Mack has a big new press, growing medical demand

New York — Mack Molding Co. has installed a massive new injection press in Vermont and is making strides in the medical market as well.

The 2,360-ton Haitian-brand press is in place at Mack's plant in Cavendish, about 50 miles from the injection molding and manufacturing firm's Arlington, Vt., headquarters. Six heavy-load tractor trailers were needed to deliver the press, company officials said at the UBM Advanced Manufacturing Expo, June 13-15 in New York.

Mack President Jeff Somple said he believes the press is the largest in New England. It has a shot size of 268 ounces and can handle 40,000-pound molds. It's the largest ever to be used at Mack's Northern Division.

The press mainly will be used for furniture and industrial parts, Somple added. Mack also has invested more than $1 million to upgrade its crane system in Cavendish to handle the larger parts.

Medical generates 35 percent of Mack's sales and is one of the firm's fastest-growing markets, with an emphasis on orthopedics, according to Somple. To handle this upswing, the firm recently has made several investments in machinery, spending more than $1 million on new equipment. These include items in sheet-metal fabrication, machining and laser marking.

To assist medical customers in meeting their unique device identification needs, Mack recently added its fifth laser marker — a new Foba M2000 — at its finishing department in Arlington. Laser markers can perform specialized engraving on curved metal and plastic surfaces.

Mack in Arlington also soon will add a Mazak Integrex i100S computer numerically controlled machining center. That unit will increase Mack's capacity to meet customers' milling and turning demands, officials said.

Overall sales growth at Mack — the 2007 winner of Plastics News' Processor of the Year award — is expected to reach 20 percent in the firm's 2018 fiscal year. This growth is allowing the firm to add 50-100 employees by the end of the 2017 calendar year, Somple said.

"We're hiring at all levels," he added. "We've got 19 interns in areas like manufacturing, CNC and welding, and a lot of them will go full time."