Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
March 24, 2020 10:01 AM

30 years old, and Toner Plastics continues to grow

Don Loepp
Editor
Plastics News Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Toner Plastics

    Toner Plastics was founded in November 1989 as a custom profile extruder. The husband-and-wife team of Steven and Jean Graham founded the company. Steven Graham, now the CEO, formerly worked at Monsanto Co. in Springfield, Mass

    Toner Plastics Group has been in growth mode for nearly 30 years. That's included multiple acquisitions plus organic growth in a wide variety of interesting end markets.

    Most recently, that's even included helping to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

    President Jack Warren said all of the East Longmeadow, Mass.-based company's factories are currently operating as usual. Companies within the group make components that are in critical demand for medical, Department of Defense and personal protection equipment customers.

    In fact, Toner has stepped up production of extruded flexible strapping made of a thermoplastic elastomer material that's used on face masks.

    "We recently started getting more interest in that product. Companies were having supply chain problems in China because of the coronavirus," Warren said. "We're making everything we can at the moment."

    Warren said the company recently doubled production capacity for the strapping, running 24 hours, six days a week to keep up with demand.

    Toner Plastics was founded in November 1989 as a custom profile extruder. The husband-and-wife team of Steven and Jean Graham founded the company. Steven Graham, now the CEO, formerly worked at Monsanto Co. in Springfield, Mass.

    It started with one extrusion line making PVC products. Today the extrusion business makes a variety of custom profiles including filament for 3D printers, plus products for medical, industrial, point of purchase, crafts and wire and cable customers.

    "Our motto has always been, 'We're a customer service company that happens to be in the plastics manufacturing business,' and we feel that's one of the main reasons we've been able to have the sustained success that we have," Warren said.

    Toner Plastics

    Starting in 2013, the company started to augment its organic growth through a series of acquisitions. First came The Beadery, a Hopkinton, R.I.-based injection molder formerly known as Greene Plastics Corp., that touts itself as the oldest U.S. manufacturer of plastic beads.

    Then came Modern Mold & Tool, a custom injection molder in Pittsfield, Mass., acquired in 2016. Modern Mold specializes in high-tech industries like medical, aerospace, automotive, and defense.

    A year later Toner added Streamline Plastics Inc., a Bronx, N.Y.-based injection molder and extruder that supplied point of purchase, toy, writing instrument and other custom applications. Modern Mold absorbed the Streamline business into its Pittsfield factory.

    In 2017 The Beadery also acquired the assets of Quality Bead Craft Inc. The bead business is big for Toner, and it's been strong recently. Bead bracelets and jewelry are popular with children and crafters.

    "It's absolutely taking off, it's very popular with 8- to 12-year-olds, it's a huge trend," Warren said.

    Warren said Toner competes with Chinese bead makers by being responsive to retail customers.

    "We really follow the market trends, we follow what the kids are doing, we watch social media and we are able to move fast," Warren said. He cited an example from last year, during the Christmas shopping season, when a retailer asked if Toner could put together a special display for an end cap.

    Toner Plastics

    "They let us know in October, and we went to work. There's no way a supplier in China could have done that. The customer would have lost those sales," Warren said.

    The legacy businesses that Toner has acquired are thriving under the umbrella organization, Warren said. The Beadery's sales are up 56 percent year-on-year, on both legacy products like personalized bead bracelets and new products like plastic craft and jewelry making storage boxes.

    Warren credited General Manager Joe Ritacco for The Beadery's success, and noted that the business has gradually added 12 injection presses.

    Modern Mold's mold making sales are up 51 percent, and he also cited a 34 percent increase in medical molding sales and the continued growth of its Ormond Beach, Fla., factory. Warren credited Leo Ruberto, the unit's manager of process engineering, who has implemented an ambitious 5S continuous improvement model.

    Warren said he's always on the lookout for new acquisition candidates, with a goal of making Toner a $100 million company within five years.

    "I'm looking at three potential acquisitions right now," Warren said. "We love adding talented people and businesses who can contribute to our business from day one just by continuing to do what they're already good at."

    As a privately held company, Warren said Toner has been able to streamline its due diligence process to make these transactions easy for small businesses — firms with annual sales in the neighborhood of $10 million.

    He said finding talented people can be an issue for a growing business.

    "We need technical people, molding processors, plastics engineers, and profile extrusion experts, as well as sales people and sales leaders — people who can run a business unit and share in our success," Warren said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Treaty talks end with plans for a draft agreement, but hurdles remain
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Kickstart: Paper bags, 'paper' bottles
    2
    Resin Prices
    3
    Treaty talks end with plans for a draft agreement, but hurdles remain
    4
    PP recycler PureCycle sees Ohio plant as springboard for growth
    5
    WL Plastics building $40M MDPE pipe plant in Texas
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified