Brunk LLC has added toll compounding services and has changed its name to Brunk Plastic Services.
Goshen, Ind.-based Brunk began toll compounding in August on a used single-screw line, CEO Larry Berkowski said in a Feb. 6 phone interview. The firm does most of its business in pulverizing LLDPE resins for rotational molders. Several of those customers had been asking Brunk to add toll compounding.
"I thought we were missing some opportunities with rotational molding," said Berkowski, who joined Brunk in June 2017. Berkowski previously held management roles with GE Plastics, BASF and Wellman Engineering Resins.
Brunk now is looking to add additional compounding capacity and also increase its ability to reprocess scrap for its customers. In addition to Goshen, the 100-employee firm operates a plant in Bloomington, Minn.
Berkowski added that Brunk also might be looking to make an acquisition in the color compounding market.
"We see [color compounding] as another growth area," he said.
Brunk pulverizes more than 100 million pounds of resin per year on 20 pulverizers. The firm also provides warehousing services such as bulk pack-outs to gaylord boxes and supersacks, de-boxes to bulk and other packaging services.
Additionally, Brunk provides bulk railcar storage to support its bulk transportation business, with a capacity for 200 railcars at its two manufacturing facilities. The firm recently added 36 railcar spots in Goshen and another 10 in Bloomington.
Company officials said that the name change better reflects the resources that Brunk brings to its customers. Brunk's wholly-owned bulk transportation subsidiary also has changed its name to Brunk Transport.
As part of the changes, Brunk unveiled a new logo which is the shape of a pulverizing mill. Operations director Jeff Brown said that the new logo "is important because Brunk takes pride in providing the highest quality powder for our customers."
Brunk was launched as a trucking firm in 1957 and entered the pulverizing market in 1994. The firm is majority owned by investment firm Capital for Business Inc. of St. Louis.