Parent company Echo Engineering and Production Supplies Inc. is investing $2 million to expand Monroe, Mich.-based automotive injection molder Ammex Plastics to meet industry demand.
The investment includes a 21,000-square-foot facility with room for three to five new injection presses, a Nov. 12 news release said. That is in addition to four new presses brought in earlier this year.
Ammex expects to add 20-30 new jobs in the next year to meet growing demand driven by megatrends like electrification, lightweighting and connectivity, it said, and will begin hiring operators, die setters, supervisors and mold technicians starting in 2021.
The new facility is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2021.
"The industry is shifting to electric vehicle models that create a challenge for [automakers] to shift how the car is designed, this is where Ammex is a valued partner," Chris Wells, president of Ammex, said in the release. "We design over 3,000 custom components every year and partner with our customers from ideation to fulfillment, especially in innovative and complex molding.
"Our brand-new hybrid 610-ton press allows us to reach new levels of precision with shorter cycle times," Wells said. "The press is already booked around the clock and it's been online for less than six months. We're working to add another one."
"Rebuilding the engineering and innovation knowledge base that drives American manufacturing is what gets us out of bed in the morning," Kingdon Offenbacker, CEO of Ammex and Echo, said. "We have become a valuable source of these skills as the automotive industry shifts towards electrification and mobility."