Injection molder Atlantis moving to bigger Delaware site

Custom injection molder Atlantis Industries Corp. is moving to a larger facility in Delaware to accommodate growth.

The firm will vacate its building in Milton for one under construction five miles away in Georgetown, according to Chuck McClure, the company's general manager. Atlantis will lease the new building, which at 40,000 square feet is about 15,000 square feet bigger than its current facility.

"We have acquired new business that can't be supported with the space constraint of our current plant," McClure said in a phone interview. Atlantis had to move warehousing to an offsite location, and relocating to a bigger building will allow it to bring warehousing back in house.

McClure said new automotive molding work is a big part of the newly captured business. Auto is Atlantis's largest single market but military components, firearms, safety and pharmaceutical goods are also prominent. Typical auto parts are underbody panels, such as supports and brackets. These parts are made of high-strength materials like reinforced polypropylene, glass-filled nylon and ABS.

Another significant business is the firm's Sparkle-Lite line of proprietary acrylic drinking glasses, dessert dishes and related serving items. McClure said Atlantis can compete in the crowded market through an established network of distributors. It recently began selling the Sparkle-Lite goods through Amazon and that has been going well.

Atlantis runs 12 injection presses with clamping forces ranging from 75 to 787 tons. McClure said injection capacity is enough to handle the new growth. The firm specializes in highly engineered, tight-tolerance parts, some of which require insert or overmolding. Secondary operations such as machining, ultrasonic welding, priming and assembly are done in house. Atlantis is certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 16949 standards. Offering turnkey services, Atlantis mold designers and engineers can get involved in the early stages of product development.

McClure said Atlantis has been owned by an investor group since 2008, although its origins go back to 1965. It employs about 45 but that could be bumped up by 10 or more with the new molding work. Sales currently run at about $7 million per year.

Atlantis expects to complete its move by late summer. It will be situated in an industrial park recently expanded through land acquisition by local government.