Custom injection molder Chemtech Plastics Inc. is investing more than $2 million to expand production capacity and bolster quality control resources.
The private company is adding three new injection presses, following installation of four new presses last year, noted Chemtech Director of Sales and Marketing John Linder in a phone interview from Chemtech's Elgin, Ill., headquarters.
“By performing well we just continue to grow,” Linder said. The company's growth stems from its technical sophistication, quality and financial stability, he explained.
Other recent investments include an 11,000-square-foot training center with a dedicated trainer and a 2,000-square-foot laboratory expansion that necessitated hiring two quality engineers.
Chemtech specializes in difficult-to-mold work, a strategy supported by its heritage of tool making , Linder said. The firm can apply multi-shot molding, insert molding, overmolding and automation to demanding jobs in automotive, medical, optics, industrial and electronics markets.
Linder said automotive has been the firm's biggest market but diversification into other areas helped it weather the auto recession several years ago. Medical has grown to about 30 percent of sales. One medical molding program brings several of its strengths together in two robotic assembly cells making a polycarbonate assembly for a robotic surgical system. Chemtech spent more than $1 million on the cells that feature insert molding and precise buildup of molded disks and plates for the medical machine assemblty. Chemtech can produce up to two million of the assemblies annually in a clean environment at an exceptional level of quality.
Chemtech's sales have grown to more than $40 million per year as it celebrates its 35th year. It employs more than 140 but enrolment rises to 220 during peak production times. It operates 48 injection presses with clamp forces of 28 to 400 tons.
