Blue Ash, Ohio — Manufacturing employees at the Ferromatik Milacron injection molding machine plant in Malterdingen, Germany — which Milacron Holdings Corp. has planned to close by the end of 2017 — have won a two-year reprieve, thanks to strong European customer demand for the equipment.
In a June 2 announcement, Milacron officials said injection press production will continue at the Malterdingen factory through the end of 2019.
In March 2016 Milacron announced plans to transfer injection molding press assembly and machining from Malterdingen and into its facilities in the Czech Republic by the end of this year.
Milacron officials credit the extension to a full European order book, out to the first quarter of 2018. The company reached an agreement May 31 with the local Works Council. It will bring back some employees who had been let go.
Milacron still plans transfer the Malterdingen manufacturing operations to the Czech Republic. For now, both facilities will build machines.
“Milacron has a proud history in Malterdingen designing, engineering and manufacturing the Ferromatik line of injection molding machines,” said Denis Poelman, managing director of Milacron injection molding in Europe. “As I've always stated, Milacron will still have a strong presence in Malterdingen even after the manufacturing operations transition to the Czech Republic.”
Poelman said Milacron's European engineering, research and development, service, sales, marketing and aftermarket departments will remain in Malterdingen. He added that highly customized and complex machines such as cube molds, PET, coinjection molding systems and automation and robotics systems will be going through Malterdingen for testing and customization.
Milacron Holdings Corp. is based in Blue Ash, a suburb of Cincinnati.
