Eimo started the year by moving into a newly constructed 60,000-square-foot facility across from a 40,000-square-foot building that it had been using.
“We built a new factory to replace an older facility. Basically, it was a move next door,” Hallam said.
He said the addition added room as well as vertical space. Instead of 14-foot ceilings, it now has 28-foot-high ceilings and is better able to use overhead cranes. Eimo also put in its largest injection molding machine, a 650-ton all-electric JSW press. Formerly, its largest was a 500-ton press. The company also plans to add an 850-metric-ton press.
Eimo is busy filling up the new facility. There are 20 injection molding machines in place and there's room for 10 more. Overall, the company runs 50 presses and has 320 employees.
Hallam said it had purchased 12 new JSW machines that are running in the new facility, and the company retired 12 of its oldest machines that were purchased back in the 1990s.
The company has three buildings in Vicksburg — the new facility, an 82,000 square foot headquarters and production facility, and a 34,000 square foot tooling and technology center.
The tooling center has a new Makino automated cell with a computer numerical controlled machining center and an electronic discharge machine. It also contains a metrology lab and four molding machines for sampling.
Eimo is using a new decorating process called the three-dimensional overlay method, or “TOM,” which uses a high-speed Fu-Se thermoforming machine. It decorates parts post-molding, and Hallam said it enables the film to retain texture. It is being used for an automotive interior trim piece.
The company does work for the automotive, appliance, medical, government, consumer products and other industries.
