Aerospace injection molding specialist Aero-Plastics Inc. is expanding and adding in-house thermoforming in a move aimed at making it a reliable source for its customers in more ways.
"We've made the decision over the last couple of years — it took about two years to get to where we're at right now — to start looking at bringing some of these services that we need in-house rather than rely on suppliers," General Manager Russ Nielsen said.
In December, the Renton, Wash.-based company completed work on the $2.5 million, 18,000-square-foot expansion.
The additional services of paint and thermoforming, which were originally outsourced, are now being offered in-house and will allow Aero-Plastics to control costs and quality.
"Our key customers are really excited about our ability to vertically integrate and mitigate risks." Nielsen said. "That's a big thing for a lot of our customers is to be able to absorb new work."
The new paint equipment is a fully enclosed temperature- and humidity-controlled environment with two open paint booths, two drying rooms and a hybrid paint and drying room.
Aero-Plastics added a Lamco thermoforming machine to its existing injection molding and machining equipment. Aero-Plastics focused on bringing thermoforming in-house after becoming aware of its customers having issues with other companies' thermoforming availabilities.
With the increase in work and new facility, Aero-Plastics is increasing employment by 15 percent. The company is also providing additional training.
"Everybody knows that supply chain is a big risk, cost of materials is a big risk, cost of labor is a big risk," Nielsen said. "Trying to fight inflationary measures, so ... by bringing it in-house, you can help mitigate all those things."
Aero-Plastics has a focus on dependability and has a Dependometer to measure how many opportunities the company has shipped in the month, how many were perfect and be able to keep track of any mishaps and reasonings behind it.
The company will also be expanding in February with a new Wittmann injection molding machine and a DMS computer numerically controlled router.