After buyout, SigmaPro eyes new start

Injection molder SigmaPro Engineering & Manufacturing LLC is starting over after selling its assets to its largest client.

CEO Vivian Allen said SigmaPro, in Fort Worth, Texas, is focused on growth and building a more diverse client base in new industries.

"The only similarity between what we did before and what we're doing now is the fact that we are injection molding," Allen said. "And the fact that we're injection molding really tiny parts. Besides that, everything is new."

A big change in the relationship with its largest customer, Hickory, N.C.-based US Conec Ltd., led to a complete relaunch for SigmaPro.

US Conec makes telecommunications and cable assemblies, and SigmaPro had been manufacturing connectors, adapters and field tools as a subcontractor from its previous factory, also in Fort Worth.

Before SigmaPro sold its assets to US Conec, that company provided $23 million of SigmaPro's $25 million annual sales.

US Conec approached SigmaPro about buying that facility in August 2021, about a year after SigmaPro went through a leadership transition.

Allen's father, David Underwood, who was CEO at the time, decided to retire. Underwood started SigmaPro in 1999.

The deal was then finalized Aug. 31, 2022, and SigmaPro relaunched Sept. 1, with a smaller facility and new growth plans.

Allen said the change was something SigmaPro had expected.

"We always assumed we'd get there at some point because it represents a huge cost savings for them to buy our facility and buy our assets and continue to run that instead of buying from us," she said. "Then they don't have to pay the upcharge and all the profit that we were making is completely eliminated now."

In the sale, US Conec hired all 250 employees and bought all 40 injection molding machines at SigmaPro's previous plant. As it starts over, SigmaPro bought three injection molding machines over the last six months and is upgrading from a 2,500-square-foot facility to a 10,000-square-foot plant, also in Fort Worth. The extra space will also be used for tooling, inspection labs and 3D printing.

"Three machines may sound like we're a startup. But really, we're just starting over," Allen wrote on social media.

She told Plastics News that SigmaPro has kept three previous clients and gained two more.

"We're going to be serving a lot of different clients where we're marketing ourselves; we're creating a new brand," Allen said.

Amid the transition, Allen said SigmaPro was able to retain an on-site child care facility that it started as a benefit to help recruit and retain employees. The facility is also used by the surrounding community.

The project, run by a local nonprofit, has been featured in a local television news report. Allen said her youngest child is enrolled there.

"We noticed a huge number of our staff were women, especially among our assembly staff and hourly employees, or we would end up hiring a lot of couples," Allen said. "What we found was that a lot of our female staff were missing out on opportunities to grow at work or were losing a lot of their income to pay for care. That's what made us put in the child care facility."