California's Central Plastics sees continued growth in the future

Central Plastics & Manufacturing, which has been around for the past decade under current ownership, is now working to raise its profile to help continue a growth spurt that's been occurring in recent years.

The Tracy, Calif.-based company processes plastics in a relatively new 60,000-square-foot facility that's home to 23 injection molding machines as well as thermoforming and stretch blow molding equipment.

CEO Hiren Patel says his company has grown from $5 million in annual sales in 2020 to $11.5 million last year thanks, in part, to the new facility and equipment. The company hopes to get to $20 million in sales by the end of 2024.

Central Plastics previously had been in 30,000 square feet of leased space, also in Tracy, but had no room to grow.

"One of the reasons why we wanted to have our own space is mainly because we wanted to have the flexibility, the right opportunity, to grow the business, to add more space, add more machines, equipment. We didn't have that flexibility in the previous space we were in," Patel said.

Original plans were to occupy 30,000 square feet in the company's new building and lease out the other 30,000 square feet to allow time for growth.

But Central Plastics customers had other plans, asking the company to take on new and different projects that ultimately convinced the firm to instead utilize all 60,000 square feet from the get-go. Central Plastics has gone from 11 injection molding machines to 23 since the move at the end of 2021. The company has spent about $12 million at its new facility, including $1 million for a rooftop solar power system.

"We have been heavily advertising and marketing our brand and company lately and that has been very helpful," Patel said. "The building and infrastructure is pretty impressive and eye-catching for a lot of our clients."

Continuing to raise the company's profile in the industry, the CEO said, will lead to additional business. "One of the biggest challenges we had back in the day was that nobody knew that we existed in Northern California. Now that we've been focusing on sales and marketing efforts, we want people to know that we exist."

Employment, which was 21 in 2020, is now at 55. And the company is looking for more workers, Patel said.

The current ownership of Central Plastics traces its roots back to 2013 through the purchase of Mother Lode Plastics in Sonora, Calif., and Central Plastics in Santa Maria, Calif. The two companies operated independently for about a year before combining under the Central Plastics name in Tracy in the rented space, Patel explained.

The company makes products for the automotive, health care, solar and aerospace markets. Thermoforming and injection stretch blow molding sales are much smaller than the injection molding portion of the business. They are essentially services existing injection molding clients asked the company to provide.

Solar power provides between 80 and 90 percent of the company's energy needs through an array of 1,300 panels. The lower costs of solar energy at the site allows Central Plastics to be more competitive in pricing, the CEO said. Having solar power also provides the company with uninterrupted electrical service. Along with expanding the number machines the company operates, Central Plastics also is upgrading older processing equipment to newer energy-efficient machines.

Central Plastics is ranked No. 357 on the latest listing of injection molders in North America with estimated sales of $10.8 million. Using the updated $11.5 million sales figure for last year, the company would have ranked tied for No. 344.