Anaheim, Calif. — Trademark Plastics Inc. of Riverside, Calif., continues to invest aggressively in employee training while paring the head count to 116 from 220 over 13 months.
Medical work accounts for about 80 percent of Trademark sales, and "our customers want our help," said Bryan Barrera, the company's vice president.
The injection molder invested more than $500,000 on training programs during 2018 with plans to spend another $250,000 on improvement initiatives during 2019, David Carty, the company's chief operating officer, said.
Four employees were certified as Project Management Professionals, nine became accredited as in-house auditors for ISO 13485 medical device manufacturing and 12 achieved understanding of the Statistical Process Control method.
Ten manufacturing and process engineers learned about Process Failure Mode & Effects Analysis, five employees were certified as Minitab Inc. software data entry users and four were certified under Routsis Training's SmartTech scientific molding program.
In addition, three employees achieved Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt status from the Management and Strategy Institute trade association.
The plastics processor aims to boost capabilities within its 100,000-square-foot footprint.
The firm acquired three fully automated tape machines in 2018.
Trademark plans during 2019 to spend more than $750,000 on capital investments to upgrade equipment, install vision inspection systems, focus on controlled scrap ratios and improve its product flow systems including conveyors.
Trademark operates 48 injection molding presses of 7-500 tons and plans to replace several to improve efficiency and save money.
In late January, the Trademark Plastics facility was certified under ISO 13485 standard without any finding of meaningful discrepancies, Barrera said.
Carty and Barrera were interviewed at Trademark's booth during the UBM Advanced Manufacturing expo in Anaheim.
