag opened the new facility July 12.
Gould said the building had housed an operation that manufactured sea planes, so it has a large shipping door that is 70 feet wide, perfect for larger-tonnage injection presses. The facility is brightly lit and has air conditioning.
“This expansion allows us not only to increase the number of machines we are able to offer up for sale but also to grow our equipment repair and refurbishing capabilities,” Gould said.
The larger building enables Zag to house more inventory, increase consignment services and do more equipment demonstrations than was possible in the old building. Zag also sells and refurbishes used auxiliary equipment such as granulators, dryers and robots.
Gould and Scott Zuber, vice president of Zag Equipment, founded Zag in 2004, to cover the Southeast. Zag opened the original facility in Gibsonville in 2007. A third partner, Doug Miller, joined in 2011.
Zag now does business throughout the country, so the bigger space will help, Gould said.
The Zag headquarters also houses Fordham Plastics Equipment Co., a manufacturers' representative firm that Gould and Zuber started in 1999.
Gould said the businesses employ nine people in Gibsonville — five at Zag and four at Fordham. He said that experience with new machines and helping customers install them has helped the partners in selling used equipment.
Right now, he said, used machinery “is a real strong market,” but most of the machines are older, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s.
“Finding good late-model equipment continues to be challenging just because there aren't that many out there,” Gould said. “Finding something 2004 and later is pretty challenging.”
Zag's refurbishment activities include measuring and replacing screws and barrels and replacing them if needed, checking for platen parallelism, verifying pump performance, checking the press for safety standards, cleaning and repainting, and run-off.
Zag has purchased the new building and the 6-acre site.