Eck Plastic scores new work with larger press

Binghampton, N.Y.-based Eck Plastic Arts invested in an injection molding machine that is four times larger than its other presses to score some new business.

The 1,012-ton Haitian Mars II S arrived in June, and its first project was already on deck: molding souvenir drinking cups shaped like a baseball cap for sale at major and minor league ballparks.

The delay in opening professional baseball ended up working in Eck Plastic's favor, according to President and co-owner Brett Pennefeather.

"It took the fire drill out of starting up the machine," Pennefeather said in a news release. "It gave us more time to make sure everything was assembled properly and auxiliaries were hooked up correctly as we familiarize our team with this new machine make."

This is the first Haitian press purchased by the company, which opened in 1949 and offers thermoplastic injection molding and insert molding to the automotive, medical, defense, consumer, electronics, recreational and industrial markets.

The Pennefeather family bought Eck Plastic from Robert Eck in 2017 when he retired.

The new machine's easy-to-use tie bar puller was a selling point, Pennefeather said.

"Our ceilings top out at 11 feet and machines this size are about 9 feet high. The only way to install or change out a mold is to load the mold from the side," Pennefeather said. "We ordered the MA II S with an automatic tie bar puller that was on the preferred side of the machine and operated with a push of a button. The lead time on this customized option was shorter from Absolute Haitian than from competitors and other competitors' tie bar pullers were not automatic."

To prepare for the machine, a concrete floor had to be poured and new electrical and plumbing services installed while keeping employees and contractors safe from COVID-19.

Then the delivery crew had to navigate several tight intersections and a narrow business dock.

"The clamp alone weighed some 50,000 pounds and was assembled outside and then rolled into the building," Pennefeather said.

New jobs are rolling in, too.

"At the time the machine was ordered, we had one project lined up for the 1,012-ton Mars. Now we have five other projects lined up right behind that," Pennefeather said.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Eck Plastic stayed busy partnering with a local nonprofit called Association for Vision Rehabilitation and Employment (AVRE) to manufacture thousands of face shields.

AVRE has contracts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other government agencies to assemble the face shields from components produced by Eck Plastic Arts.

"AVRE has been able to distribute the shields not only to federal agencies but also to several local hospitals," Pennefeather said. "We provide the parts at cost, keeping our shop active, enabling AVRE to provide contract work for its visually impaired clients and lower the price of the face shields for entities that badly need them."

With annual sales estimated at $1.5 million, Eck Plastic holds the No. 531 spot in Plastics News' latest ranking of of North American injection molders.

The company also ranked No. 203 among North American thermoformers, with $1 million in sales.