Precision thermoset injection molder Mar-Bal Inc. is spending $15 million to establish a second production plant after purchasing a facility in Painesville, Ohio.
Mar-Bal recently bought the 110,700-square-foot building about 32 miles from its current headquarters in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and is renovating it to accommodate injection molding machinery and compounding equipment to make bulk molding compounds. The project should be completed by the end of 2017.
“It will be automated beyond what we have now,” explained Mar-Bal director of global marketing and brands Ron Poff in a phone interview.
Mar-Bal has added automotive and HVAC markets to its client list in appliance, electrical, industrial and transportation sectors and its sales in all those markets has been growing.
Poff said innovative applications are contributing to the growth but he declined to provide details for competitive reasons.
Mar-Bal's investment for the project will span about five years. Employment should double from its current level of 125. The company stated in a news release that availability of a skilled workforce convinced it to continue growing in northeast Ohio. Mar-Bal is receiving an undisclosed financial inducement for the project from JobsOhio and the city of Painesville. The long-term future of its current Chagrin Falls is undecided.
“This facility will have the best and safest working conditions in the company, and when completed, will be the best fully integrated BMC compounding and molding plant in the world,” claimed Mar-Bal President and CEO Scott Balogh in a news release.
Mar-Bal's technologies include phased vapor deposition of metal skin on molded thermoset parts. This experience has helped the company become a leading supplier to appliance and electrical industries. Its Chagrin Falls facility is ISO 9001 certified.
Mal-Bar custom molds thermosets and molds proprietary, well-established Standoff electrical insulators under the Glastic and Mar-Bal tradenames. Poff said the UL-listed products can bear steady electrical loads of 15 kiloVolts and withstand spikes up to 100 kV during a lightning strike. The products are based on thermoset polyester and contain flame retardants and track-resistant glass fibers.
Mal-Bar was founded in 1970 and has remained in the Balogh family since then. It has four manufacturing operations in North America and one in Taizhou, China, as well as an Asia sales office in Shanghai.