Caprio comes out of retirement to head sales for LS Mtron IMM USA

LS Mtron Injection Molding Machines USA LLC is a newly named entity with a newly named president of sales in Paul Caprio, a plastics industry veteran previously with Engel North America and KraussMaffei Corp. during his 30-plus years in the business.

Caprio came out of retirement Jan. 23 and started with the Duluth, Ga.-based division of LS Corp., which spun off from founding South Korean tech giant LG Corp.

After a year of golf and tennis, Caprio said he jumped at a chance to help grow LS Mtron to the point where it has enough volume to build injection molding machines in the United States.

"There was always talk in my previous life but it never went past that," Caprio said in a Jan. 23 interview. "Now I see a company that employs nearly 4,000 people already in North America at more than a handful of manufacturing plants. It doesn't sound to me like cheap talk."

LS Corp., a holding company of LS Group, is composed of LS Cable & System (power and communications cables), LS Electric (electrical equipment and automation systems) and LS-Nikko Copper (copper smelter and refiner) in addition to LS Mtron (machinery and components).

LS Group, a conglomerate with $30 billion in annual sales and more than 25,000 employees worldwide, is the largest press builder in South Korea, producing up to 2,800 machines annually from 35-3,600 tons.

To bolster U.S. machine sales and justify investment in an assembly plant, Caprio will work closely with a former colleague, Peter Gardner, who was recently promoted from business unit director to LS IMM USA president.

The pair first worked together in 1989 at Machinery Systems Inc. in Chicago, distributing CLF presses from Taiwan, then for other Asian machines as representatives for Niigata, Ube and Shinwa Seiki.

Caprio then moved on to KraussMaffei, where he worked for 25 years and was named president for North America.

"I had a lot of experience growing KraussMaffei from a very small company in America to a very big one," Caprio said of the Florence, Ky.-based company.

He also was president at York, Pa.-based Engel from January 2020 to February 2022.

Meanwhile, Gardner joined Daiichi Jitsugyo America Inc. (DJA), the importer of Niigata machinery to the U.S. He was vice president in charge of North America for more than 25 years.

Gardner brought the LS Mtron IMM business to North America through DJA and then helped orchestrate LS Mtron's buyout of DJA in 2021.

"They have been growing at a break-neck speed since then. We've been very successful and in January we formed our own entity," Gardner said.

After he was named president, one of Gardner's first acts was to hire Caprio.

"I'll be president doing the things Paul is probably bored with," Gardner said. "He'll be hyperfocused on sales and developing that customer relationship, especially with some of the big molders we want to introduce our machinery to."

LS Mtron presses cover 80 percent of the market in terms of end use, according to Caprio, who added, "There's not a market we won't go after."

Last year, LS Mtron's strongest markets were logistics packaging and automotive, driven largely by U.S. suppliers to Hyundai and Kia, appliances, electronics and the beginnings of EV battery production programs.

Caprio pointed to other strong points like a diversified machinery portfolio and a willingness to invest in R&D.

Both the LG Group and LS Group are heavily involved in the battery business, which is seeing a surge in investment.

Gardner expects demand to increase for presses to make battery packs and trays.

"Typically when car models change, there's retooling and new machines bought. For our industry, this isn't just a model changeover; it's the whole industry at once changing over to EV," Gardner said. "So I think even in the headwinds of a recession that's going to still afford us opportunities to provide machinery to customers for these new projects."

He singled out LS e-Mobility Solutions, also an LS company, which is focused on making products that reduce charging times for cars.

"These type of products and the housing for that will be molded on LS machines," Gardner said.

Currently, there's an LG factory in Clarksville, Tenn., equipped with LS machines and an LS Automotive molding operation in Mexico using LS machines.

"The company is not only a manufacturer of molding machines but [also] we have a deep history in doing injection molding itself," Gardner said.

A year ago, when Caprio left the industry, machine builders weren't promising anything about timing and shipments.

However, he said he's learning that a vertically integrated supply chain with a lot of partners in Korea makes a big difference.

The combined strength of the families of companies lets LS Mtron overcome major supply chain challenges, which in turn allows the machine builder to set a 100-day timeline from casting to cargo.

Caprio and Gardner will visit Korea to learn more about how it is achieved.

"I'll be very interested to see that and learn how their entire supply chain fits," Caprio said.

Caprio started thinking about joining LS Mtron last summer when Gardner called to check on the reference of a prospective employee.

"After he agreed to hire this individual from my recommendation, he said, 'What about you? Why don't you come out of retirement?'" Caprio recalled. "He explained what he's doing with LS and it sounded like a lot of fun."

Knock on wood, Caprio added, saying his career has never felt like work.

"The customers became friends and you're trying to help American manufacturing. It's very easy from my perspective," Caprio said.

He described the opportunity ahead as helping to grow "something that's destined to happen anyway."

"I'm just going to get it to go quicker," Caprio said.